Category: Financial Services

Nomura to Deepen Cost Cuts as CEO Seeks to Keep Ship Afloat

The code name chosen for Nomura Holdings Inc.’s latest cost-cutting drive indicates how strongly its chief executive sees the need for savings at Japan’s largest brokerage. After slashing hundreds of overseas jobs since April, CEO Koji Nagai has unveiled his so-called “Waterline Project,” which will attempt to combat waste and improve the cost-effectiveness of the bank’s daily operations over the next three years.

Nomura to Deepen Cost Cuts as CEO Seeks to Keep – Warship’ Afloat

The code name chosen for Nomura Holdings Inc.’s latest cost-cutting drive indicates how strongly its chief executive sees the need for savings at Japan’s largest brokerage. After slashing hundreds of overseas jobs since April, CEO Koji Nagai has unveiled his so-called “Waterline Project,” which will attempt to combat waste and improve the cost-effectiveness of the bank’s daily operations over the next three years.

Nomura’s Nagai to Deepen Cost Cuts in Project Dubbed – Waterline’

Nomura Holdings Inc., the Japanese brokerage that has cut hundreds of jobs overseas since April, is now embarking on a companywide review of spending in order to reduce operating costs further over the next three years. Under the plan, called the “Waterline Project,” Nomura will evaluate the cost-effectiveness of employees’ daily activities and of the bank’s operations to determine how much money can be saved by 2020, Chief Executive Officer Koji Nagai said in an interview in Tokyo.

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Nobody’s perfect and corporate executives are just like you and me. But when you’re running a publically traded company and billions in wealth is made or lost by a stock price swing, the stakes are much higher.

Trump Seeks Credit for 5,000 Sprint Jobs Already Touted

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump sought credit for Sprint Inc.’s commitment to create or bring back 5,000 jobs that the carrier says are part of broader U.S. hiring plans previously announced by Japan-based parent SoftBank Group Corp. Trump said SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son was among those behind the move to add workers. The Japanese billionaire, who Trump calls “Masa,” said earlier this month that he intends to invest $50 billion in the U.S. using a previously announced technology fund, creating 50,000 jobs.

Could Apple Supplier Foxconn Be Signalling U.S. Expansion Plans With LCD Move?

Foxconn takes a controlling stake in Sakai Display, which could signify the company’s LCD TV intentions as Trump boasts of SoftBank job creation. Terry Gou, the founder of A pple supplier Foxconn , could be moving closer to defining his U.S. expansion strategy with a tighter grip on a key LCD maker just as friendly rival Masayoshi Son’s $50 billion American investment pledge begins to take shape.

TD Leads Canadian Stock Sales as Energy Deals Fuel Record Year

Toronto-Dominion Bank took top spot for managing Canadian stock sales in 2016 as large energy deals led by pipeline operator TransCanada Corp. helped set a record for equity financings. The amount raised from initial public offerings, secondary sales and equity-linked securities reached C$50.4 billion , up 17 percent from 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

3 Bank Stocks to Buy

Bank stocks have been on an absolute tear in the past month following the election of real estate mogul Donald Trump as president of the United States. Shares in JPMorgan Chase are up over 18% since Nov. 9, Bank of America is up a whopping 26%, and even the currently scandal-embroiled Wells Fargo has seen its shares rise 21% in anticipation of financial deregulation under President Trump.

Trump touts thousands of new jobs in deal with SoftBank CEO

President-elect Donald Trump says wireless carrier Sprint Corp will bring 5,000 jobs back to the United States. President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he has reached a deal with SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son that would generate thousands of jobs in the United States, the latest in a string of unusually direct negotiations between Trump and corporate America.

Monte Dei Paschi Needs $9.2 Billion to Avert Potential Shortfall

Troubled Italian lender Monte dei Paschi says a potential capital shortfall identified by the European Central Bank has widened to 8.8 billion . Troubled Italian lender Monte dei Paschi remains solvent, a requirement for a government bailout under European Union rules, but its potential capital shortfall has widened to a 8.8 billion .

