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July 29 (Reuters) – Turkey’s Central Bank, which on Thursday raised its foreign currency reserve requirement to 10 percent from a previous 9.5 percent, said the measure would drain $719.6 million liquidity from the market.
The move is part of the central bank’s unwinding of financial-crisis induced measures intended to ease liquidity pressures. Turkey’s forex reserve requirements stood at 11 percent in December 2008.
(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson)
July 29 (Reuters) – Singapore’s central bank said on Thursday it will issue short-term bills next year, a fourth instrument for money markets, to help banks manage their liquidity.
Currently the central bank uses three instruments — foreign exchange swaps, money market borrowings and repos.
“MAS Bills will be our fourth instrument. These bills are negotiable, so banks needing liquidity can tell them or pledge them as collateral in interbank repo markets as well as the MAS Standing Facility,” said Heng Swee Keat, the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
“This will facilitate banks in managing their liquidity.”
He said the bills would be for up to three months and the authority was initially planning an issue of up to S$20 billion. (Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan)
WASHINGTON, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Fannie Mae (OTC Bulletin Board: FNMA) will redeem the principal amounts indicated for the following securities issues on the redemption dates indicated below at a redemption price equal to 100 percent of the principal amount redeemed, plus accrued interest thereon to the date of redemption:
Principal
Amount
Security
Type
Interest
Rate
Maturity Date
CUSIP
Redemption Date
$50,000,000
MTNR
3.000%
February 2, 2018
3136FJU33
August 2, 2010
$7,812,000
FINP
6.000%
August 3, 2022
3135A03G2
August 3, 2010
$65,000,000
MTN
2.000%
August 3, 2012
3136FHY66
August 3, 2010
$75,000,000
MTN
3.375%
February 3, 2016
3136FJ3L3
August 3, 2010
$25,000,000
MTNR
3.250%
November 3, 2015
3136FJQN4
August 3, 2010
$50,000,000
MTN
3.000%
February 3, 2015
3136FJS69
August 3, 2010
$75,000,000
MTN
1.500%
February 3, 2014
3136FJY47
August 3, 2010
$50,000,000
MTN
1.250%
February 3, 2015
3136FJZ20
August 3, 2010
$400,000,000
MTN
1.100%
February 3, 2012
31398AF31
August 3, 2010
$15,000,000
MTN
5.550%
February 4, 2028
3136F8S63
August 4, 2010
$30,000,000
MTNR
3.000%
February 4, 2019
3136F95Q2
August 4, 2010
$10,000,000
MTNR
3.000%
February 4, 2019
3136F95S8
August 4, 2010
$65,000,000
MTN
2.000%
February 4, 2015
3136FJ3W9
August 4, 2010
$50,000,000
MTN
3.400%
February 4, 2015
3136FJQ61
August 4, 2010
$100,000,000
MTN
1.900%
February 4, 2013
3136FJZ61
August 4, 2010
$100,000,000
MTN
3.000%
May 4, 2015
3136FMMM3
August 4, 2010
$75,000,000
MTN
0.550%
May 4, 2015
3136FMPC2
August 4, 2010
$50,000,000
MTN
2.530%
May 4, 2017
3136FMPN8
August 4, 2010
$250,000,000
MTN
2.530%
February 4, 2014
31398AF64
August 4, 2010
Fannie Mae exists to expand affordable housing and bring global capital to local communities in order to serve the U.S. housing market. Fannie Mae has a federal charter and operates in America’s secondary mortgage market to enhance the liquidity of the mortgage market by providing funds to mortgage bankers and other lenders so that they may lend to home buyers. Our job is to help those who house America.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities of Fannie Mae. Nothing in this press release constitutes advice on the merits of buying or selling a particular investment. Any investment decision as to any purchase of securities referred to herein must be made solely on the basis of information contained in Fannie Mae’s applicable Offering Circular, and that no reliance may be placed on the completeness or accuracy of the information contained in this press release.
You should not deal in securities unless you understand their nature and the extent of your exposure to risk. You should be satisfied that they are suitable for you in the light of your circumstances and financial position. If you are in any doubt you should consult an appropriately qualified financial advisor.
RIYADH, July 20 (Reuters) – Saudi-based real estate developer Dar al-Arkan 4300.SE said second-quarter earnings fell by almost 30 percent on declining sales of building-ready land, its main revenue source.
Second-quarter net profit was broadly in line with analysts forecasts at 437 million riyals ($117 million), down 29.3 percent from 618.3 million riyals a year earlier, Saudi Arabia’s largest property developer by market value said in a statement to the Saudi bourse.
