Posted by seumasach on September 15, 2008
Chris Merritt, Legal affairs editor | September 16, 2008
THE NSW Government was under pressure last night to bail out local councils that stand to lose a total of about $200 million in the bankruptcy of US investment bank Lehman Brothers.
The bankruptcy has left the councils with little prospect of recovering any money they had invested in securities marketed by Lehman that turned out to be almost worthless.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: financial collapse, Lehman | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on September 15, 2008
Shares in one of Britain’s biggest banks plunged by 35 per cent today as markets reeled from the shock collapse of US-based Lehman Brothers.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: financial collapse, HBOS | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on September 15, 2008
The crisis gripping the US financial markets shows no signs of ending after an unprecedented weekend of drama
Richard Adams
15th September, 2008
Has Wall Street ever seen a weekend like the one it has just been through? Perhaps, in the depths of the great depression – but nothing in recent memory, not even the collapse of the hedge fund LTCM 10 years ago, comes close to the drama and crisis that the US financial system is going through.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: AIg, financial collapse | 1 Comment »
Posted by seumasach on September 15, 2008
Whilst Gordon has now got the idea and is intent on shovelling every last penny the way of the bankers, a problem has arisen: such a policy would sink the £ and the City’s financial primacy with it. The empire is in a quandary.
Bank of England governor threatens to resign if Brown forces through state-backed mortgages
By James Cusick, Westminster Editor
THE GOVERNOR of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has privately warned Downing Street that he will resign if Gordon Brown directs the bank to become the key agency in a state-backed mortgage guarantee system.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: collapse of pound, financial collapse | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on September 15, 2008
“The numbers are too daunting,” said a senior executive at a large private-equity firm. Given AIG’s huge balance sheet, “we just don’t have enough capital to fill the hole.“
Insurer Looks to Sell Automotive Business, Annuities Unit;
It Seeks $10 Billion in Fresh Capital as Downgrade Threaten
By MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG, LIAM PLEVEN and PETER LATTMAN
September 15, 2008
Insurer American International Group Inc., succumbing to relentless investor pressure that drove its shares down 31% on Friday alone, is pulling together a survival plan that includes selling off some of its most valuable assets, raising more capital and going to the Federal Reserve for help, people familiar with the situation said.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: American International Group, financial collapse | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on September 15, 2008
It looks as if the limits of Federal bailing-out have been reached and we are now into free fall.
Stephen Foley
15th September
Wall Street banks were preparing for one of the most dramatic shake-ups in the finance industry’s history last night as it emerged that Lehman Brothers, an investment bank with a 158-year history, was working on a plan to declare bankruptcy.
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Posted by seumasach on September 14, 2008
As the prospects for government help dwindle, beleaguered Lehman Brothers races to find an acquirer to avoid collapse
Mathew Goldstein and David Henry
12th September, 2008
It’s looking as though Lehman Brothers (LEH) may not be able to count on the federal government for any help in its hour of need, and that has all of Wall Street shaking. Shares of Lehman sank deeper into penny-stock territory on Friday, Sept. 12, as the beleaguered, 158-year-old firm races to find another bank to buy it in a bid to stave off collapse.
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Posted by seumasach on September 12, 2008
By Sean Farrell, Financial Editor and Stephen Foley in New York
Independent
Friday, 12 September 2008
A desperate attempt by Lehman Brothers to retain its independence looked doomed last night as the US investment bank’s shares plunged yet again and the company began soliciting takeover bids.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: financial collapse, Lehman | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on September 6, 2008
John Hoefle
5th September
While the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has gone to great lengths to assure the public that their bank deposits are safe—at least up to the insured limit—it is obvious that the agency lacks the capital required to back up its claims. As long as the FDIC closes only small banks, it can meet its responsibilities, but it does not have the resources to even begin to deal with the magnitude of the crisis it faces.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: FDIC, financial collapse, Lehman | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on September 3, 2008
“UK banks have been campaigning for an extension to the scheme, under which the Bank provides banks with highly liquid government bonds in return for illiquid AAA-rated mortgage-backed securities.”
Good to see the bankers remembering their student days and getting down to Threadneedle Street with their banners and placards:
What do we want?
Public money!
When do we want it?
Now!
Patrick Hosking
2nd September, 2008
British banks soon could be scrambling for short-term funding once more amid reports that supplies from Threadneedle Street and from Frankfurt may be drying up.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: financial collapse | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on September 1, 2008
“We are reminded once again that when the pound falls, it falls hard.”
We have been stressing the vulnerability of the pound for some time. Some analogy from a strictly economic point of view could be made with Iceland which is being forced to contemplate joining the Euro as its own currency plummets. Iceland has some similarities as an offshore, largely parasitic, financier economy. but at least its not the hub of a lunatic imperial project which has already failed but which we persist with, fueling the flames that engulf us. The collapse of the pound will be a historic event symbolising the end of the post-1688 imperial project. On a more practical level we have no choice but to abandon it and join the Euro if we are to avoid a terrifying inflationary crisis.
Julia Kollewe
1st September
The pound hit a record low against the euro and a two-year low against the dollar this morning after a stark warning from Alistair Darling, the chancellor, that the economic downturn would be worse and longer than expected.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: Abolish the pound!, financial collapse | Leave a Comment »
In These New Times 