Sunday, April 28, 3:17 AM
Credit Suisse (CS) and Texas-based Lone Star Funds have agreed to pay €6.7B ($8.7B) to acquire the the assets of Royal Park Investments, a vehicle created in May 2009 to manage the toxic assets of Belgium's collapsed Fortis bank. The Belgian government, one of Royal Park's largest shareholders, will receive €1B, thereby allowing it to cut its debt by 0.2% of GDP. Fortis successor company Ageas, an insurer, will receive €1.04B. (PR)
Comment![Financials, Top Stories, M&A]
Friday, January 18, 12:31 PM
Crisis over? BNP Paribas and Societe Generale could begin repaying their ECB LTRO loans within weeks, reports Bloomberg. With the easing of financial pressure, the banks have been able to raise money the old-fashioned way at rates comparable to what the ECB charges.
Comment![Financials, Global & FX]
Friday, October 26, 2012, 8:36 AM
Paris is busily rebounding from S&P's negative rating actions on the French banks overnight. BNP Paribas (BNPQY.PK) was cut to A+ from AA-, while SocGen (SCGLY.PK) and Credit Agricole (CRARY.PK) were given a negative outlook. "The economic risks under which French banks operate have increased in our view." The CAC 40 +0.2% after a near 1% early decline.
Comment![Global & FX, Financials]
Thursday, September 6, 2012, 6:40 PM
If shareholders crush the Glen-Xstrata merger tomorrow, the pain will be deep for the 10 investment banks that worked on the deal. BNP Paribas, which advised Glencore, would suffer the steepest fall in the global M&A adviser rankings, sliding from no. 14 to no. 23; BofA (BAC), which wasn’t on the deal, would benefit most, rising from no. 8 to no. 4.
Comment![Financials, M&A]
Monday, April 2, 2012, 3:57 AM
Some of Europe's biggest banks are preparing to pay back some LTRO funds in the next 12 months. The banks, which sources say include UniCredit, BNP Paribas and SocGen, are keen to repay the money as soon as they can - December of this year - even though they have until Dec. 2014 and Feb. 2015.
Comment![Global & FX, Financials]
Wednesday, February 22, 2012, 10:17 AM
Morgan Stanley sees the chance of multiple earnings upgrades for EU banks as the wave of liqudity from ECB's LTRO is stoking action. January was likely the best month for credit trading in 2 years, MS says, and FICC (fixed income, commodity, and currency) revenue could double in Q1 from Q4.
Comment![Global & FX, Financials]
Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 4:30 PM
Wells Fargo (WFC) has agreed to buy an energy loan portfolio with a face value of $11B from BNP Paribas (BNOBF.PK). Only $4B of the loans have thus far been drawn by borrowers. The deal is part of a broader effort by BNP to reduce its balance sheet by ~10% by year's end. Many other European banks are also conducting asset sales.(previously)
Comment![Financials]
Friday, February 17, 2012, 11:44 AM
BNP Paribas (BNPQY.PK) provides a window into the ECB's LTRO, saying it took advantage of the cheap funding in December, but deposited most of the money right back with the ECB. A bit less scared now, the bank is looking at ways of more usefully deploying it. (earnings earlier)
Comment![Global & FX, Financials]
Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 2:45 AM
BNP Paribas (BNPQY.PK) Q4 net income -51% to €765M. Revenue -6.1% to €9.7B. Took a €567M impairment on its Greek sovereign debt, increased its provisions so that 75% of its exposure to Greek debt is now covered, and reduced sovereign debt outstanding by 29%. Declares a dividend of €1.2/share, down from €2.1/share in 2010.
Comment![Global & FX, Financials, Earnings]
Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 7:32 AM
Formerly bearish on all things financial in Europe, CLSA's Chris Wood eyes rumors the ECB's LTRO on Feb. 29 could hit €1T (LTRO #1 was €489B) and reverses his view. He sees the euro continuing to sink, but EU financials wiping out the shorts in a "violent bear market rally."
Comment![Global & FX, Quick Ideas]
Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 4:47 PM
Unicredit shareholders meet Thursday to approve a €7.5B rights issue that will be eyed closely by the entire banking industry. "If they fail, everyone else will fail," says an industry source. EU banks need to raise €115B in capital based on the latest EBA stress test, an amount that won't be reached by fancy accounting and selling assets. Unicredit has the 2nd highest capital needs. Banco Santander (STD) takes the #1 spot, needing €15B.
Comment![Global & FX, Financials]
Friday, December 2, 2011, 7:45 AM
Believing much of this week's central bank action to be symbolic, Fitch says already dwindled EU bank access to dollars could get worse. The challenge is especially significant for French banks as 54% of U.S. money market fund exposure to the lenders matures in 7 days or less as of the end of October vs. just 7% at the end of June.
1 Comment[Global & FX, Financials]
Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 3:08 PM
Banking troubles are spilling over into the commodity trade as French lenders are among the gorillas in so-called trade finance - the credit lines that support Swiss-based commodity traders. With the French forced to pull in their horns, big shops like Glencore should be fine, but small-medium sized firms are already feeling the pinch.
1 Comment[Global & FX, Financials, Commodities]
Monday, September 12, 2011, 6:20 AM
French banks are worst off on fears of an imminent Moody's downgrade. In Europe, SocGen (SCGLY.PK) is -9.6%, BNP Paribas (BNPQF.PK) is -11%, and Credit Agricole (CRARF.PK) is -9.7% - leading a 4% drop in Paris's CAC. The pressure on SocGen - which has dropped 50% since Aug. 1 - comes despite today's attempts to calm investor worries.
1 Comment[Financials, Global & FX]
Thursday, August 11, 2011, 7:09 AM
This is getting ridiculous. After opening more than 8% higher following the release of a statement insisting all is well, SocGen (SCGLY.PK) shares have again turned sharply lower, -4.2%, in Paris. European shares have turned tail as well, giving up 3%+ early gains. Stoxx 50 -0.6%. France -0.5%. Germany clinging to green, +0.5%.
1 Comment[Global & FX, Financials]