Shale Specter Haunts OPEC as Oil Seen Rallying Into 2017

After pulling off the biggest oil-market deal in a decade, OPEC faces a new balancing act in 2017: boosting prices without igniting shale. The first shale boom spurred a global supply glut that started prices sliding in mid-2014, and was amplified that November by a pump-at-will OPEC strategy aimed at market dominance.

European Lenders Limp Into 2017 After $12.5 Billion Settlements

Relief that Deutsche Bank AG and Credit Suisse Group AG cleared legal hurdles is likely to soon give way to concern over a bigger problem: European lenders are still struggling to make money. While the combined $12.5 billion in settlements the two agreed to pay to resolve U.S. investigations into sales of toxic debt put one dispute behind them, they also highlighted how handicapped their businesses are in generating increased profits — nowhere more than in Italy, which agreed overnight to pump 20 billion euros into its banks.

CEO’s Winning Gamble May Keep Scrooge From Deutsche Bank Bonuses

Deutsche Bank AG employees may owe their cash bonuses for 2016, however modest, to a last-minute bargain by Chief Executive Officer John Cryan. The beleaguered German bank, long embroiled in negotiations with the U.S. Justice Department, was inching closer in recent weeks to a resolution over its sale of defective residential mortgage-backed securities that fueled the financial crisis.

Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse Settle U.S. Subprime Probes

Deutsche Bank AG and Credit Suisse Group AG agreed to pay a combined $12.5 billion to resolve U.S. investigations into sales of the toxic debt that fueled the financial crisis, putting behind them a major dispute that undermined confidence in the banks and raised questions about their turnarounds. Deutsche Bank will pay $7.2 billion and take a $1.2 billion pretax charge this quarter, while Credit Suisse agreed to a $5.3 billion deal and will recognize a $2 billion hit to earnings, the banks said in separate statements early Friday.

Deutsche Bank Reassures Staff of Strength After U.S. Settlement

Deutsche Bank AG moved to reassure employees of its financial strength after reaching a $7.2 billion settlement with U.S. regulators over toxic subprime debt, and said it found no evidence the firm had breached sanctions against Russia in a separate probe. The lender, which saw its stock plunge this year amid legal concerns on multiple fronts, said in a memo to staff Friday that it doesn’t expect the settlement to affect its credit rating or its ability to operate in the U.S., and it anticipates paying the coupons on all its debt instruments.

S&P 500 Analyst Moves: BAC

The latest tally of analyst opinions from the major brokerage houses shows that among the components of the S&P 500 index, Bank of America is now the #107 analyst pick, moving up by 29 spots. This rank is formed by averaging the analyst opinions for each component from each broker, and then ranking the 500 components by those average opinion values.

A Sudden Burst of Activity on Mortgage Litigation

In the span of just 12 hours, three U.S. enforcement matters left over from the financial crisis made significant progress: Deutsche Bank AG and Credit Suisse Group AG separately announced that they would pay a combined $12.5 billion to resolve U.S. investigations into their sales of toxic mortgage debt, whereas Barclays Plc chose to roll the dice and let the Justice Department file a fraud lawsuit over its debt sales. Before these latest two deals, the U.S. investigations had already yielded more than $46 billion from six U.S. financial institutions.

Barclays to Face Off Against U.S. Over – Craptacular’ Loans

The U.S. Justice Department sued Barclays Plc for fraud over its sale of mortgage bonds after the bank balked at paying the amount the government sought in settlement negotiations. The lawsuit announced on Thursday is rare for big banks, which typically negotiate a settlement with the government rather than risk drawn-out litigation and a possible trial.

Deutsche Bank to Settle U.S. Mortgage Probe for $7.2 Billion

Deutsche Bank AG said it reached a $7.2 billion agreement to resolve a years-long U.S. investigation into its dealings in mortgage-backed securities, removing a legal hurdle that fueled investor angst. Deutsche Bank will pay a $3.1 billion civil penalty and provide $4.1 billion in relief to consumers under a settlement in principle with U.S. authorities, according to a statement early Friday.

A Goldman You’ve Never Heard of Is Pursuing a Hong Kong IPO

Goldman is planning an initial public offering in Hong Kong–but it’s not the Goldman you’ve heard of. Goldman Faith Holdings Ltd., a local engineering subcontractor which adopted its current name less than a month ago, lodged an application to list on the main board of the Hong Kong stock exchange, according to a Dec. 19 filing.

