Most Clicked SIFMA Global SmartBrief Stories
1. Iceland close to bankruptcy as financial crisis worsens
SIFMA Global SmartBrief | Oct 09, 2008
Iceland may become the first country to go bankrupt because of the financial crisis. The country is having to atone for a 10-year binge of investment and spending during which banks and residents expanded well beyond their means. The Icelandic government has been working to get ahead of issues, but the crisis is moving too fast, taking down banks and other companies, along with many residents' life savings. Kaupthing Bank, Iceland's largest lender, was nationalised Thursday. Financial Times (10/09) International Herald Tribune (10/09)
2. EU ministers agree on common approach to battle crisis
SIFMA Global SmartBrief | Oct 08, 2008
After four days of frantic discussions, all 27 members of the EU agreed to a common approach to the financial crisis for the first time. Finance ministers decided to increase the limit for guaranteed bank deposits and came to terms on common principles for rescuing banks. The ministers also temporarily eased accounting rules to help financial institutions avoid fire sales and put them on equal footing with US counterparts. Guardian (London), The (10/07) International Herald Tribune (10/07)
3. Investor panic sweeps through global financial markets
SIFMA Global SmartBrief | Oct 07, 2008
As investors worry that financial leaders and politicians are having difficulty dealing with the financial crisis, markets around the world plunged, creating a downward spiral in confidence. Leaders in Europe and the UK said they will do what is necessary, but a lack of substantial measures did not help to calm the nerves of share traders. The FTSE 100 dropped 7.85%, the largest percentage decline since Black Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped to less than 10,000 points for the first time in four years. Wall Street Journal, The (subscription required) (10/07) BusinessWeek (10/06) Times (London), The (10/07)
4. Britain to partially nationalise largest banks
SIFMA Global SmartBrief | Oct 08, 2008
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown decided to pour as much as £50 billion of taxpayer money into the banking system to avoid collapse. Main recipients of the scheme are expected to be Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB. The rescue comes after shares in RBS plunged 39% on Tuesday and 20% on Monday. HBOS, which is being acquired by Lloyds, tumbled 41%. Details of the scheme were still being hammered out before Brown's announcement this morning. Times (London), The (10/08) Financial Times (10/08)
5. Citigroup, Wells Fargo work to end dispute over Wachovia
SIFMA Global SmartBrief | Oct 06, 2008
Citigroup, which offered Tuesday to buy Wachovia's banking operations for $2.2 billion, and Wells Fargo, which put in a surprise $15.1 billion takeover bid Thursday for the lender, are working to resolve their dispute, sources said. The resolution could result in the breaking up of Wachovia, which has been left out of the discussions. New York Times, The (10/05) Financial Times (10/06) ClipSyndicate (10/06) Wall Street Journal, The (subscription required) (10/06)
6. Iceland's financial system crashes; official to meet with IMF
SIFMA Global SmartBrief | Oct 10, 2008
Iceland seized the nation's last major independent bank, shutting down currency trading and effectively rendering the krona worthless on world markets, as the collapse of Iceland's financial system accelerated. Prime Minister Geir Haarde, who warned this week of "national bankruptcy", said Iceland's finance minister, Arni Mathiesen, will be in Washington this weekend for International Monetary Fund/World Bank meetings, but he would not say whether an IMF bailout is in the works. Iceland and Britain are at odds about the status of funds held in each other's banks. International Herald Tribune (10/09) Financial Times (10/09) Economist, The (10/09)
7. European countries work to battle financial crisis
SIFMA Global SmartBrief | Oct 06, 2008
German officials announced Sunday that the government will guarantee all private savings accounts to reassure jittery depositors. It is the latest move by a European country in the battle against the financial crisis, the most serious that the Continent has faced since the euro was established in 1999. The crisis has highlighted the fact that Europe's economies are much more integrated than its governing entities. Some analysts say the pledges made by finance leaders at a summit in Paris over the weekend will not be enough to prevent further turmoil. ClipSyndicate (10/06) International Herald Tribune (10/06) Reuters (10/06) Wall Street Journal, The (subscription required) (10/06)
8. Wells Fargo gets green light to buy troubled Wachovia
SIFMA Global SmartBrief | Oct 10, 2008
Citigroup walked away from its fight to buy Wachovia, clearing the way for rival Wells Fargo to acquire the sixth-largest lender in the US, transforming Wells Fargo from a regional player focused on the West Coast to a national retail-banking powerhouse. Citi said it will no longer seek injunctive relief to block Wells Fargo but will pursue a $60 billion claim against Wells Fargo and Wachovia for breaching an agreement that gave it the exclusive right to negotiate with Wachovia. With Citi bowing out, Wells Fargo looks set to acquire Wachovia in a $11.7 billion all-share deal. Financial Times (10/10)
9. Commentary: Global "shock and awe" needed to resolve crisis
SIFMA Global SmartBrief | Oct 06, 2008
Columnist Ambrose Evans-Pritchard takes an overall view of the financial crisis and concludes that the situation is nearing the "point of no return". He discusses issues including the collapse of a deal to save Germany's Hypo Real Estate, moves by governments across Europe to guarantee deposits and Iceland's economic woes. "The only way out of this calamitous descent is 'shock and awe' on a global scale, and even that may not be enough," Evans-Pritchard writes. Telegraph (London) (10/05)
10. Iceland seeks financial help from US, Scandinavian countries
SIFMA Global SmartBrief | Oct 06, 2008
In the past year, Iceland's banks have suffered inflation, an economic downturn and the declining value of the country's currency. Glitnir, one of the largest lenders in Iceland, was nationalised last week. During the weekend, Icelandic businessmen and politicians worked to save the economy and reached out to the US and Scandinavian governments for help. Telegraph (London) (10/06) Times (London), The (10/06)
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