More Job Cuts On The Cards, As Firm Needs 3 - 5 Years To Recover
The bank also said that, excluding the affect the acquisition ABN AMRO had on earnings, RBS would have posted an operating profit (excluding goodwill charges) in 2008. And more jobs are likely to go, as the bank looks to achieve some $3.7bn in annual cost savings within 3 years
Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis said in a recent interview on CNBC that he remains confident that the acquisitions of Countrywide and Merrill Lynch 'will prove to be two of the best acquisitions ever made if you judge us over two or three years instead of two or three months'.
The Sunday Times reports that Goldman Sachs is considering a $10bn share issue in order to repay the US government its TARP funding.
Bloomberg reports that 97% of HSBC's shareholders subscribed to its $18.7bn rights issue.
The Financial Times reports that Nomura is offering 'Lehman-style' contracts to Japanese staff, which will link pay more in line with performance.
Swiss newspaper Sonntags Blick has reported that UBS has grounded around 1,000 client-facing staff over in its wealth management division, preventing them travelling abroad on client business. A spokesperson for the bank confirmed the ban, saying that 'UBS is currently conducting a review of its policy and compliance framework for its international wealth management offering'. 'Private bankers' and 'banker bonuses', it seems, are simply not in vogue these days.
Hedgemedia.com reports that, according to a study undertaken by Per-Trac Financial Solutions, the number of hedge funds and fund of fund firms at the end of 2008 was down 1.3% to 22,350.
And finally, Bloomberg reports that hedge funds are coming under increasing pressure from clients to reduce fees. Now that the mighty have fallen back down to earth, hedgies are being grilled more intensively about their performance, and being forced to do business on more favourable terns to investors.
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