Banking stocks were mixed in London on Tuesday, after the coalition government outlined plans to raise a new levy on the sector’s balance sheets in its first finance bill.George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, delivered his emergency Budget to the House of Commons.As expected, it included a raft of spending cuts and tax rises designed to address the UK’s growing deficit.
Asian stocks fell for the first time in nine sessions as investors took profits to calm the euphoria of the previous day’s risk trade rally spurred by Beijing’s moves to appreciate its currency.The FTSE Asia-Pacific index fell 0.9 per cent to 226.37, breaking its longest winning streak for 11 months in which equities in the region benefited from an 8.5 per cent bounce.
Tuesday 18:30 BST.A more sober assessment of the benefits accruing to the global economy from China’s de-pegging of the renminbi and renewed concerns about the European banking system is breaking stocks’ 10-day winning streak.The FTSE All-World equity index is down 0.5 per cent, commodities are lower and the euro is lower as a more cautious mood envelopes investors.
Cases such as AIG not being able to pay mounting claims on its derivatives contracts and the default of Lehman Brothers, a major player in over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets, have brought to the fore the systemic importance of derivatives for the overall financial system.As part of the shadow banking system, which largely lacks strict risk controls and supervision, the interconnectedness
George Osborne, presenting his first Budget as chancellor on Tuesday, unveiled plans to slash spending and raise taxes – including a rise in value added tax from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent – in order to bring down the UK’s vast deficit and set the country back on the path to sound public finances.Among the biggest casualties is spending by government departments, which, other than the protected
Stanley McChrystal, the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, has been recalled to Washington by the White House following publication of an article in which he and several of his aides criticised senior Obama administration officials.The general, who is under mounting pressure to demonstrate progress with his plan to defeat the Taliban, has been summoned to Washington following publication o
Competition officials in Brussels have extended the “temporary approval for state aid given to Germany’s troubled WestLB for an indefinite period, while they try to assess whether the bank’s restructuring plans will restore its long-term viability.The move, on Tuesday, comes nine months after Neelie Kroes, former European Union competition commissioner, made scathing criticisms of the bank, sayin
Societe Generale, France’s second-biggest bank, faced potential bankruptcy in January 2008 because of Jerôme Kerviel’s €50bn of unhedged positions, the star trader entrusted with selling off the positions told a Paris courtroom on Tuesday.“It was not possible to wait because the bank was in potential failure, said Maxime Kahn, who unwound the positions on three futures markets over three days of