Legal & General Names Davies to Replace Gregory as Finance Chief

Legal & General Group Plc said Jeff Davies, a senior partner at Ernst & Young LLP, will replace Mark Gregory as the U.K. company’s chief financial officer after the publication of its 2016 preliminary results. Gregory will step down from Legal & General’s board when Davies starts his new job, though he will stay at the company until Aug. 31, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

BofA’s Moynihan Says Businesses Are Friskier After Trump Victory

Bank of America Corp. doesn’t expect Donald Trump’s election to jolt the U.S. economy next year, but its corporate customers are enthusiastic and already seeking funds to expand, according to Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan. Mid-sized companies “are friskier, they’re more active,” Moynihan, 57, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s David Westin for broadcast Thursday.

China’s Uber for Trucks Huochebang Said to Raise $115 Million

Truck Alliance Inc., an Uber-type service for trucks known in China as Huochebang, raised about $115 million in a financing round that valued the startup at $1 billion, according to two people familiar with the matter. The two-year-old company backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Hillhouse Capital secured the capital in a round led by new investors International Finance Corp. and All-Stars Investment Ltd., the people said.

FINRA Fines Wells, Others $14M for Records’ Changeable Format

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said it fined several Wells Fargo & Co businesses, RBC Capital Markets, LPL Financial and others a combined $14.4 million on Wednesday for record-keeping problems that may have allowed company and customer documents to be altered. The securities industry’s self-regulator found that the firms failed to keep hundreds of millions of electronic documents in a “write once, read many” format, which would have made it impossible to alter or destroy records after they were written.

Oil Extends Gain as Industry Report Said to Show Supply Drop

Oil extended a gain in New York as an industry report was said to show U.S. crude stockpiles fell last week. February-delivery futures rose 30 cents after the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that nationwide crude inventories sank 4.15 million barrels last week, according to a person familiar with the data.

Jefferies Profit Quadruples as Fixed Income, Equities Climb

Jefferies Group, the investment bank whose trading results often foreshadow performance at bigger Wall Street firms, said fourth-quarter profit quadrupled as revenue from trading stocks and bonds more than doubled. Net income jumped to $87.1 million in the three months ended Nov. 30, the New York-based company said Tuesday in a statement.

Watch Out for China Growth, European Elections and Reflation in 2017, Says Goldman Sachs

The investment bank lays out some of its key macro themes; providing reasons to be generally optimistic unless you are British. China’s economic growth and European elections will be potential flash points for global markets in 2017, while the negative effects of Brexit will become evermore apparent and investors should get used to hearing the term reflation, according to Goldman Sachs.

Lloyds to Buy BofA’s U.K. Credit Card Unit for $2.4 Billion

Lloyds Banking Group Plc agreed to buy Bank of America Corp.’s MBNA credit-card business in the U.K. for 1.9 billion pounds in cash, marking its first major deal since being rescued by British taxpayers eight years ago. The acquisition of MBNA, which has about 7 billion pounds of assets, will add 650 million pounds a year to Lloyd’s revenue, equivalent to a 4 percent increase, according to a statement Tuesday.

Credit Suisse Nearing U.S. Mortgage Settlement, Reuters Says

Credit Suisse Group AG may reach an agreement as soon as this week to settle a U.S. investigation into its handling of mortgage-linked securities before the 2008 financial crisis, Reuters reported. Switzerland’s second-largest bank is confident it can reach a resolution for less than the $5 billion to $7 billion that the Department of Justice has demanded, the publication quoted an unidentified person familiar with the talks as saying, without specifying when that request was made.

SoftBank Inks First Deal After Trump Talk Spurs 3,000 Jobs

SoftBank Group Corp. Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son told President-elect Donald Trump this month he would create 50,000 jobs in the U.S. Money for the first 3,000 positions was announced on Monday. Satellite startup OneWeb Ltd. said it raised $1.2 billion from SoftBank and existing investors, with the Japanese technology company providing $1 billion.