The WSJ is leaking information about the results of the stress test. Is this a coincidence just before the FOMC-meeting? Word is out that Citigroup and Bank of America are told to raise more capital.
Than we like the Italians more: they seized 300 mln USD in assets from 4 banks. Italian banks? Of course not. JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, UBS and Depfa are the ‘victims’. In pure Latin American style their officials have been accused of fraud.
It’s tough to be a banker these days.
In tiny Belgium a shareholder meeting of Fortis started this morning and is 6 hours later the first vote has still to come. The bankers are surrounded by bodyguards and everbody is yelling to everybody.
Pure Italian style.
We find this in The Telegraph:
As the recession tightens its grip on the economy, guess who's doing just fine, thank you very much. Yes, after a blip last year, bankers are raking it in again. City and Wall Street bonuses are likely to bounce back in 2009, virtually unhindered by tight-fisted remuneration committees or draconian rules.
At the darkest hour of the financial crisis, when banks were going bust and governments were stepping in to save the system, it looked as if investment bankers' glory days were over – if not for ever, then at least for a respectable interlude, while the corpses were buried and the injured carried off the field.
But a quarter is a long time in banking. In recent months, profits have staged a remarkable recovery, as financial markets stabilised. Barclays and Goldman Sachs reported a sharp improvement in their fixed income, currencies and commodities businesses in the first quarter, while J P Morgan enjoyed "record results in credit trading, emerging markets and rates". At some banks, losses on old, bad debt continue to dent profits, but current conditions are surprisingly favourable
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