Analysts surveyed by Reuters had expected on average net profit of 431 million riyals.
“The decline in second-quarter net profit… is due to a decrease in the areas of sold land,” the company said without giving any figures.
Land sales generate the the bulk of revenues and profit for the firm: They accounted for 90 percent of its revenues during the first quarter and 96 percent of its gross profit for the period.
The repercussions of the global financial crisis have led to a drop in the amount of liquidity that goes into land speculation in Saudi Arabia, resulting mainly in a decline in the volume of transactions, industry sources say.
By end-June, earnings per share fell to 0.77 riyals down from 0.97 riyals a year earlier while net operating income fell 26.4 percent to 492 million riyals. (Reporting by Souhail Karam; Editing by Andrew Callus)
Summary January – June 2010, compared with January – June 2009
* Profit after tax for total operations increased to SEK 5,426 million (5,294) and
earnings per share amounted to SEK 8.73 (8.49)
* Tier 1 capital increased to SEK 86.6 billion (83.2) and the Tier 1 ratio according to
Basel II went up to 14.8 percent (12.6)
* Return on equity for total operations was 12.8 percent (13.1)
* Operating profit for continuing operations increased to SEK 7,331 million (7,251)
* Income decreased to SEK 15,662 million (16,606) and expenses fell to SEK -7,411
million (-7,520)
* During the first half of the year, the Bank refinanced a bond volume of SEK 170
billion corresponding to all maturing bonds up to February 2011 and the liquidity
reserve exceeded SEK 550 billion
* Net interest income went down to SEK 10,398 million (11,031)
* The average volume of lending decreased by 2 percent and household deposits in Sweden
grew by 4 percent
* Net fee and commission income went up by 10 percent to SEK 3,971 million (3,595)
* The loan loss ratio decreased to 0.12 percent (0.23), with loan losses amounting to
SEK -920 million (-1,835)
Summary of Q2 2010, compared with Q1 2010
* Profit after tax for total operations went down to SEK 2,573 million (2,853) and
earnings per share amounted to SEK 4.14 (4.59)
* Operating profit for continuing operations decreased to SEK 3,539 million (3,792)
* Income decreased to SEK 7,653 million (8,009) and expenses increased to SEK -3,745
million (-3,666)
* Loan losses went down to SEK -369 million (-551), and the loan loss ratio dropped to
0.09 percent (0.14)
* Return on equity for total operations was 12.0 percent (13.5)
* The average lending volume increased by SEK 18 billion and the volume of credit
commitments by SEK 13 billion
For further information, please contact:
Pär Boman, President and Group Chief Executive
phone +46 8 22 92 20
Ulf Riese, CFO
phone: +46 8 22 92 20
Mikael Hallåker, Head of Investor Relations
phone: +46 8-701 29 95, miha11@handelsbanken.se mailto:miha11@handelsbanken.se
HUG#1432634
Handelsbanken’s interim report January – June 2010
http://hugin.info/1225/R/1432634/378682.pdf
AMSTERDAM, July 18 (Reuters) – Gravis Capital Partners, which is set to create Britain’s first listed infrastructure fund focused on providing debt to projects, said it would successfully complete its initial public offering (IPO).
“We are very confident that we will comfortably exceed the minimum 35 million pounds ($53.7 million) we said we would accept, by how much I don’t know, but we will be closing successfully on Monday,” Gravis Managing Partner Stephen Ellis told Reuters.
Gravis is due to close the books on July 19 on a London IPO targeting 50 million pounds for its infrastructure fund to invest in subordinated debt of projects under the UK private finance initiative (PFI), such as schools and hospitals.
Demand for infrastructure debt funds soared after the onset of the financial crisis, as developers, keen to put less equity into projects, turned to lenders other than banks for, often mezzanine, debt for their infrastructure financing needs. [ID:nLDE61L1FF]
Gravis launched an unlisted retail infrastructure fund in June 2009, offering investors willing to commit at least 25,000 pounds a long-term, fixed, net annual rate of return of 8 percent, with subscriptions and redemptions on a monthly basis.
“A lot of people simply could not invest in something that was not London listed. It is very difficult to achieve additional liquidity when the underlying investments are by their nature relatively illiquid,” Ellis said.
HIGHER RETURNS
Gravis is set to become the fourth infrastructure fund listed in London, joining 3i Infrastructure (3IN.L), HSBC Infrastructure (HICL.L) and International Public Partnerships (INPP.L), which make mostly equity investments in projects.
“Because we are investing in debt and not infrastructure project companies, we are by definition more secure because we are higher up the capital structure. So it is an interesting proposition to be offering a higher yield at a lower risk,” Ellis said.
