Things we're reading today include ...
Today's must read
Inside Goldman Sachs (New York) and Was the AIG Bailout a Goldman Bailout by Proxy? (Seeking Alpha)
"Goldman Sachs was AIG’s biggest banking client, having bought $20 billion in credit-default swaps from the insurer back in 2005…
"By
that weekend in September, Goldman Sachs had collected $7.5 billion
from its AIG credit-default swaps but had an additional $13 billion at
risk—money AIG could no longer pay. In an age in which we’ve become
numb to such astronomical figures, it’s easy to forget that $13 billion
was a loss that could have destroyed Goldman at that moment.
"Hank Paulson and then–New York Fed chief Tim Geithner called an emergency meeting for the following Monday morning…"
This definitely goes in the Hank Paulson shame file.
Companies
Northern Rock shareholders lose fight for compensation (Telegraph)
BBVA results fall on loan provisions (Financial Times)
Deutsche Bank Loan Provisions Jump to $1.4 Billion (Bloomberg)
Deutsche Bank Q2 profits rise, but loan provisions jump (Guardian)
Deutsche Bank hit by loan fears (Financial Times)
Bank of America will close 10 percent of branches (New Jersey News)
Regulations
Government bank chief John Kingman quits (Guardian)
Nationalised banks' chief quits (BBC)
EU to renew US bank scrutiny deal (BBC)
Swiss Bank Inquiry Widens as UBS Client Pleads Guilty (New York Times)
House Panel Passes Bill to Set Rules on Executive Compensation (Wall Street Journal)
Economies
Alistair Darling gets it in the neck again, but is he really such a bad Chancellor? (Telegraph)
ECB survey sees credit crunch easing (Euractiv)
Quote of the Day:
"The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) spends hundreds of thousands of pounds each year urging consumers and businesses to be on their guard against scams. But the taxpayer-funded body failed to notice an alleged major fraud going on under its own roof until £250,000 had gone missing."
OFT internal fraud causes £250,000 loss (Telegraph)
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Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...