Dimon’s first deal as JP Morgan boss stacks up 10 Apr 2006 The $3bn swap of businesses with Bank of New York plays to the JP Morgan CEO s costcutting strengths. It s a baby step, but structured cleverly. If Dimon can just get JP Morgan s trading engine humming, bigger ones may follow.
Wacker signals return of German retail investors 10 Apr 2006 The IPO of Wacker Chemie has gone swimmingly after retail investors made an unexpectedly strong showing. Pains from the Neuer Markt debacle have finally faded for small investors good news for the 30 big companies preparing to float.
Trump’s move into mortgages looks ill-timed 7 Apr 2006 Sure, there has been a pickup in US mortgage applications. But that looks like a false dawn. The homelending business suffers from excess capacity and loan volumes are liable to collapse.
Minority buyouts attract hedge fund swarm 7 Apr 2006 That s because squeezeouts, like NovartisChiron this week, follow relatively consistent patterns that savvy investors can exploit. Many variables that determine premiums can be assessed easily. One big one, though the strength of independent directors cannot.
Wall Street feels pain as clients go electronic 7 Apr 2006 Average commission rates on stock trades are tumbling as investors abandon costly fullservice trading. US brokerages find this especially painful because they have been slow to restructure.
Caz gets better side of JP Morgan’s block trade 5 Apr 2006 The US bank cut its UK partner into a £220m placing of Easyjet shares. But the deal doesn't look to have gone very well. Why has JP Caz come out better? Because it simply got commission for selling the stock, while JP Morgan was left with the underwriting risk.
Citi let out of the doghouse by Fed 4 Apr 2006 The Fed says the bank made significant progress in improving risk management and is now free to return to the acquisition trail. But this may not be so easy given Citi s lowly rating, a consequence of its becoming a vast bureaucratic organisation thin on enterprise.
Breuer’s departure strengthens Ackermann 3 Apr 2006 Deutsche Bank is replacing an old school German chairman with a moderniser in Clemens Boersig. That should mean more unity on strategy. That said, there may be a fly in the ointment. Breuer is leaving because of a legal dispute with Leo Kirch. A big bill could be on the way.
Wacker’s IPO looks reasonably priced 3 Apr 2006 At the top of its E70E80 range, the German chemicals group would trade at a small discount to its European peers. That looks fair. Wacker is growing faster than most of its peers and is exposed to booming Asian markets.
Regulatory problems return to haunt Citi 31 Mar 2006 The US financial group has spent the past two years trying to convince regulators that it's scandal free and fit to return to the bid trail. Now an insider trading court case in Australia could put it firmly back in the doghouse.
Wacker’s E3.8bn IPO will test German capital markets 30 Mar 2006 The familyowned chemicals group is Germany s first big IPO this year and will set the pace for more than 20 big deals in the pipeline. Fortunately, Wacker is an attractive business. It should see good demand for its IPO at the right price.
Temasek’s £2bn stake raises Standard Chartered’s defences 28 Mar 2006 The emerging markets bank looks a less likely target with the Singaporean fund on board. Temasek is probably in for the longterm. Its deep pockets may help Standard do deals itself. But the bank should be wary of cosying up too much to the stateowned fund.
Iceland threatened with meltdown 28 Mar 2006 The tiny country s economy has been puffed up by borrowing. That s created huge foreign debts and a stock market bubble. Frightened foreign lenders have started to withdraw. Even if contagion is avoided, roving Icelandic capitalists could be in trouble.
BPI may pass the hat round – again 27 Mar 2006 The scandalridden Italian bank s attempt to raise capital last summer for its bid for Antonveneta was a blueprint of what not to do. This time BPI needs to be whiter than white and show why a capital increase would be better than selling the bank.
Fifth Third CEO deserves no confidence vote 24 Mar 2006 The $22bn Ohio bank has become a basket case under George Schaefer s recent tenure. Earnings have crumbled and top managers have fled. With no clear turnaround in sight and troubles mounting, Fifth Third needs a more suitable leader.
Sovereign reaches truce with activist shareholder 23 Mar 2006 The US bank now selling a stake to Santander will nominate two outside directors, including the head of hedge fund Relational. This comes at a price Relational rescinds its demands for the CEO s head. But fold in the Spanish and the pressure is on.
Morgan Stanley gets payback for taking more risk 22 Mar 2006 A great proprietary trading result saw the Wall Street firm handsomely beat expectations in Q1. The problem is that investment banking and asset management were weak. And these are the areas that investors should value most.
Sanpaolo shouldn’t be tempted by ho-hum merger 22 Mar 2006 The E29bn Italian bank should be engaging in a vigorous costcutting takeover of one of its smaller rivals. But that's not its style. The worry is that, out of a desire to avoid being bought by big shareholder Santander, it might instead go for a lowimpact merger with MPS.
Arab stock market price-keeping operation doomed 21 Mar 2006 Allowing foreign residents to buy Saudi stocks won t provide more than a temporary fillip. Other government measures to hold up the market will fail as long as Arab stocks remain grossly overvalued.
Boards responsible for US corporate pay excesses 17 Mar 2006 Senior managers' windfall on the takeover of North Fork bank was so large they ve handed much of it back. Greedy CEOS and compliant compensation consultants are not to blame for the pay scandal. It s lax directors who should take the rap.