The three existing infrastructure funds average a yield of between 5.25 and 5.75 percent, whereas the Gravis listed fund is targeting dividend payments of 8 percent annually on each ordinary share, he added. “The other listed funds have to acquire an asset, drive down costs, introduce efficiencies and then they will get at some point a higher yield. We have a different model, we just enter a straightforward loan relationship right away,” Ellis said.
Rather than list its existing infrastructure fund, Gravis is publicly placing a new feeder fund at a price of one pound per ordinary share. The feeder fund, GCP Infrastructure Investments Limited, will then invest its capital in the unlisted fund.
The British government’s cuts on public works spending, including the PFI schools building programme, will have little impact on the fund, which focuses on the refinancing of existing projects rather than the financing of new ones, Ellis said.
As PFI contracts are linked to inflation, the fund also stands to benefit should investors become more concerned about the rate of price rises, he added.
Oriel Securities is acting as financial adviser and bookrunner on the IPO. (Editing by David Holmes) ($1=.6519 Pound)
BOUSSARD & GAVAUDAN HOLDING LIMITED
Ordinary Shares
The Directors of Boussard & Gavaudan Holding Limited would like to announce the
following information for the Company.
Close of business 08 Jul 2010.
Estimated NAV*
Euro Shares Sterling Shares
Estimated NAV € 12.9525 £ 12.1630
Estimated MTD return 0.35 % 0.34 %
Estimated YTD return 4.65 % 3.53 %
Estimated ITD return 29.53 % 21.63 %
NAV and returns are calculated net of management and performance fees
Market information
Euro Shares Amsterdam (AEX) London (LSE)
Market Close € 10.58 N/A
Premium/discount to estimated NAV -18.32 % N/A
Sterling Shares Amsterdam (AEX) London (LSE)
Market Close N/A GBX 955.00
Premium/discount to estimated NAV N/A -21.48 %
Transactions in own securities purchased into treasury
Ordinary Shares Euro Shares Sterling Shares
Number of shares N/A N/A
Average Price N/A N/A
Range of Price N/A N/A
Liquidity Enhancement Agreement Euro Shares Sterling Shares
Number of shares N/A N/A
Average Price N/A N/A
BGHL Capital
BGHL Ordinary Shares Euro Shares Sterling Shares
Shares Outstanding 50,233,768 1,568,514
Held in treasury 2,600,287 N/A
Shares Issued 52,834,055 1,568,514
*Since 1st of July 2010 the daily estimated NAV takes into account the impact of the
financial hedging of the conversion.
For further information please contact:
Boussard & Gavaudan Asset Management, L.P.
Emmanuel Gavaudan +44 (0) 207 514 07 00 Email : info@bgam-uk.com
mailto:info@bgam-uk.com
This document is issued by Boussard & Gavaudan Asset Management, L.P. which is
authorised and regulated in the conduct of investment business by the Financial Services
Authority in the United Kingdom. This document is for information purposes only and is
not an offer to invest. Boussard & Gavaudan Holding Limited is a closed-ended investment
company incorporated under the laws of Guernsey. Boussard & Gavaudan Holding Limited is
registered with the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets as a collective investment
scheme under article 1.107 of the Dutch Financial Markets Supervision Act. All
investment is subject to risk. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance,
and the price of shares in Boussard & Gavaudan Holding Limited can fall as well as rise.
Boussard & Gavaudan Asset Management, Calder House, 1 Dover Street, London, W1S 4LA
All statements in this document that are not historical fact are forward looking
statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the estimated net asset
value, monthly return and year to date return of Boussard & Gavaudan Holding Limited,
and statements containing the words believes , estimates , anticipates , expects ,
intends , may , will , or should or in each case, their negative or other variations or
similar expressions. Forward looking statements involve known and unknown risk,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the estimated results to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by
such forward looking statements. Forward looking statements speak only as of the date of
this document. Except as required by applicable law, Boussard & Gavaudan Holding Limited
and Boussard & Gavaudan Asset Management, L.P. expressly disclaim any obligation to
update or revise such forward-looking statements to reflect any change in expectations,
new information, subsequent events or otherwise.
Prospective investors are advised to seek expert legal, financial, tax and other
professional advice before making any investment decision. The value of investments may
fluctuate. Results achieved in the past are no guarantee of future results.
The data in this document does not include the information received after 7 PM UK time /
8 PM CET. For technical reasons those are included the following day.
HUG#1430557
July 5 (Reuters) – Key euro-priced bank-to-bank lending rates hit their highest levels in 10 months on Monday, days after banks paid back 442 billion euros to the European Central Bank.
