- U.S. to Propose Wider Oversight of Compensation
- Bank Chiefs Await Report Cards
- Citigroup May Gain Geithner Swap Backing as Pandit Bucks Bair
- Brown hit by fresh Labour poll defeat
- Doubts mount over US toxic asset plan
- Medvedev Tells Executives Russia to Rebound Fast
- S&P Downgrades Ireland’s Debt Rating
- GM Bankruptcy May Turn on $13 Million Dealers Gave Campaigns
- Barclays Gets Other Offers For Its iShares, BGI Businesses
- Barclays in BGI talks, $12 bln BlackRock deal seen
- BlackRock seeks to beat BNY Mellon to BGI
- Airbus Said to Be Seeking $5 Billion State Loans for A350 Plane
- Lenders may get control of Tribune Co
- Clear Channel confident of debt solution
U.S. to Propose Wider Oversight of Compensation – NY Times
The Obama administration plans to require banks and corporations that have received two rounds of federal bailouts to submit any major executive pay changes for approval by a new federal official who will monitor compensation, according to two government officials.
The proposal is part of a broad set of regulations on executive compensation expected to be announced by the administration as early as this week. Some of the rules are required by legislation enacted in the wake of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and they would apply only to companies that received taxpayer money…..
Bank Chiefs Await Report Cards – Wall Street Journal
Monday is the deadline for federal bank regulators to approve capital-raising plans at nine of the country’s largest banks, a culmination of the stress-test process. But the moment could be overshadowed by a less publicized deadline: banks’ equally in-depth review of their management.
Several top banks, including Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc., have had to assess top executives and directors “to assure that the leadership of the firm has sufficient expertise and ability to manage the risks presented by the current economic environment,” among other things, regulators said when they released the stress-test results…..
Citigroup May Gain Geithner Swap Backing as Pandit Bucks Bair – Bloomberg
Citigroup Inc. is poised to start a $58 billion stock swap that was delayed last week as Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair questioned Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit’s leadership and the bank awaited regulatory approval from other agencies, people close to the bank said.
Bair backed off and the U.S. Treasury Department signaled it would sign a final agreement to take a 34 percent stake in the bank, clearing the New York-based lender to proceed without further review by securities regulators, people familiar with the matter said. The exchange of preferred stock for common was announced three months ago…..
Brown hit by fresh Labour poll defeat – Financial Times
Gordon Brown faces a showdown with his MPs Monday after a humiliating night at the polls, as a slump in Labour support helped allow the far-right British National party win its first European parliament seat.
Early results showed Labour’s vote share collapsing to below 20 per cent, pushing the party into fourth place in some regions. In Wales, the Conservatives beat Labour into second place, the first time that had happened in decades…..
Doubts mount over US toxic asset plan – Financial Times
The controversial US toxic asset clean-up plan, aimed at clearing bad loans from US banks’ books to enable them to raise capital and lend freely, has fallen behind schedule, and may never be fully implemented.
The plan has fallen prey to concerns from potential investors and regulators and waning interest from the banks themselves. Investors fear that Congress may set caps on pay while regulators are beginning to doubt whether the plan is really necessary….
Medvedev Tells Executives Russia to Rebound Fast – Bloomberg
President Dmitry Medvedev says the Russian economy will rebound faster than expected. An audience of government officials and executives meeting at the weekend mainly agreed, while demurring on the shape of the recovery.
“I expect the Russian economy, as one of these rapidly developing markets, to overcome its problems more quickly than had perhaps been expected,” Medvedev said at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, an annual gathering in Russia’s former imperial capital that closed on June 6…..
S&P Downgrades Ireland’s Debt Rating – Wall Street Journal
The debt rating of crisis-stricken Ireland was downgraded Monday by Standard & Poor’s for the second time this year amid mounting worries over the cost of the government’s bailout of the banking system.
The credit-ratings agency said that it has lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating to double-A from double-A-plus and that the country’s outlook remains negative.
Though the new rating is still relatively strong, it could mean the country may have to pay higher interest rates to borrow money on bond markets as investors may demand more insurance on Irish government bonds in exchange for risking their money…..
GM Bankruptcy May Turn on $13 Million Dealers Gave Campaigns – Bloomberg
Automobile dealers have been among the biggest contributors to U.S. political campaigns over the past decade, surpassing all but two groups in donations. That investment may be paying off as the dealers get a lot of attention on Capitol Hill.
Congress has held hearings on the planned shutdown of thousands of dealerships and is debating ways to provide relief to the businesses. Almost a quarter of the members of the House of Representatives signed letters to President Barack Obama and his auto task force questioning plans to close the dealerships…..
Barclays Gets Other Offers For Its iShares, BGI Businesses – Wall Street Journal
U.K. bank Barclays PLC (BCS) said Monday it has received additional proposals for its iShares business and the broader Barclays Global Investors unit that owns it, including from BlackRock Inc. (BLK).
The announcement is potentially a further challenge to CVC Capital Partners’ deal agreed in April to buy iShares for $4.4 billion. The agreement allowed Barclays to shop around for better offers till the middle of June….
Barclays has said since that it has received other proposals for iShares and for BGI.
The announcement Monday comes after recent media reports said BlackRock and Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK) are racing to buy BGI….
Barclays in BGI talks, $12 bln BlackRock deal seen – Reuters
Barclays Plc (BARC.L) is in talks to sell Barclays Global Investors (BGI), the British bank said on Monday, with U.S. fund manager BlackRock the frontrunner to land the asset manager for about $12 billion.
BlackRock (BLK.N) and Bank of New York Mellon (BK.N) are both in talks to buy BGI in a deal that might come early this week, people familiar with the matter said.
The deal could see Barclays take a stake of up to 20 percent in the enlarged asset manager, according to the sources, who asked not to be named as the talks are confidential….
BlackRock seeks to beat BNY Mellon to BGI – Financial Times
BlackRock was on Sunday scrambling to seal the purchase of Barclays Global Investors and see off an 11th-hour challenge from Bank of New York Mellon.
Barclays is expected to take a decision early this week on who should buy the BGI unit. On Sunday, it was understood to be locked in discussions with BlackRock…..
Airbus Said to Be Seeking $5 Billion State Loans for A350 Plane – Bloomberg
Airbus SAS, the biggest commercial planemaker, is seeking as much as 3.6 billion euros ($5 billion) in loans from four European governments to help fund its A350 long-range aircraft, two people familiar with the plan said.
The loans from France, Germany, Spain, and possibly the U.K., will account for 30 percent of the estimated 12 billion- euro development costs for the plane, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential. The aircraft, designed to seat as many as 350 passengers, is scheduled to enter service in 2013….
Clear Channel confident of debt solution – Financial Times
The private equity owners of Clear Channel Communications are confident of winning a stand-off with lenders to the heavily indebted radio and outdoor advertising group, according to the newly-appointed head of its international business.
“I’ve clearly done my due diligence and I believe it’s a very sound situation,” said William Eccleshare, who was appointed on Thursday just as some lenders threatened to turn down a proposed debt exchange aimed at averting a breach of its banking covenants…..
Lenders may get control of Tribune Co – Chicago Tribune
Chicago-based Tribune Co. and its creditors are in the early stages of negotiating a plan of reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court that sources said likely would transfer control of the troubled media conglomerate from Chicago billionaire Sam Zell to a group of large banks and investors that holds $8.6 billion in senior debt.
The plan is still taking shape, the sources said, and much could change as negotiations continue.
But the general contours of a new capital structure are coming into focus, and the plan centers on a debt-for-equity swap that probably would give the senior lenders a large majority ownership stake in the reorganized company…..
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