WASHINGTON | By Pablo Pardo | Criticism to the fine imposed by the United States department of Justice to Credit Suisse have been almost universal. For instance, The New Yorker’s John Cassidy has remarked that Credit Suisse’s CEO, Brady Dougan, has said that “we have found no instances where clients cannot do business with us,” as a proof of the lack of impact of the $2.5 bn. (EUR1.9 bn.) fine.
MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | S&P has upgraded Spain’s credit rating for the first time since stripping the country of its AAA grade in 2009, increasing its assessment to BBB from BBB- and saying the outlook is stable. But ten-year Spanish bond yields stay at 3.004% following last week’s auction, while the U.S. benchmark 10-year note yield, was up 1.5 basis points at 2.550%, according to Tradeweb. A BBB player is getting more or less the same treatment in the market as a AA+.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
MADRID | By Álex García.
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.
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.