Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn banks. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng
Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn banks. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng

Thứ Tư, 27 tháng 3, 2013

Cyprus banks to reopen on Thursday

Bank of Cyprus branchBank of Cyprus is the country's largest bank

Banks in Cyprus are to reopen on Thursday at 10:00 GMT, 10 days after they closed to prevent a bank run as a controversial bailout was negotiated.

Banks will open their doors between noon and 18:00 local time, the spokesperson for the Cypriot central bank said.

Cyprus is also to introduce capital controls, with exact details expected to be finalised later on Wednesday.

Earlier, the boss of the Bank of Cyprus was sacked.

The capital controls are to be imposed as Cyprus seeks to raise 5.8bn euros ($7.4bn; £4.9bn) to qualify for a 10bn-euro bailout from the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the so-called troika.


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Thứ Ba, 26 tháng 3, 2013

Banks told to raise more capital

The Gherkin and Canary WharfBanks will be collectively be told to raise more capital - but not which ones need the most

The Bank of England will tell the UK's banks they must raise more capital to absorb potential future losses.

The Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee (FPC) will make the ruling later on Wednesday.

The move is its first big initiative since it was created by Chancellor George Osborne to maintain the stability of the banking system.

The BBC's business editor, Robert Peston, says the order will come as rather a disappointment to the banks.

Four years on from the financial crisis which began in 2008, the banks have been taking steps to strengthen themselves.

Despite that, our correspondent says, the UK's banks still do not have enough capital to absorb potential future losses on loans.

He also says the view of the Bank of England is that the banks will not provide the credit needed for economic recovery unless and until they raise additional capital.

The Bank of England has spent five months looking at whether the banks should raise more capital.

“Start Quote

Cyprus is a reminder that the notion of the banks having to absorb big additional losses before too long is not a purely academic one”

End Quote

Under the rules for the FPC, devised by the chancellor, it can and will make a declaration that the banks as a group have to raise a specific amount of new capital.

Closer scrutiny

But it cannot and will not say that any particular bank in that group has to raise a particular amount.

In the short term this will be seen as bad news by investors, including taxpayers who own more than 80% of Royal Bank of Scotland and almost 40% of Lloyds.

It means the day when these banks can resume dividend payments will be delayed again, meaning that a return to private ownership will also be delayed.

The Bank of England's FPC has overall responsibility for financial regulation in the UK and is part of a new order of regulation designed to keep the banks under closer scrutiny.

It will oversee, and have the power to instruct, two new financial watchdogs: the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which will take over responsibility for supervising the safety and soundness of individual financial firms and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which will be tasked with protecting consumers from sharp practices, and making sure that workers in the financial services sector comply with rules.


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Thứ Hai, 25 tháng 3, 2013

Cyprus banks closed until Thursday

laiki bank in CyprusLaiki Bank and Bank of Cyprus will remain shut until later in the week

Most Cypriot banks are to reopen on Tuesday, although the two at the centre of the crisis, Bank of Cyprus and Laiki, will remain shut until Thursday.

The country's president, Nicos Anastasiades said there would be limits on some transactions, but did not give full details.

Capital controls to prevent money leaving the country are already in place.

Certain limits on the size of cash withdrawals are expected to continue.

The banks' reopening came after Cyprus agreed a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU) that releases 10bn euros in support.

It was conditional on Cyprus itself raising billions of euros, which it will do by way of a tax on deposits of more than 100,000 euros (£85,000).

The banks shut a week ago after the country's first money-raising solution, which would have hit smaller deposit holders as well as larger holding, was rejected.

Mr Anastasiades said the restrictions would be temporary.

'Specific case'

On Monday morning, hopes the deal would solve the crisis lifted shares.

But later stock markets were rocked after the head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers suggested that the deal for Cyprus model could form a template in any future bailout.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who as head of the Eurogroup played a key role in the Cyprus negotiations, said the deal represented a new template for resolving future eurozone banking problems.

"If there is a risk in a bank our first question should be 'OK, what are you in the the bank going to do about that?'," he told Reuters and the Financial Times.

He later added a clarification, saying that Cyprus was "a specific case with exceptional challenges".

The Cyprus deal puts the burden for dealing with problem banks on their shareholders and creditors - in this particular case, customers with large bank balances - rather than the government and taxpayers, or bondholders, who lend through financial markets.

“Start Quote

The deal hammered out for Cyprus last night isn't 'fair'. Cyprus has not received the same treatment as other bailed-out eurozone economies”

End Quote

The BBC's Andrew Walker points out that the more common approach to failing banks in the current crisis has been for the state to inject new capital.

He says Cyprus's banks are unusual in that they have relatively few financial market investors who could be tapped.

In the past, nations such as Ireland have pumped billions of taxpayers' money into propping up their banks, rather than risk upsetting large investors and spooking the financial system.

