RBS: The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc Instablogs

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Monday, May 20, 7:25 AM If Scotland were an independent state, its banking sector would have assets totaling 1250% of GDP, a U.K. government report says, throwing the financial risks inherent in a 2014 referendum on Scottish independence into stark relief. By contrast, Cyprus' banks had assets equivalent to 700% of economic output before the crisis. Such an "exceptionally large banking sector," centered around two large players in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Bank of Scotland would be vulnerable to financial shocks, the U.K. Treasury notes. Scotland's Finance Secretary called the report "a feeble attempt to undermine confidence" in an independent Scotland. Comment! [Global & FX, Financials]
Friday, May 17, 5:56 AM UBS upgrades global financials to Overweight from Underweight on a healing global economy, rebuilt capital, and the sector's shift "from being a net issuer to a net distributor of cash." Furthermore, the U.S. banking sector (XLF) is taken to Overweight as balance sheet strength and attractive valuations play well with the housing market recovery to create compelling opportunities. European banks (EUFN) are lifted to Neutral "with a preference towards Nordic and U.K. banks." Financials respond in London with LLoyds Banking Group (LYG) +2.3%, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) +3.3%, and Barclays (BCS) up 0.5%. 5 Comments [Financials, Global & FX]
Thursday, May 16, 9:17 AM Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) continues to slash expenses, announcing another 1.4K job cuts, these coming from the retail division. The bank - 81% state-owned - and hoping to become private again some day, has cut more than 30K positions and shed loads of assets since the financial crisis. Shares +2.1% premarket. 1 Comment [Financials]
Friday, May 3, 9:10 AM Premarket gainers: PKT +32%. YRCW +27%. INVN +18%. YY +8%. DDD +5%.
Losers: VCRA -35%. ZAGG -24%. GUID -23%. CHE -16%. ARNA -13%. CETV -13%. HMY -9%. LNKD -9%. AGNC -6%. RBS -6%. 3 Comments [On the Move]
Friday, May 3, 5:09 AM More on RBS' (RBS) Q1: Chairman says the bank may be "ready to privatize in a year." Losses tied to bad loans fall 26% as non-core assets have now fallen nearly 80% since the crisis. Business lending rises to £13.2B during the quarter. Shares -4.5% in London. Comment! [Earnings, Financials]
Friday, May 3, 4:46 AM RBS (RBS): Q1 net profit of £393M (versus £1.46B loss in Q1 2012) marks the first quarterly net profit for the firm since 2011. Impairments fall 26% and write downs tied to Ireland decline. Assets in the firm's bad bank fall to £53B. Results benefited from a handsome £249M DVA gain. Comment! [Earnings, Financials]
Thursday, April 25, 12:46 PM Jim O'Neill - the man in charge of the U.K.'s stakes in RBS and LYG - resigns today to return to BAML. It's taking longer than hoped to unload the government stakes (82% RBS, 40% Lloyds) as HMT ignores the well-heeled rule of trimming losers. However, political pressure for some sort of plan - maybe a breakup of the lenders or distribution of shares to the public - has been upped of late. 2 Comments [Financials]
Monday, April 22, 12:19 PM New regulations here and across the pond will eliminate $17B of trading revenue from the global banks, says Deutsche Bank - about 9% of total sales last year. The costs will be onerous enough, says Deutsche, as to maybe force the departure from FICC (bonds, commodities, currencies) trading of any firm with less than 6% market share. At risk: HBC, RBS, CS, MS, SCGLY.PK. UBS has already exited. 3 Comments [Financials]
Wednesday, April 17, 7:08 PM Déjà vu: Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) buys 4,000 "cheap" mortgage loans at auction in March for around half of the value of their unpaid principal. Why so cheap? Because the loans are "to U.S. borrowers who are having trouble paying them back," according to WSJ. To some, this undoubtedly seems like a case of an investment bank's short memory as RBS' ~£1BN in losses on sub-prime assets during the crisis ultimately precipitated its demise. Time will tell. 4 Comments [Financials]
Thursday, April 4, 3:30 AM A group of 21 claimants, including international investors and pension funds, has sued RBS (RBS) for allegedly misleading investors over its £12B cash call at the height of the financial crisis in April 2008. While the suit could be worth "hundreds of millions of pounds," that's less than a £4B claim that RBS and four former executives are facing from another group of investors - the RBoS Shareholders Action Group - over the cash call. Comment! [Financials]
Thursday, March 28, 9:21 AM The "generous" capital ratio imposed by the Bank of England - 7% by 2013's end vs. 10% in 2019 by Basel - may allow the country's lenders to avoid dilutive share shales. "There is no trigger for any fresh equity issuance," says analyst Ian Gordon, expecting "very limited" impact on existing capital plans. RBS -0.7%, LYG +0.7%, BCS +1.8%, HBC +1% premarket. Comment! [Financials]
Wednesday, March 27, 6:09 AM Various markets dive after the BOE spells out the continued massive risks to British banks. Half of the £25B that banks must raise this year has been factored into their capital-raising plans. All in all, major banks and building societies face a £50B reduction in their regulatory capital, although HSBC (HBC) doesn't face a shortfall. FTSE 100 -0.1%, S&P futures -0.2%. (PR) 1 Comment [Financials, Top Stories, On the Move, Global & FX]
Wednesday, March 27, 5:48 AM The Bank of England says U.K. banks must raise another £25B by the year-end to protect themselves against potential losses. The losses that the sector faces over three years on high-risk loans exceeds existing provisions by £30B; banks also face £10B of additional fines and costs for misconduct. (PR) 5 Comments [Breaking News, Global & FX, Financials]
Tuesday, March 26, 3:12 PM A breakup of (81% government-owned) RBS into "good" and "bad" banks hasn't been ruled out, a top Treasury official tells U.K. lawmakers. Calling the bank "fiendishly complicated," he says the move would be both time-consuming and costly. Last month, Treasury chief Osborne waved off the idea of a split, instead urging lawmakers to use their bank to good purpose by having it pump out more loans. Comment! [Financials]
Wednesday, March 20, 3:56 AM Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB) has sued Bank of America (BAC) JPMorgan (JPM), Citigroup (C) and 12 other major banks for losses caused by the manipulation of the Libor rate. Freddie, which invested in mortgage bonds and swaps tied to U.S. dollar Libor, is seeking a whole gamut of damages for what it sees as fraud, antitrust violations and breach of contract. The FHFA has already calculated that Freddie and Fannie Mae lost $3B in total because of the Libor manipulation. 11 Comments [Financials]
Monday, March 18, 10:53 AM Now concentrating on being the best retail operation it can be, RBS plans to invest £700M over the next 3 years to improve its U.K. bank branches. The plan includes refurbishing the stores and improving mobile banking services. The government continues to hold an 82% stake in the lender. Comment! [Financials]

RBS The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc

RBS

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc