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Reuters blog archive
from The Great Debate UK:
Do you want shares in RBS and Lloyds?
By Matt Scuffham, UK Banking Correspondent.
The government should hand most of its shares in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group to the public, an influential political think tank says, in what would be the country's biggest privatisation.
The proposal would enable 48 million taxpayers to apply for shares at no initial cost and with no risk attached, the think tank said. A 'floor price' would be set and taxpayers would make a profit on any rise in the shares above that level.
But the think tank estimates only 20 to 30 million people would apply for the shares with many thinking it would require too much time and effort, despite applicants only needing to supply their name, address and national insurance number.
Taxpayers would receive shares worth between £1,100 and £1,650 depending on how many people take up the offer.
from The Great Debate UK:
How will the privatisation of RBS and Lloyds affect gilt supply?
--Sam Hill is UK Fixed Income Strategist at RBC Capital Markets. The opinions expressed are his own.--
The return of RBS and Lloyds to the private sector is moving up the agenda but as the UK government prepares to set out the strategy for privatisation, the spotlight will, once again, fall on the gilt market and the public finances.
from Breakingviews:
Chris Hohn’s Lloyds plan isn’t pure self-interest
By George Hay
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Hedge fund managers are not known for their altruism. So when Chris Hohn offers free advice to the UK regulator about Lloyds Banking Group, there’s a fair chance the activist investor is talking his own book. But that doesn’t mean he’s wrong.
from Breakingviews:
Lloyds investors’ long wait may soon be over
By George Hay
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Lloyds Banking Group’s battered investors may be nearing redemption. Before the financial crisis, the UK’s biggest mortgage lender was the epitome of a stolid, dividend-paying stock. Since 2008, when it agreed to rescue HBOS and wound up 40 percent state-owned, its shareholders have not received a single payout. But an end to the drought is in sight.
from Breakingviews:
Lloyds forced disposals inch towards quasi-auction
By George Hay
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Lloyds Banking Group’s enforced branch sale is no longer a one-horse race. Back in December, the UK bank entered into exclusive talks with the Co-operative Group to sell 632 branches it was ordered to offload by the European Commission before 2014. A new offer from start-up rival NBNK probably doesn’t kickstart a hot bidding war. But it’s still good for Lloyds.
from Breakingviews:
Lloyds’ return to form will be worth the wait
By George Hay
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Lloyds Banking Group’s long-suffering shareholders shouldn’t phone their broker yet. After three years of turbulence and a share price still 88 percent off its 2007 peak, they have been handed another ostensibly duff set of annual results. But the investment case for holding the shares is much clearer than for the other UK state-dominated bank, Royal Bank of Scotland.
from DealZone:
Deals wrap: Walgreen prescribes drugstore.com buy
Walgreen plans to buy drugstore.com for $429 million, expanding the online presence of the world's largest drugstore chain. Drugstore.com shareholders will receive $3.80 a share, which is more than double the company's closing stock price on Wednesday.
A sale of the British government's $107 billion stake in Lloyds Banking Group and RBS may start next year, Bloomberg said, citing four people familiar with the matter.
from The Great Debate UK:
Why we have to support Ireland
-- Laurence Copeland is a professor of finance at Cardiff University Business School. The opinions expressed are his own. --
Supporting Ireland to the tune of a few billion quid must look like a no-brainer to the British Government. We should not make the same mistake as the Germans, who managed to get the worst of both worlds over Greece – forced by the scale of their bank exposure to support Greece, but providing the money with ill will, causing bitterness rather than gratitude - and now repeating the error in the Irish case.
from Breakingviews:
UK bank pay collusion would be least bad solution
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
LONDON -- "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public." Normally, Adam Smith's dictum is a good guide to policy. But in the case of UK banks and their bonuses, it isn't.
from Funds Hub:
Morning line-up: Calpers/Goldman, bank bail-out taxes, Tourre’s City licence
News and views on the fund industry from Reuters and elsewhere:
US top pension fund scrutinises Goldman's business practices - Daily Telegraph
Goldman's Tourre stripped of City licence - Guardian
Lansdowne builds up Lloyds stake - Reuters
Banks face new taxes to future bail-outs - Reuters
