18 Mar 2010

Deutsche Bank's Ackermann - danger of PR own goal

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Deutsche Bank's Josef Ackermann fully deserves his 2009 compensation which puts him top-of-the-league for a DAX Chief Executive. It i...

Bawag - problems of Private Equity or Hedge Fund Control

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The diffuse ownership structure of the Austrian BAWAG Bank - where an alternative fund management firm has orchestrated a buy-out consorti...
16 Mar 2010

Barclays objects to Lehman scrutiny

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Barclays Bank is on a roll and it therefore seems strange when the firm is reported to object to further disclosures concerning its takeo...

Stability Fund no magic solution for Banking System

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Germany seems to move closer to implementing some sort of stability fund for the banking sector. But its promoters already admit that the st...
15 Mar 2010

Lehman: Masters of the Universe R.I.P.

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The sense of hubris that was prevalent at Lehman Brothers before the fall is well documented in a new book The Devil’s Casino: Friendship, ...
12 Mar 2010

Repo transactions under a cloud

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Reports that Lehman relied heavily on repo transactions in order to disguise problems with its balance sheet highlight the need for tighter...

Geithner intervenes in EU hedge fund regulation

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One has to wonder what Tim Geithner's priorities are at a time when the USA faces an unprecedented gap in its budget and the economy has...
11 Mar 2010

Causes of the global credit crunch

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It is too early to fully understand how it could happen that the World's Financial System got close to a global meltdown during the past...

FSA wants tougher stress tests

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As the FSA here in Britain announces new - tougher - stress markers for UK banks we can only hope that the underlying economic model holds...
8 Mar 2010

Lower Leverage-ratio under fire

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The Federation of German banks has commissioned a study of the impact of stricter leverage ratios. Not surprisingly, the authors (Markus Rud...