Markets

EMU

Without a banking union, EMU makes no sense

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Financial integration that will result from the European banking union will definitely help to reduce systemic risks and simplify an industry that deeply questioned during the crisis. Strengthening capital standards, as established in the Basel III framework, as well rethinking the role of the once ‘too big to fail’ entities are some of the regulatory changes, Governor of the Bank of Spain, Pablo Linde, explained in Madrid on Thursday.


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Market chatter: Debt, stock and currency markets in full swing

MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | Spanish Treasury broke a new record on Thursday amid the ECB’s easing hopes. “Spanish bonds reduced spread vs. the equivalent German benchmark almost 20 points in just a couple of days. Stock markets are moving forward without a clear direction, although uncertainty is smaller than in public debt markets” The Corner senior analyst Francisco López explains. 

 


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Market chatter: Foreign investors courting Spanish real estate firms and much more

MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | Chinese real estate sector saw its outlook downgraded by Moody’s while Spanish housing sector keeps on moving forward, appealing institutional investors. Blackstone, PSP, Drago Capital, Colonial represent the increasing appetite for properties in Madrid and Barcelona. And don’t miss Fed’s Charles Plosser words: he believes the US central bank is “sitting on a ticking bomb.”

  


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ATL: “Peripheral stocks have been investors’ wisest choice this year”

MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | Investors looking for a safe heaven who bet on peripheral debt and stocks have seen their profits jump. “Holding Greek 10-year bonds has brought 20% profitability in just 4 months. Portuguese debt is also to highlight. Spanish 10-year bonds (over 6% profitability) are trading at a higher yield than the stock market index,” ATL Capital Strategy Director Marta Díaz-Bajo explains for The Corner.


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Liberbank’s capital increase: connecting the dots

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Medium sized Spanish entity Liberbank, born from four vanished savings banks hit by the crisis, reflected on Tuesday the renowed interest of foreign investors in Spain’s banking sector. The lender was able to turn its 2012’s losses of €1.8 bn into profits of 48 million in 2013.



inflation rate ez

Market chatter: Weidmann says ECB must closely watch euro

MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | The most critical voice about the ECB’s doing something about the euro zone’s persistent low inflation, Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, said on Monday that the ECB will watch the euro’s exchange rate closely before taking policy decisions. Also, AstraZeneca turned down the allegedly “last” bid offer from Pfizer, worth €8bn.


Fed1

S&P 500 indisputably overrated

MADRID | By Luis Arroyo | You cannot control financial stability and real economy with just one instrument. I guess the Fed is hoping for excesses to get fixed by themselves, but macro-prudential policy is failing again. Markets are giving their backs to reality. The bad news is that a sudden stop would put us all in hell.

 


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Did Deutsche Bank plan to go viral right before its capital increase?

MADRID | By Ana Fuentes | If you haven’t watched it, here’s Deutsche Bank’s co-head of corporate banking and securities Colin Fan scolding City traders and trying to convince the world that they’ve done some ménage after the crisis. Remember that the lender paid a €725m penalty to the EU in the Libor scandal; the biggest single fine in a total of €1.7bn charged to six banks.“Being boastful, indiscreet or vulgar is not okay. It will have serious consequences for your career,” Mr Fan warned its staff. Instead of an email, the bank chose the formula of an “internal” video… which went viral just before the German lender started making headlines for its plans of selling €8bn worth of new shares. A plan that is supposed to catapult Deutsche out of the ranks of the worst capitalized banks in Europe -from 9.5 per cent to 11.8 per cent.