The three-month Euribor rate EURIBOR3MD= — traditionally the main gauge of interbank euro lending and a mix of interest rate expectations and banks’ appetite for lending — climbed to 0.793 percent from 0.790 percent the previous day, the highest level since early September.
Shorter-term one-week rates EURIBORSWD= hit 0.456 percent from 0.452 percent, the highest level this year, while six-month rates EURIBOR6MD= and one-year rates EURIBOR1YD= remained at 1.060 percent and 1.329 percent respectively.
Banks paid back 442 billion euros worth of one-year loans to the ECB on Thursday and reborrowed just over half in shorter-term maturities, reducing the overall amount of liquidity in the system.
Euribor rates are fixed daily by the Banking Federation of the European Union (FBE) shortly after 0900 GMT.
* For a table of the latest Euribor fixings for terms of one week to one year, double click on EURIBOR=
* For a table of the previous day’s fixings of EONIA swap rates, which show market expectations for future overnight lending rates, double click on EONIAINDEX
* For graphs of historic Euribor and EONIA swap rates, right click on the links in angle brackets below, and select ‘Related Graph’ 1 week EURIBORSWD= EONIAINDEXSW= 2 week EURIBOR2WD= EONIAINDEX2W= 3 week EURIBOR3WD= EONIAINDEX3W= 1 month EURIBOR1MD= EONIAINDEX1M= 2 month EURIBOR2MD= EONIAINDEX2M= 3 month EURIBOR3MD= EONIAINDEX3M= 4 month EURIBOR4MD= EONIAINDEX4M= 5 month EURIBOR5MD= EONIAINDEX5M= 6 month EURIBOR6MD= EONIAINDEX6M= 7 month EURIBOR7MD= EONIAINDEX7M= 8 month EURIBORS8M= EONIAINDEX8M= 9 month EURIBOR9MD= EONIAINDEX9M= 10 month EURIBOR10MD= EONIAINDEX10M= 11 month EURIBOR11MD= EONIAINDEX11M= 1 year EURIBOR1YD= EONIAINDEX1Y= (Reporting by Frankfurt newsroom)
(Reuters) – American International Group Inc Chief Executive Robert Benmosche said last week he would quit unless Chairman Harvey Golub leaves the company, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Benmosche told the board during a meeting on June 25 that he wanted more control over the divestment of AIG’s Asian life insurance unit, including making management changes, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.
The board of the insurer, which is nearly 80 percent owned by the U.S. government after a $182.3 billion rescue, did not make a decision during the meeting, the report said.
AIG declined to comment.
The development is the latest sign of tensions within the AIG boardroom after a deal to sell American International Assurance (AIA) to Britain’s Prudential Plc for $35.5 billion fell apart.
Prudential wanted to cut the price of the deal and Benmosche backed doing so, but the AIG board voted against doing that, overruling its hard-charging CEO, sources have said.
AIG was counting on the AIA sale as a big step forward in its efforts to repay taxpayers.
Benmosche favored accepting new terms for a deal because, even at a lower price, it offered more liquidity and sooner. In the process, though, Benmosche left some AIG directors unhappy with his handling of the transaction, a source told Reuters earlier this month.
But Benmosche, the fourth person to hold the top AIG job since June 2008, was seen as safe in his role, with the board wanting him to stay CEO, the source said at the time.
An important concern for the board was the difficulty of finding another person to take on the job of running AIG, according to the source at the time.
Last week, the Financial Times reported that the botched sale had led to increased tensions between Benmosche and Golub, triggering concerns that one of the two men might leave less than a year after their appointment.
(Reporting by Paritosh Bansal; Editing by Gary Hill)
June 29 (Reuters) – The European Central Bank will do everything necessary to make sure that the expiry of a 442 billion euro funding programme this week passes without problem, ECB Governing Council member Christian Noyer said on Tuesday.
“The ECB and Eurosystem will do what is necessary to make sure the liquidity is there,” Noyer told Europe 1 radio.
He said French banks should not face problems repaying loans, but added that some other banks might “suffer”.
“We will make sure that there are no problems and everything goes OK,” he added. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer; editing by James Mackenzie)
June 29 (Reuters) – India’s central bank will keep cash conditions tight in coming weeks to keep a lid on inflation expectations, sources at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said, a strong indication that it will keep policy rates on hold until its next review in late July.
A big chunk of cash left India’s banking system this month when the government auctioned telecom licences, tipping the banking system into a net deficit position.
