Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group

In case you were too busy enjoying your weekend to have kept up with the news, contributor Martin Mitchell has again been kind enough to gather some important market events from this past weekend (and week) so that you can start this week well informed:

Saturday, November 15th
Mergers and Acquisitions

• Franco-Belgian bank Dexia agreed to sell its monoline insurer, Financial Security Assurance. The sale to Assured Guaranty, a Bermuda-based insurer, will see Dexia receive $361m in cash, plus 44.6m of shares in Assured Guaranty worth around $350m. The bank will book at net loss on the sale of €1.5bn.

Financial Institutions

• Fund manager RAB Capital has abandoned plans to build a retail mutual fund business and is closing about a third of its funds to streamline its business. The changes come as a result of assets under management shrinking on the back of poor performance and clients withdrawing money. Assets under management peaked at $7.2bn in 2007 and are expected to be about $2bn at the year end.
• Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is planning to cut about 3,000 jobs in its investment banking division. The bank has already cut 7,000 jobs in the investment banking division as a result of the integration of ABN Amro.
• The administrators of Lehman Brothers European operations told a creditors’ meeting that they are unlikely to get all of their money back, and that returning the funds could take years. The administrators said that assets currently outweigh liabilities by around $17bn, however if asset values fall, or liabilities increase this could quickly disappear. Fees to administrators will also be a significant factor – they are currently accruing at £4m per week.

Credit

• Freddie Mac, the mortgage financier that has been nationalised by the US government, has asked for a further lifeline of $13.8bn after suffering a $23.5bn quarterly loss. The loss was primarily due to large credit-related writedowns.

Other

• At the G-20 Summit, the leaders of the nations agreed to take ‘whatever further actions are necessary’ to tackle the financial crisis and restore global growth at an emergency summit in Washington. The guiding principles to which they committed include strengthening transparency and accountability through requiring proper disclosure, improving oversight, promoting integrity in financial markets by preventing market manipulation and fraud, reinforcing international cooperation, and reforming international financial institutions.
• Pakistani and IMF have agreed on a financial stabilization package for Pakistan worth $7.6 billion loan, $4 million of which will be delivered this year, with the rest to be disbursed during 2009.

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by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

By 2050, companies that have embraced a gender-blind workplace will be at the leading edge of innovation and profitability, according to a newly-released film by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Gender Advisory Council entitled “Closing the Gender Gap: Challenges, Opportunities and the Future“.

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Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group

In case you were too busy enjoying your weekend to have kept up with the news, contributor Martin Mitchell has been kind enough to gather some important market events from this past weekend (and week) so that you can start this week well informed:

Read more

Contributed by Martin Mitchell of The Corporate Training Group (CTG)

Most people are so busy working at their day jobs to stay on top of the masses of news that is out there. We aim to bring you a quick press digest every Monday morning so you can enjoy your weekend and ensure that you didn’t miss a beat from the international financial and corporate news the week before. Start the week off right, and arm yourself with some great watercooler conversation.

The week that was:

Monday 20th Oct 2008

• Private equity group CVC is in pole position to acquire a 51% stake in Direct Line, the insurance business owned by troubled UK bank the Royal Bank of Scotland. It is competing against Allstate, the US insurer. The deal is expected to value Direct Line at £6.3bn.
• The Dutch banking and insurance group, ING accepted a €10bn injection from the Netherlands government. The government will buy a new class of securities that do not have voting rights, but pay an 8.5% coupon with a step up guarantee to match ordinary dividends and a buy back option at 150% of the face value. The securities are unsecured bonds that will count towards ING’s tier one capital. The injection was negotiated just after ING announced a quarterly loss of €500m. The loss was due to impairments on equity, bond and real estate investments plus losses due to the collapse of other banks and higher loan provisions.

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by Heather Chapman (New York City)

The financial market isn’t the only industry being affected by the recent downturn in the U.S. economy. Businesses all across the nation have seen a decline in customers. However, in the legal industry, the number of bankruptcy, litigation, regulatory compliance, white-collar defense, and divorce cases has risen as people and businesses try to either save themselves from collapse or cash in on someone else’s. With questions like “Should I keep investing my money?” to “What do I do about my health insurance plan?” lawyers are finding that business is booming.

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