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Markets 28th April 2014

Former ECB executive: Draghi’s inaction weighing on credit lending

MADRID | By The Corner | For the first time a Spanish bank top executive has openly criticized the impact of the European Central Bank’s inaction on EZ credit lending. Spanish 2nd bank BBVA’s Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo, also a former ECB board member, explained how banks are waiting to see which unconventional measures will Mr Draghi undertake, which is “fundamental for credit,” he said to Reuters on Monday. Some entities are also holding back on new credit plans and selling sovereign debt before the health checks due around October. 

 

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Markets 24th April 2014

Stress tests: EU banks start tarting up

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | As the ECB’s crucial examination comes closer, all European entities, from the core to the periphery, have started studying different formulas to show the best capital ratios possible. German banks would imminently issue CoCos, while Italy’s could be about to create a joint bad bank and Spain is to monetize around €40 bn of deferred tax assets. The stress tests’ results will be released at the end of October 2014.

China shadow banking

Markets 3rd April 2014

China: shadow finance for the masses

Iris Mir | Tight control of capital accounts has pushed China to a financial deadlock.  Chinese savers are looking to new online investment platforms amid a  lack of substantial wealth management options. Last year China’s Internet payment platform launched the online investment platform Yu’e Bao to offer its users the possibility of investing the idle money on their Alipay accounts and getting much higher benefits than any traditional bank. More than 43.03 million people already enjoy its advantageous financial products. The opportunities of this business model are huge  and many other Chinese internet giants are following suit.

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Markets 31st March 2014

A return to capital markets for Greek banks but no return to domestic lending

ATHENS | By Jens Bastian via Macropolis | In the future we may look back on the past two weeks as a watershed moment for Greek banks following the onset of the twin financial and sovereign debt crisis in 2009. After extensive and well prepared international road shows, financial institutions in Athens attracted unprecedented levels of foreign investors’ interest for bond placements and capital-raising initiatives.

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In Europe 14th March 2014

Spain Will Use Spies To Watch Over Banks’ Abuses

MADRID | By The Corner Team | Scandals such as Bankia’s selling preference shares to thousands of Spaniards who had no clue of what they were buying will not happen again, hopefully, if this new plan works: the country’s regulator will send spies to watch how the banks sell financial products, and to what extent their staff knows what they are. The Netherlands, Belgium and France have already implemented this ‘007 method’.

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In Europe 27th February 2014

Greece, the troika and banks’ capital needs: A step-by-step guide

ATHENS | Op-ed by MacroPolis | [NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: This article was published ahead of Troika officials’ meeting with Bank of Greece (BoG) governor Giorgos Provopoulos on Wednesday]. As local lenders’ capital needs have shot to the top of the agenda in the current round of talks between Greece and its lenders and ahead of the troika’s arrival on Monday, it had been widely reported that Greek banks would need no more than 6 billion euros. However, there is now speculation that the troika believes this figure will be much higher. Here is our take on how this disagreement came about and what the outcome might be.

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In Europe 25th February 2014

What lies at the heart of differences over Greek banks’ capital needs?

ATHENS | By MacroPolis | Following a meeting last week between Bank of Greece (BoG) senior officials with the top management of the four Greek systemic banks (Alpha, Eurobank, National and Piraeus), where the central bank reportedly informed lenders that their capital needs amount to around 5 billion euros, a Financial Times report published on Monday puts things in a completely different perspective.

Spanish banks

World economy 17th February 2014

Spanish banks poised to face trouble

MADRID | By JP Marin Arrese | Not so long ago, markets gauged solvency problems in Spain to lay in former saving banks as many found themselves in a shambles. Few investors cast doubts on the main credit institutions, staunchly anchored in their extensive non-domestic business. Yet sentiment has markedly shifted as trouble is looming on Latin America. Argentina undoubtedly stands as a weird and quirky case. Still, the peso collapse has sent shivers down the spine.