Receiving Wide Coverage ...
Something rotten in Denmark?
A U.S. pension fund sued Danske Bank and four of its former top executives for allegedly defrauding investors and inflating its stock price by hiding and failing to stop money laundering at its Estonian branch. The suit, filed by the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 773 Pension Fund in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, seeks class action status and damages for investors in Danske’s American depositary shares.
Danske Bank may have to pay more than 2.5 times more to borrow money than in its previous bond sale, which came to market before the bank’s €200bn money-laundering scandal was exposed. The Danish bank is looking to sell three- and five-year dollar-denominated bonds at 280 and 310 basis points over U.S Treasuries, respectively. In its previous bond sale last June, it sold five-year bonds at 120 basis points over Treasuries.
Next in line
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager has promoted a “potential successor” to CEO Laurence Fink. Mark Wiedman, who was in charge of the firm’s exchange-traded funds and index funds business, was named head of BlackRock’s international operations and corporate strategy, where he will report directly to Fink. “The move signals that the firm is grooming Mr. Wiedman, 48, as a possible heir to Mr. Fink, 67.” Wall Street Journal, Financial Times
Wall Street Journal
Rising rate risk
“The whole economy has become dependent on low rates,” the Heard on the Street column warns. “Housing is just the first area to show it. Auto sales, which were bolstered by years of easy financing, have leveled off. The biggest risk could be for corporations. Rising rates — and the lower tax-deductibility businesses get from borrowing — threaten to not only make companies more cautious about debt-financed investments or acquisitions, as they have with consumers, but may also make it hard for some heavily indebted companies to fund operations and or even stay afloat.”
Her side
Calif. Sen. Kamala Harris, a possible 2020 Democrat presidential candidate, boasts about her role as state attorney general in achieving a multistate mortgage settlement in 2012, the paper reports. In her book, Harris says she and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon “were like dogs in a fight” arguing following an initial offer that would have given California between $2 billion and $4 billion — “crumbs on the table.” A “testy” phone call with Dimon ensued. Five major banks eventually agreed to a settlement that provided about $50 billion in relief to homeowners, with California getting a $20 billion share. The paper says Dimon's spokespeople declined to comment.
Financial Times
Coming to America
N26, the German digital bank that is planning an “aggressive” expansion into the U.S. this year through a partnership with an unnamed American bank, is now worth $2.7 billion following its latest $300 million fundraising round.
What’s all the fuss about?
Readers offered so many comments about its recent article on commercial bankers moving to fintech firms that the paper chose to highlight some.
Elsewhere
Take your money and run
Members of the French “yellow vest” protest movement are being urged to empty their bank accounts to show their discontent with the government. “The movement’s adherents said they hoped the banking action will force the French government to heed their demands, especially giving citizens the right to propose and vote on new laws.”
