http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE11Zrrp24I
On Oct 7, 5:47 am, "\"Lone Wolf\"" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > RBS, British Banks in Discussions on $79 billon Funding Plan > (Update1) > By Ben Livesey and Poppy Trowbridge > > Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. government may invest at least 45 > billion pounds ($79 billion) in three of the country's biggest banks, > including Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, to bolster capital > depleted by mortgage-related losses, three people with knowledge of > the situation said. > > Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling and Bank of England > Governor Mervyn King met late yesterday with RBS Chief Executive > Officer Fred Goodwin and his counterparts at Barclays Plc and Lloyds > TSB Group Plc to discuss the possible investment, said the people, who > declined to be identified because the meeting was confidential. > > RBS fell as much as 39 percent after Standard & Poor's cut the > Edinburgh-based bank's credit rating for the first time in almost a > decade, citing its deteriorating financial condition. The government > has already bailed out Bradford & Bingley Plc and brokered the > takeover of HBOS Plc in the past month on concern about the banks' > ability to fund themselves. Darling said yesterday he will do > ``whatever it takes'' to keep the financial system stable as capital > markets remain frozen. > > ``The equity markets are saying RBS has the biggest problem but > something needs to be done across the board,'' said Simon Maughan, a > London-based analyst at MF Global Securities. ``Bond investor > confidence in the banks is completely shot.'' > > Debt Repayments > > RBS, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and the U.K.'s three other biggest banks > need to repay as much as 54 billion pounds of debt by the end of March > 2009, just as borrowing costs reach record highs. > > The total, which includes bonds, convertible bonds and commercial > paper, is triple the debt repaid in the same period a year earlier. > RBS, the owner of NatWest, has about 11.5 billion pounds of > obligations coming due in the next six months, while Barclays has 15.9 > billion pounds maturing, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. > > ``We have categorically not requested capital from the government,'' > Barclays spokesman Alistair Smith said. RBS said in a statement today > it ``did not make a request to government for capital.'' > > Edinburgh-based RBS traded down 23 percent at 114.2 pence at 12:55 > p.m. in London trading, its lowest value in 13 years. HBOS, the > country's largest mortgage lender, declined 14 percent and Lloyds TSB > dropped 7 percent. Barclays fell 1.6 percent. > > RBS Comments > > ``We have our feet on the ground,'' Barclays CEO John Varley said in a > speech at a Merrill Lynch & Co. conference in London today. ``We > understand very clearly that the environment is difficult, and that > it's quite likely to get more difficult as economies in the world > decelerate.'' > > ``The outlook for 2009 is challenging,'' said Fred Goodwin at the same > conference. ``We are delivering against our plans and targets.'' > Goodwin made no reference to the bank's share price. > > An official in Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office had no immediate > comment. Last night, his official spokesman Michael Ellam echoed > Darling in saying the government would not be giving details of what > it is considering. > > Asked if he could confirm that Darling had met Lloyds TSB CEO Eric > Daniels, Fred Goodwin and John Varley last night, a Treasury spokesman > said he could not. > > ``It would be irresponsible to speculate on the specifics of future > responses,'' Darling told Parliament last night. ``Providing a running > commentary could add to uncertainty. All practical options must remain > open to us.'' > > Lloyds spokesman Mark Lidiard reiterated today that the bank will > ``look at opportunities'' to raise capital and it continues to target > a capital ratio of 6 percent to 7 percent. He declined to comment on a > report by the British Broadcasting Corp. that the bank also took part > in the government talks. > > To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Livesey in London > [EMAIL PROTECTED] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