Banks which had been placing their surpluses with the central bank every day turned borrowers. The banking system was on average borrowing around 500 billion Indian rupees ($10.8 billion) every day in June, a big swing from a surplus of 500 billion rupees until early May.
That tightness, however, takes some of the pressure off the RBI from having to raise rates before a July 27 meeting to keep a lid on inflation that has accelerated into the double digits. One deputy governor of the central bank said on Monday the probability of an off-cycle rate increase was very low, given the daily stream of economic developments globally and in India.
“Probability of rate action before policy is very low,” said deputy governor K.C. Chakrabarty, who is not directly linked to monetary policy at the RBI but still has influence on the board.
Central bank sources also told Reuters the RBI is comfortable with the cash strain, which acts as a brake on inflation.
“RBI would like to keep liquidity on the tighter side going ahead as it helps in inflation control,” a RBI official said. “There is no liquidity stress visible on market rates. The call rate has not gone up sharply above the repo rate,” the official said.
However, RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn said recently the central bank would take steps to ease the cash strain if existing measures do not have their desired effect, and investors appear to be reading those remarks at face value — perhaps mistakenly.
“What he meant was in case call rates go through the roof, or there is a large volatility in short-term rates then we could take some measures,” the central bank source said.
MARKET BETS ON EASIER CASH
The interest rate swap market does not suggest a sustained period of tight liquidity. The overnight floating rate benchmark for swaps, the MIBOR, is at 5.5 percent — above fixed rates for tenors ranging up to 11 months.
Three-month certificate of deposit (CD) rates last week fell to around 6.30 percent from 6.45 percent in early June, Thomson Reuters data show.
Cash conditions tightened this month, pushing up the call money rate to a three-month high of 5.50 percent, a quarter point higher than the repo rate at which banks borrow from the RBI.
Outflows towards the 3G and broadband spectrum licences totaled $21.6 billion, with a further $7.6 billion going out as advance tax payments this month — a hoard that New Delhi may not be able to spend fast enough to get that back into circulation.
That, coupled with the RBI’s reluctance to taking more steps to infuse cash given inflation worries, will mean the shortfall in liquidity will persist into July. Banks borrowed 829.15 billion rupees on Thursday from the RBI’s daily repo window, the highest since cash tightened in June.
“We may continue to be in liquidity deficit mode for most of July as government spending has not been very high,” said Anindya Dasgupta, head of treasury at Barclays Capital in Mumbai. “I don’t expect the spending to pick up that much in July.”
Banks are also barely using existing funding windows offered by the RBI, an indication that funding is not overly strained.
For instance, the RBI offered to buy back bonds worth 200 billion rupees in the past two weeks, but banks tendering bonds demanded such high prices that it managed to buy back only 91 billion rupees worth of paper.
“If banks indeed needed money, they would have sold the bonds to us at market levels. But they are not desperate,” the RBI official said.
To some extent, the relative dovishness in the market stems from RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao’s comments indicating he is not moving from the bank’s calibrated exit stance.
The effective rate for markets has moved up from the reverse repo to the repo, Subbarao said on June 18, referring to the monetary policy corridor and the fact that banks were now borrowing rather than placing cash with RBI. That acts as a tightening, Subbarao said. [ID:nSGE65H0AD].
Market participants reckon there will therefore be no rate rise before July 27, although a rise in fuel prices announced last week raises the odds somewhat for a move before then. [ID:nSGE65O0AS]
Subbarao also said the repo rate will be the operative rate for the next few weeks, indicating cash conditions will remain tight and the RBI would be doing more lending than accepting of cash in its monetary operations window.
Hitendra Dave, head of global markets at HSBC, said that even beyond July he expected a modest average liquidity surplus of around 200 billion rupees a day. (Editing by Kim Coghill)
FRANKFURT, June 17 (Reuters) – The European Central Bank will continue to buy government bonds until markets have sufficiently stabilised, ECB executive board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo told a German newspaper.
“So far the programme is going very well,” he said in an interview published in Financial Times Deutschland on Thursday.
The ECB started buying sovereign bonds last month in a controversial decision aimed at supporting bond markets rattled by concerns over the ability of some government to rein in debt and budget deficits.
Gonzalez-Paramo told the newspaper that liquidity had returned to markets at levels above those seen in early May.
“But the situation is not yet entirely normal,” he said.
Nonetheless, while investors remain cautious, he said it was “not correct, at least not entirely correct” to assume that the ECB is currently the only buyer of government bonds.
Gonzalez-Paramo said it was very frustrating that rating agencies were still acting in a pro-cyclical way, but was critical of the idea that the ECB could act as a rating agency.
