Lloyds to raise 21 billion pounds in biggest rights issue ever

Lloyds are looking to avoid the embrace of government by going to existing shareholders to raise capital and sidestep the draconian break-up solution foisted upon RBS by Neelie Kroes. According to Bloomberg, this is the largest rights issue ever for a British company and equates to $34 billion. All of this must be excruciating for

PM Brown rejects BoE Head King’s call for breaking up big banks

If our response focuses only on the symptoms rather than the underlying causes of the crisis, then we shall bequeath to future generations a serious risk of another crisis even worse than the one we have experienced. -Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England The Bank of England head has come out unequivocally against

The RBS and HBOS sinkholes

This comes via the Telegraph: UK Financial Investments (UKFI) said in its annual report that its loss on the two stakes – 70pc of RBS and 43pc of Lloyds Banking Group – had reached £10.9bn at the end of June. The losses, which are not yet realised, have been wracked up since Gordon Brown was

HBOS and RBS get a right bollocking

I watched the proceedings of the UK Treasury Committee with HBOS and RBS this morning on Bloomberg UK TV and it was a dismal sight. It had the feel of the Nuremburg trials, honestly. The clip below doesn’t do justice to how tense the atmosphere was.

I will say this: these men from HBOS and RBS ran very aggressive organizations, piling in to all manner of risk at the top of the market. While they dissemble and prevaricate, it is plainly obvious that they did not see the risks in their actions, nor did they want to

The worst M&A deals of all-time

As the financial industry further unraveled yesterday, Mathieu Robbins of the Irish Indendent asked a worthwhile question: Was RBS the idiot company of all-time in buying ABN Amro at the top of the market? Robbins says no and offers up nine other equally monstrous deals that all went seriously pear-shaped to prove it

Recapitalising Britain

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has finally pulled the trigger. In the most momentous move yet in the credit crisis, the UK government is effectively partially nationalising the UK banking system. For months, I have maintained that the financial system needed to be recapitalised in the UK and elsewhere. If any country is to work its

Europe is in for a rude awakening

The Europeans have no idea what is about to hit them. Their banking system is collapsing and European politicians are fighting amongst themselves. At French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s crisis summit, the politicians were unable to craft a comprehensive or wide-reaching response to deal with the banking crisis. Meanwhile, the carnage in European banking is increasing.

Lloyds gets HBOS for a song

Lloyds TSB has announced that it will buy rival HBOS for 232 pence a share. Back in May 2007, just over a year ago, HBOS shares were trading for almost £17 each. However, HBOS closed trading today at £1.47, sustaining a loss of over 90% in 16 months time. While HBOS is often touted as

S&P cuts HBOS counterparty credit ratings

In yet another move by ratings agencies likely to roil markets, HBOS has been cut by S&P. Given the fact that HBOS is the biggest loser to date in the European banking sector in the wake of Lehman’s collapse. This cannot be seen as good news. Standard & Poor’s said Tuesday it is lowering its

Lehman fallout: HBOS and RBS are getting slaughtered

Don’t think that it is just the U.S. that has to worry about systemic risk. The Europeans have their own problems and the weaker financial institutions are getting absolutely killed in European trading right now. RBS is down nearly 13%. But HBOS is the top loser in the UK, down almost 25%. Are we about

Relative value in financial services

Not every financial services sector company is a basket case destined for bankruptcy. There are many well-run lower risk organizations in the bunch. Moreover, let’s not blame the banking model for individual companies’ woes. The Economist had a good article this weekend highlighting the fact that it is not the universal banking model which is

Deutsche Bank and HBOS hit by writedowns

The major European banks have gotten into the swing of things with their own reporting season. Today, Deutsche Bank and HBOS reported earnings. Deutsche Bank recorded a pre-tax profit of 642 millioneuros after writedowns of $3.6 billion due to the credit crunch. This takes Deutsche’s total writedowns toover $10 billion since the credit crunch began.