Small savers protected

Mr Dijsselbloem said the pattern for bank rescues should see shareholders take the first hit, then bondholders, who lend money through financial markets, and only then should depositors with large bank balances.

“Start Quote

The bailout and rescue of Cyprus by the eurozone and IMF will not feel like much of a rescue to its people, who face economic misery”

End Quote

The Cypriot government suggested that account holders with deposits of more than 100,000 euros should expect to lose about 30% of their balances.

Major depositors, many of whom are wealthy Russians, will not be able to access accounts exceeding the 100,000-euro limit until the restructuring of the banks is complete.

Small savers will be protected but Cyprus's second largest bank - Laiki Bank - will be wound up and split into "good" and "bad" banks, with its good assets eventually merged into the Bank of Cyprus, the country's biggest bank.

The UK's FTSE 100 index ended the day down 0.2%, while Germany's Dax gave up 0.5%, and France's Cac lost 1.1%. In New York, the Dow Jones was 0.5% lower.

In Madrid, the market slipped 2.5% while the Milan index was down 2.27%.

The euro was also driven lower, falling to a six-week low against the pound. The euro was down 0.6% to 84.74 pence.

'Deep recession'

Jeroen Dijsselbloem

Jeroen Dijsselbloem

  • Aged 46, member of Dutch Labour party
  • Became Netherlands finance minister four months ago and took over as chair of Eurogroup in January
  • Criticised by predecessor Jean-Claude Juncker and MEPs over initial terms of Cyprus bailout
  • No previous experience in finance but studied agricultural economics and business
  • Favours reform of the financial sector and a Europe where 'every country brings its budget in order'

The new deal for Cyprus, unlike previous agreements, does not require the approval of the Cypriot parliament.

The uncertainty over the future of Cyprus in the eurozone was sparked a week ago when its parliament rejected an earlier bailout deal, which also included a controversial bank levy.

Despite the Cypriot economy's relatively small size, many analysts had been concerned that the crisis would spread to the wider eurozone, had Cyprus been forced to give up the single currency.

There were fears that the country's possible exit from the euro would trigger a loss of confidence across the single currency bloc, and prompt investors to withdraw from other troubled economies, such as Greece.

However, while Cyprus is now likely to remain in the eurozone, the country still faces significant obstacles as it attempts to recover from the crisis.

The EU-IMF deal involves a massive restructuring of the Cypriot banking system, as well as austerity measures and tax increases.

There has also been significant public anger in Cyprus at the intervention of European authorities, and the credibility of the Cypriot government has been questioned.

"We see a risk that Cyprus' sovereign debt burden post-bailout might not be sustainable, as the country is likely to enter a deep recession caused by the shrinkage of the banking sector and severe deleveraging," warned Reinhard Cluse, an economist at UBS.


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Chủ Nhật, 24 tháng 3, 2013

Profit at Big Five banks 'wiped out'

Skyline of Canary Wharf in LondonKPMG says that banks have made progress

The major UK banks saw a 45% rise in core profits in 2012, but that hike was wiped out by a mix of regulation and their own mistakes, a KPMG report says.

Its performance report looks at Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS and Standard Chartered.

It says the banks' combined core profits last year were £31.5bn.

But this was eliminated by the "cost of past mistakes and increased creditworthiness of their own debt" the audit firm's report says.

"Dire"

This development meant that the major banks actually saw their statutory profits slump 40% on the previous year, at £11.7bn, KPMG added.

The banks, it says, were hit by PPI costs of £7.4bn - up from £5.7bn in 2011,

In addition, there were other fines and penalties from regulators and "redress provisions" of £4.7bn, and a £12.8bn accounting hit for losses caused by the revaluation of "own debt'", "reflecting the credit markets' more positive view on bank issuers and interest rate movements".

"Banks had a better performance year in 2012 but their improved core profits were eaten up by fines and other exceptional items, leaving them down on 2011," said Bill Michael of KPMG.

He added: "In terms of their reputations, 2012 was a dire year. This is why it is so important for them to address cultural and ethical perceptions and issues. Restoring customer trust is critical."

'Essential function'

However the report does acknowledge the improvement in core performance from the banks, and says it is due to two main factors.

Better credit performance has meant that impairment (bad loan) charges have continued to fall with continued low interest rates enabling the majority of customers to pay their mortgages and even reduce their credit exposures.

And stronger investment banking results have meant that revenues were generally up, especially in rates businesses, helped in large part by more positive sentiment surrounding the future of the eurozone.

But the report also points out that current events in Cyprus show that such sentiment can be transitory,

"Overall, banks have made progress," said Mr Michael. "They have strengthened their balance sheets and made strides to bolster their capital.

"They are becoming better able to carry out their essential function of providing support to businesses and promoting economic growth. However, the necessary changes to address conduct and behavioural failings will have a significant cost."


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