“It is not the job of a central bank to offer ratings or publish its internal evaluations,” he said.
The Greek crisis, which investors fear could spread to other weak euro zone states, has highlighted problems in the system under which the ECB accepts bonds as security for loans based on the judgment of major ratings agencies such as Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch.
“We will do everything to be less dependent on rating agencies,” Gonzalez-Paramo said.
Greece, Spain and Portugal have all seen their credit ratings cut in recent months as worries intensified about their heavy public debt.
In the latest move, Moody’s cut Greece’s rating to junk status on Monday, highlighting persistent doubts over the country’s ability to exit a severe debt crisis. [ID:nN14207740] (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Neil Fullick)
June 17 (Reuters) – The European Central Bank will continue buying government bonds until markets have sufficiently stabilised, ECB executive board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo told a German newspaper.
Bonds | Global Markets
“So far the programme is going very well,” he said in an interview published in Financial Times Deutschland on Thursday.
The ECB started buying sovereign bonds last month in a controversial decision aimed at supporting bond markets, which have been rattled by a loss of investor confidence in some governments’ ability to rein in debt and deficits.
Gonzalez-Paramo told the paper that liquidity has returned to markets at levels above those seen in early May.
“But the situation is not yet entirely normal,” he said. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Kim Coghill)
June 16 (Reuters) – The European Union, the IMF and the U.S. Treasury are drawing up a liquidity plan for Spain which includes a credit line of up to 250 billion euros ($335 billion), newspaper El Economista reported on Wednesday, citing sources which it said were “close to the issuing entity”.
Bonds | Global Markets
The report said the decision had been discussed at a special IMF board directors meeting and was aimed at avoiding a rescue plan similar to that offered to debt-laden Greece.
A Spanish government spokesman said on Tuesday that talks between the Spanish Prime Minister and International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn set for Friday are unconnected with media reports that Madrid may seek a Greek-style bailout. [ID:nLDE65E2FH] (Reporting by Elizabeth O’Leary; Editing by Kim Coghill) elizabeth.oleary@reuters.com; +34 91 585 8295; Reuters Messaging: elizabeth.oleary.reuters.com@reuters.net ($1=.7453 Euro)
June 15 (Reuters) – The Swiss National Bank faces a deepening policy dilemma as its massive interventions to prevent too sharp a rise in the Swiss franc add huge amounts of liquidity, raising the potential of higher inflation.
Switzerland’s currency reserves rose in May by 78.8 billion francs — an amount equal to 15 percent of gross domestic product — and the central bank may take measures to contain possible inflation down the road.
Below are steps the SNB could announce at its policy meeting on June 17 to solve the dilemma:
STERILISE INTERVENTIONS
The SNB could issue more of its own debt — so called SNB bills — to mop up liquidity, or it could implement reverse repos.
The central bank has issued bills with maturities of up to 84-days in recent weeks. The effect on liquidity is hard to assess as the SNB publishes the volumes only with a delay of up to 6 weeks in its statistical report.
But an active sterilisation could have the unwanted side effect of attracting more money to Switzerland, as investors are offered new places to offload their money.
“It would offer speculators holding franc liquidity a place to park,” UBS analyst Beat Siegenthaler said.
Moreover, the plan also sends a signal to the market that the central bank has lost its appetite for the fight.
“It reduces your credibility in the FX market because it is an acknowledgement that you no longer can stomach the monetary implications of defending the currency,” BNP Paribas economist Eoin O’Callaghan said.
RAISE RESERVE REQUIREMENTS
The SNB could raise the percentage of reserves commercial banks must hold in notes and coins or in an account with the central bank.
Currently, banks have to hold 2.5 percent of certain liabilities, including short-term deposits and client savings.
Like the sterilisation, this would reduce the monetary base. However, SNB data show that banks are already exceeding the requirements eight fold.
TAX ON FOREIGNER’S ACCOUNTS
To limit safe haven flows, Switzerland could put into place a tax on bank accounts held by foreigners not living in Switzerland.
Berne had such a scheme in the 1970s, which would have the advantage of not affecting the cost of money to the domestic economy.
However, this would make the country’s wealth management sector, the world’s largest, less attractive compared to competitors such as Britain or Luxemburg.
Back in the 1970s, the deposit tax also failed to curb inflows.
“Negative rates, while practically feasible, do not necessarily prevent a fundamentally strong currency from appreciating,” JP Morgan wrote in a note, adding that between 1973-78 the franc rose against the dollar in real terms despite the effective negative interest rates.
