US housing doesn’t need another government bailout
By Agnes T. Crane
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.
America’s housing market doesn’t need another government bailout. But the White House is mulling plans to rescue homeowners trapped by underwater mortgages and above-market mortgage rates by allowing them to refinance into cheaper government-backed loans. Luckily, its latest musings look like a pipe dream.
A merger arb writes to Santa
By Donder und Blitzen
The authors are guest columnists for Reuters Breakingviews. The opinions expressed are their own.
After another thin and bumpy year for betting on M&A, one desperate European merger arbitrageur wrote to Santa. Breakingviews obtained a copy:
GE’s $4 bln swoop on Italian supplier is shrewd
By Quentin Webb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
General Electric’s swoop on a key supplier should stack up. The U.S. conglomerate is paying a reasonable-looking $4.3 billion for Avio, the Italian aerospace components maker. GE gets savings and more exposure to a civil-aviation market growing at full throttle. The seller, British buyout shop Cinven, gets a satisfactory exit after a bumpy ride.
Washington may finally take up mortgage reform
By Daniel Indiviglio
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
America’s lawmakers may finally take reforming housing finance seriously in 2013. Assuming Congress settles the deficit debate, sorting out the government’s role in funding home loans should be its next stop. And a number of obstacles are dissolving.
? Besides the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau action hoped for in January ,the author has given no evidence that ‘things are changing’ and we will have this kind of mortgage reform.
How many congressman support this? There are no quotes of anyone with insight about who would sponsor or support this reform.
Diamond Bob will bounce back in 2013
By George Hay
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Few executives had a worse 2012 than Bob Diamond. The ex-Barclays chief executive started the year running one of the few UK banks without a big government stake, and spearheading a drive to make banks better citizens. He ends it having been forced out following a perfect storm of shareholder revolts, regulatory ire and, most notoriously, Libor.
Fed’s foreign bank crackdown is price of stability
By Agnes T. Crane and Daniel Indiviglio
The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are their own.
The Federal Reserve’s unilateral crackdown on foreign banks is necessary. The regulator’s requirement that overseas lenders properly capitalize their U.S. arms is a prudent way to protect the local and global financial system. The Fed’s approach could prompt other regulators to follow suit. But the fear that fragmentation could stifle global banking looks overblown.
UBS points to next banking worry: client risk
By Dominic Elliott
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
UBS’s Libor shame points to a new concern for financial firms – relationship risk.
Sulzbergers will make headlines in New York Times
By Agnes T. Crane
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The views expressed are her own.
Expect the Ochs-Sulzbergers to make headlines in their own New York Times in 2013. The family that controls the U.S. paper of record has loyally seen it through some dark days. With the Gray Lady now on sturdier financial ground, they have a better chance to find a safe custodian at a decent price – maybe someone like billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The window of opportunity could close quickly.
Jumbo fine isn’t the end of UBS reputation woes
By Dominic Elliott
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
The $1.5 billion settlement UBS has agreed to pay for rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate is unlikely to end the Swiss bank’s reputational or financial woes. The litany of compliance errors it made over a five-year period paves the way for litigation from other market participants. And clients may also balk at using the bank for Libor business in future, putting UBS’s new strategy for a reduced investment bank under pressure.
South Korea’s next leader will face a currency war
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
By Andy Mukherjee
Every new South Korean president has to contend with sabre-rattling by Pyongyang. It won’t be any different this time. North Korea’s recent rocket launch shows just what kind of reception the next occupant of Seoul’s Blue House can expect from across the demilitarized zone.
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Predictions 2013: Exploring the year ahead.
Edited By Robert Cole
Bridging the Divide: The economic and fiscal challenges facing the next U.S. president
Edited By Richard Beales
The FED is currently giving banks 50 million per month, supposedly to help the banks buy back underwater or bad loans, and make it easier for working Americans to borrow. It is apparant this is not working, banks are refusing to lend to anyone without sterling credit. The FED should be buying back the bad and underwater loans directly from the homeowners, thereby repaying the banks and stimulating the economy simultaneously.