Wall Street banks disagree on outlook 19 Jul 2004 Depending on which firm is talking, the pipeline is either full or virtually empty. Setbacks last week in equity capital markets, however, suggest things are less than rosy.
Bond market bite leaves mark on Merrill 13 Jul 2004 The investment bank s revenues declined in every business line except private clients in the second quarter from the first. The Goldilocks scenario of rising corporate finance and equities revenue offsetting declining trading income just isn't panning out.
HSBC got good deal with M&S Money 13 Jul 2004 Returns on the deal ought to be near 20%. That's not surprising given that the most obvious competitors Barclays and HBOS couldn't bid. But M&S still seems to have done OK. HSBC can only make a good return because of the genuine synergies it brings.
Morgan Stanley sexism case not a watershed 13 Jul 2004 The bank s $54m settlement is clearly a victory for women working on Wall Street or in the City. But it probably won t make life too much easier for them, especially in corporate finance.
Forbes editor’s murder highlights Russian crisis 11 Jul 2004 The assassination of the campaigning financial journalist comes amidst a banking crisis and the Yukos saga. If Putin wants to dispel Russia s Wild East image, he must leave no stone unturned in nailing the editor s killers.
Commerz should rethink securities business 9 Jul 2004 Commerz should rethink securities business Commerz has long had ambitions too big for its balance sheet. Keeping Dalman suggests that they are still confused. Mehmet Dalman, head of Commerzbank Securities, denies reports that he was planning to leave. That may be so, but his business is a bad fit.
JP Morgan sued for alleged ego premium 1 Jul 2004 The classaction suit alleges the bank paid an unnecessary $7bn of premium to Bank One to secure the CEO s job for Bill Harrison. The allegations cut to the heart of what bankers call the social issues of deals. But it s hard to see them stacking up.
Can Goldman keep a confidence? 30 Jun 2004 The question has been raised as a result of a sidesquabble in the current phoney war for M&S, the UK retailer. The facts aren't entirely clear. But, prima facie, Goldman s behaviour doesn't look good.
Cazenove profit trebles to £42m 30 Jun 2004 But this was in a rebound year for the capital markets. And Caz s return on equity remains unsatisfactory. Caz says it s benchmarking specific takeover proposals against staying independent. It needs to raise the bar.
Cazenove shouldn’t necessarily sell itself 27 Jun 2004 A goitalone strategy might be better. But only if the UK broker is able to engineer a cultural revolution. That may be hard. But a cultural revolution will certainly happen if it sells itself to Lehman.
Revamping CSFB is CS’s least-bad option 25 Jun 2004 Not that revamping CSFB will be easy either. Especially as it will require commitment and it's not clear CS is up for it. A fullblown merger with a European rival or selling off CSFB would both be extremely problematic.
John Mack to quit CSFB 24 Jun 2004 His abrupt departure, before CSFB's turnaround is complete, raises big questions about the group's commitment to investment banking. The possibility of a sale of CSFB can't be ruled out now that the conservative Swiss have closed ranks at the group.
Morgan Stanley’s A-team slow to catch on 23 Jun 2004 Its creation of a socalled Ateam of hotshot bankers to market to clients seems to have worked well in terms of results. Normally, other banks copy good ideas with alacrity. But in this case, they re more cautious.
Trading still the key to Goldman Sachs 22 Jun 2004 True, the firm reported an impressive boost from the advisory side in its second quarter figures. But the difference alone in equity trading revenues in the quarter exceeded the revenues advisory brought in.
RSA life disposal caught in a bind 22 Jun 2004 RSA has already squeezed most of the juice out of its closed life fund. It is only attractive if you can consolidate it with other funds. The snag is that consolidation is stuck in treacle.
Wachovia in $14bn bank acquisition 21 Jun 2004 This deal shows the urge to merge is still strong in the US, and there is a lot of cost to be squeezed from inmarket consolidation. The snag is that the prices fetched by US banks, like Wachovia s target SouthTrust, are higher than can be justified by the cost synergies.
Lazard IPO pitches bolster Wasserstein 18 Jun 2004 It s a wise move for Lazard s chief to entertain investment bankers ideas for a public offering of the M&A house. The pitch sheets give Bruce Wasserstein a fabulous incentive tool for his troops and a way to mute family scion DavidWeill s whining.
Lehman deftly beats 2Q estimates 15 Jun 2004 The US securities firm posted an estimatebeating quarter despite falling fixedincome revenues, largely through cost discipline. That's great but Lehman showed no evidence that its clientdriven businesses are sufficiently robust to pick up slack from trading.
Analysts take on journalists at newsbreaking 14 Jun 2004 It used to be analysts made their careers picking stocks not breaking stories. Some are now trying to do both. In the postSpitzer era, this may be one way to justify their value to clients and bosses. But it raises some troubling questions.
Cazenove may be Barcap chief’s reward 11 Jun 2004 It was always likely that Bob Diamond would be given a big sweetie to cheer him up after missing out on the top job at Barclays. That may be the price of keeping him. The snag is that few investment banking acquisitions make much financial sense.