Barclays Bank warns of soft investment markets
Barclays Bank has today warned that the last two months have been the most difficult since the financial crisis of 2008 with its investment banking division experiencing volatile markets and a significant reduction in the number of corporate finance deals on offer. While this will obviously be a concern to investment banks operating in the UK and in Europe many people will feel it is payback time for the banking sector which had appeared to be benefiting from a UK taxpayer-funded bailout while UK taxpayers and businesses continue to suffer.
If Barclays Bank is experiencing a "soft" investment climate then we can take it that others in the sector will also be feeling similar pain. However, it has been noticeable, especially in the UK, but a number of takeovers and mergers have been announced over the last few days even if many of them are on the small side. It would appear that the relative strength of the dollar against sterling has increased the competitive edge that US investors hold over the UK and many companies may be looking towards the UK prior to a possible recovery in sterling.
It will be interesting to see whether the growing number of takeovers and mergers involving US investors continues this trend in the short to medium term.
Share this..
Related stories
FSA extends short selling regulations
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today extended the reporting regulations with regards to short selling which were introduced some months ago. Despite originally suggesting that the rules were short-term, ensuring that any short position above 0.25% of a target share capital was reported to the market, it appears this particular rule will continue indefinitely.
At the heig...
BRC asks UK government to increase bank lending
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has today called on the UK government to place more pressure on the UK banking system to increase lending and also backdate the recently announced trade credit insurance scheme. The move comes after a survey released by the BRC confirmed that one third of small and medium-sized businesses and around one fifth of larger retailers have seen their banking facilitie...
Read MorePrudential close to agreement with FSA
It is believed that the Prudential is close to announcing an agreement with the FSA which would allow the group to continue with the much-publicised £24 billion acquisition of AIG's Asian operations. The deal appeared to be in turmoil after the FSA requested more time to look through various capital adequacy requirements for the enlarged group. This caused confusion and concern within investment...
Read MoreEntrepreneurs flock to the Internet
There are very few areas of life which the Internet has not yet touched but one area which has attracted massive attention is the ability to create your own website and your own online business in a relatively short space of time. The main attraction of the Internet is the fact that at the touch of a button you can increase your traditional local marketplace to a worldwide marketplace. Many ent...
Read MoreBank of Ireland announces €3 billion loss
Bank of Ireland has today reported a €3 billion loss in the first nine months of the financial year after being forced to write down difficult loans by around €4 billion. The company, which is a major component of the struggling Irish financial sector, has also confirmed a need to raise around €2.7 billion to firm up the company's balance sheet and secure its short to medium term...
Read More