(Reporting by Catherine Bosley and Sven Egenter; editing by Patrick Graham)
(Reuters) – Working out measures to prevent that the failure of a big bank can cripple Switzerland’s economy remains a challenge and new rules on capital ratios and banks’ liquidity are not enough, the Swiss National Bank’s head said.
Regulatory News
“These preventive measures….are not a solution to the problem (of a too big to fail bank),” Philipp Hildebrand told a gathering of Swiss private bankers in Lausanne.
Hildebrand did not comment on monetary policy or the currency, pointing to the central bank’s policy meeting next Thursday.
Hildebrand noted that the total liabilities of Switzerland’s main banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, still represented four times Switzerland’s output, meaning the issue remains a problem that Switzerland needs to tackle.
Switzerland has introduced tougher requirements on capital and liquidity holdings as well as new rules on bankers’ pay.
However, a government commission on the too-big-to-fail issue made further far reaching proposals, which would require the large banks to change their structure so they could be broken up in the event of an insolvency.
(Reporting by Lisa Jucca and Robin Bleeker)
June 11 (Reuters) – Working out measures to prevent that the failure of a big bank can cripple Switzerland’s economy remains a challenge and new rules on capital ratios and banks’ liquidity are not enough, the Swiss National Bank’s head said.
Financials
“These preventive measures….are not a solution to the problem (of a too big to fail bank),” Philipp Hildebrand told a gathering of Swiss private bankers in Lausanne.
Hildebrand did not comment on monetary policy or the currency, pointing to the central bank’s policy meeting next Thursday.
Hildebrand noted that the total liabilities of Switzerland’s main banks, UBS (UBSN.VX)(UBS.N) and Credit Suisse(CSGN.VX), still represented four times Switzerland’s output, meaning the issue remains a problem that Switzerland needs to tackle.
Switzerland has introduced tougher requirements on capital and liquidity holdings as well as new rules on bankers’ pay.
However, a government commission on the too-big-to-fail issue made further far reaching proposals, which would require the large banks to change their structure so they could be broken up in the event of an insolvency. [ID:nLDE63L1FD]
(Reporting by Lisa Jucca and Robin Bleeker)
June 11 (Reuters) – Key euro-priced bank-to-bank lending rates continued to edge higher on Friday despite the European Central Bank’s promise of extra liquidity to keep supplies flush until the end of the year.
The three-month Euribor rate EURIBOR3MD=, traditionally the main gauge of interbank euro lending and a mix of interest rate expectations and banks’ appetite for lending, inched up to 0.719 percent from 0.718 percent, the highest level since mid-December.
Six-month rates EURIBOR6MD= rose to 1.003 percent from 1.001 percent, having broken through the ECB’s benchmark interest rate level of 1.0 percent on Thursday for the first time since last November.
One-year rates EURIBOR1YD= also edged up marginally to a new nine-month high of 1.271 percent from 1.270 percent.
On the other hand shorter-term one-week rates EURIBORSWD= eased a tad to 0.367 percent from 0.368 percent.
The debt troubles hitting Greece and other financially strained euro zone countries, have reignited fears about region’s banks and forced the ECB to reintroduce extra lending operations and abandon a long-held resistance to buying government bonds.
Markets are also bracing themselves for July 1 when banks have to pay back 442 billion euros worth of one-year loans borrowed from the ECB last year, although the transition will be smoothed after the ECB announced three extra batches of unlimited three-month funds on Thursday. [ID:nLDE6590CW]
Euribor rates are fixed daily by the Banking Federation of the European Union (FBE) shortly after 0900 GMT.
* For a table of the latest Euribor fixings for terms of one week to one year, double click on EURIBOR=
* For a table of the previous day’s fixings of EONIA swap rates, which show market expectations for future overnight lending rates, double click on EONIAINDEX
* For graphs of historic Euribor and EONIA swap rates, right click on the links in angle brackets below, and select ‘Related Graph’ 1 week EURIBORSWD= EONIAINDEXSW= 2 week EURIBOR2WD= EONIAINDEX2W= 3 week EURIBOR3WD= EONIAINDEX3W= 1 month EURIBOR1MD= EONIAINDEX1M= 2 month EURIBOR2MD= EONIAINDEX2M= 3 month EURIBOR3MD= EONIAINDEX3M= 4 month EURIBOR4MD= EONIAINDEX4M= 5 month EURIBOR5MD= EONIAINDEX5M= 6 month EURIBOR6MD= EONIAINDEX6M= 7 month EURIBOR7MD= EONIAINDEX7M= 8 month EURIBORS8M= EONIAINDEX8M= 9 month EURIBOR9MD= EONIAINDEX9M= 10 month EURIBOR10MD= EONIAINDEX10M= 11 month EURIBOR11MD= EONIAINDEX11M= 1 year EURIBOR1YD= EONIAINDEX1Y= (Reporting by Frankfurt newsroom)
For Immediate Release
10 June 2010
European Goldfields Limited
APPOINTMENT OF NOMINATED ADVISOR AND JOINT BROKERS
10 June 2010 – European Goldfields Limited (TSX / AIM: EGU) (“European
Goldfields” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the appointment of
Liberum Capital Limited as Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker and
Evolution Securities Limited as Joint Broker to the Company. These
appointments take place with immediate effect.
Commenting on the appointment, Martyn Konig, Executive Chairman and
President of European Goldfields, said: “We see the appointment of
Liberum Capital and Evolution Securities as key to developing our
London investor base and enhancing London liquidity to complement the
strong trading activity in the Company’s shares on the Toronto Stock
Exchange.This decision follows a review by European Goldfields of its
advisors as it readies itself for development of its key projects in
Romania and Greece.”
About European Goldfields
European Goldfields is a developer-producer with globally significant
gold reserves located within the European Union. The Company generates
cash flow from its 95% owned Stratoni operation, a high grade lead/zinc
/silver mine in North-Eastern Greece and the sale of gold concentrates
from Olympias. European Goldfields will evolve into a mid tier producer
through responsible development of its project pipeline of gold and
base metal deposits at Skouries and Olympias in Greece and Certej in
Romania. The Company plans future growth through development of its
highly prospective exploration portfolio in Greece, Romania and Turkey.
For further information please see the Company’s website at
www.egoldfields.com
For further information please contact:
European Goldfields:
Liberum
Capital Limited
Sally Schofield, VP Investor
Relations Simon Atkinson
e-mail: info@egoldfields.com
Michael Rawlinson
Tel: +44 (0)20 7408 9534
Tel: +44 (0)20
3100 2000
Buchanan Communications:
Evolution Securities Limited
Bobby Morse / Katharine
Sutton Rob Collins
e-mail: bobbym@buchanan.uk.com Tim
Redfern
Tel: +44 (0)20 7466 5000
Tel: +44 (0)20 7071 4300
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements and information contained in this document,
including any information as to the Company’s future financial or
operating performance and other statements that express management’s
expectations or estimates of future performance, constitute
forward-looking information under provisions of Canadian provincial
securities laws. When used in this document, the words
“anticipate”,”expect”, “will”, “intend”, “estimate”, “forecast”, “planned”
and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements
or information. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited
to, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, the timing and
amount of estimated future production, costs and timing of development
of new deposits, permitting time lines and expectations regarding metal
recovery rates. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a
number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable
by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic
and competitive uncertainties and contingencies.
The Company cautions the reader that such forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that
may cause the actual financial results, performance or achievements of
the Company to be materially different from its estimated future
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by those
forward-looking statements and the forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance. These risks, uncertainties and other
factors include, but are not limited to: changes in the price of gold,
base metals or certain other commodities (such as fuel and electricity)
and currencies; uncertainty of mineral reserves, resources, grades and
recovery estimates; uncertainty of future production, capital
expenditures and other costs; currency fluctuations; financing and
additional capital requirements; the successful and timely permitting
of the Company’s Skouries, Olympias and Certej projects; legislative,
political, social or economic developments in the jurisdictions in
which the Company carries on business; operating or technical
difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; the
speculative nature of gold and base metals exploration and development,
including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of reserves;
the risks normally involved in the exploration, development and mining
business; and risks associated with internal control over financial
reporting. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and material
factors or assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements, see
the Company’s Annual Information Form for the year ended 31 December
2009, filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company does not intend, and
does not assume any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking
statements whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise, except as required by law.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
Contacts:
RNS
Customer
Services
0044-207797-4400
rns@londonstockexchange.com
http://www.rns.com
Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.
June 9 (Reuters) – The U.S. financial system’s reliance on non-bank lenders means non-banks should be able to benefit from liquidity facilities in the event of another crisis, an official from the New York Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.
Bonds | Global Markets
Speaking at a luncheon for the New York Association for Business Economics, Brian Sack, executive vice president at the New York Fed, said that if non-banks benefitted from the U.S. central bank’s liquidity measures, they might also need to be more closely regulated.
“Measures may be warranted for nonbank financial institutions if they expect Federal Reserve credit to be made available to them during times of stress,” he said. (Reporting by Emily Flitter and Steven C. Johnson, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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