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Oct 14

BPM to further boost management powers in new bylaws


Following an audit at BPM earlier this year, the Bank of Italy had criticised the excessive grip the lender’s employee-shareholders hold on its strategy — hindering cost-cuts and a streamlining of the bank.Last week the central bank asked BPM to completely renew its top ranks as the Milanese bank moves to appoint new management and supervisory boards.BPM said in a statement it had changed the bylaws that it would put forward to shareholders on Oct 22.In the latest version, the management board — and no longer the supervisory board — could decide on the admission or exclusion of new shareholders.This and a number of other changes prodded by the central bank all went in the direction of increasing the management board’s independence and powers.An association of BPM’s employee-shareholders owns less than 4 percent of the mid-tier lender but controls shareholder meetings because of a one-head-one-vote rule in BPM’s bylaws.BPM’s shareholders will appoint the supervisory board which in turn will name the management board.BPM said that, in the latest version of the bylaws, the supervisory board could give its opinion on a matter if asked by the management board and it would not be binding.In a further move aimed at loosening the control employee-shareholders have over shareholder meetings, the limit on the number of proxy votes had been raised to five from three.This change should allow greater representation of non-employee shareholders at the meetings and had been rejected by BPM’s shareholders earlier this year.Shares in BPM closed up 6.4 percent on Friday, leading gains on Italy’s blue-chip FTSE MIB stock index .FTMIB, as speculation mounted on changes to its top management.

Posted 7 months ago

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BPM, to, further, boost, management, powers, in, new, bylaws,

Oct 13

UPDATE 1-AIA growth jumps in Q3 as insurance demand rises


* Shares up 24 pct since IPO, beating big boardHONG KONG, Oct 14 (Reuters) - AIA Group Ltd , Asia’s No.3 insurer, said growth accelerated in the third quarter, with its value of new business rising 53 percent as strong performance in markets such as Malaysia helped boost earnings.The insurer’s value of new business (VONB) rose 53 percent to $245 million in the three months ending August, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong bourse. VONB, a key indicator that measures profitability of new business, rose 32 percent in its fiscal first half.”It is an impressive set of numbers,” said Stanley Tsai, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in Hong Kong. “While part of it is because of a lower base in Q3 last year, continued repricing and a move away from lower margin products are all helping to boost earnings.”Underlying group VONB margins rose 4.5 percentage points to 36 percent from a year ago, but remained largely flat from the first half, the insurer said. It also said its number of agents had increased, but did not give further details.With its relatively young population and high savings rate, Asia has increasingly become the next battleground for insurance companies such as AIA and rivals Prudential and China’s Ping An .AIA is the Asian life insurance unit spun off by American International Group Inc , which still owns about a third of the company. It raised more than $20 billion in a Hong Kong offering last year.”Rising affluence is profoundly important in extending the scope for long term savings and, with accelerating health care costs further increasing demand for medical protection across the region, consumers are seeking greater security and stability which will also benefit AIA,” it said in the statement.AIA shares have risen about 24 percent since its IPO in October last year, versus a 19 percent decline in the benchmark Hang Seng index .

Posted 7 months ago

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UPDATE, 1AIA, growth, jumps, in, Q3, as, insurance, demand, rises,

Oct 13

TEXT-S&P lowers rtgs on Dutch RMBS E-MAC NL 2006-III’s C to E nts


OVERVIEW— These rating actions follow our credit and cash flow analysis of the most recent transaction information that we have received.— We have lowered our ratings on the class C, D, and E notes and affirmed our ratings on the class A2 and B notes.— E-MAC NL 2006-III is backed by Dutch residential mortgages originated by GMAC-RFC Nederland, Quion 20, and Atlas Funding.Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services today lowered its ratings on the class C, D, and E notes in E-MAC Program B.V. Compartment NL 2006-III (E-MAC NL 2006-III). At the same time, we affirmed our ratings on the class A2 and B notes (see list below).Today’s rating actions follow our credit and cash flow analysis of the most recent transaction information that we have received.Our credit analysis incorporates our standard Dutch criteria (see “Dutch RMBS Market Overview And Criteria”, published on Dec. 16, 2005).In addition, we incorporate credit stability as an important factor in our rating opinions. We consider whether we believe that an issuer or security has a high likelihood of experiencing unusually large adverse changes in credit quality under conditions of moderate stress (see “Methodology: Credit Stability Criteria,” published on May 3, 2010).For Dutch transactions, we adjust our weighted-average loss severities (WALS) by applying a 5% decrease in house prices and giving full credit to the house price index (HPI). If there has been an upward trend in arrears, we adjust our weighted-average foreclosure frequency (WAFF) by projecting arrears based on historical data.We have projected an additional 0.27% of 120+ day arrears, as we have seen an upward trend in long-term arrears over the past year.Our rating decisions for this transaction are driven by the incorporation of credit stability in our credit and cash flow analysis.This transaction is structured such that the reserve fund can amortize after a few years if 90+ day arrears are lower than 2% of the outstanding collateral balance.The reserve fund started amortizing in July 2010; it is currently at EUR2,517,131 and will continue amortizing to a floor of EUR1,600,000. For the class A2, B, C, and D notes, the reduction in credit enhancement provided by the reserve fund is more than offset by the deleveraging of the transaction since closing.Our WAFF and WALS for the pool have increased for each rating level since closing, due to an increase in the calculated weighted-average loan-to-foreclosure value (WALTFV) to 95.31%, and an increase in arrears to 1.22%. In our view, the subsequent increase in required credit coverage is mitigated by the available credit enhancement for the class A2 and B notes. Also, these notes pass our cash flow stresses at their current ratings. Therefore, we have affirmed our ratings on the class A2 and B notes.The increase in required credit coverage is not mitigated by the increase in credit enhancement levels for the class C and D notes, and these notes are unable to maintain their current ratings under our cash flow scenarios. Therefore, we have lowered the rating on the class C notes to ‘BBB (sf)’ and the class D notes to ‘BB- (sf)’.The class E note is an excess spread note, and is currently paying down in line with the amortization of the reserve fund. This note is unable to maintain its current rating under our cash flow stresses due to the fact that if 90+ day arrears increase above 2%, then the reserve fund would need to be topped up to EUR10,800,000 before any excess spread could be used to pay down the class E principal. Therefore, we have lowered our rating on the class E notes to ‘B (sf)’.COUNTERPARTY CRITERIAWe do not consider the swap agreements for E-MAC NL 2006-III to be in line with our 2010 counterparty criteria. Rather, the swap counterparty’s swap agreement reflects replacement language in line with previous counterparty criteria. Therefore, under our criteria, the highest potential rating on the notes in this transaction is equal to the issuer credit rating on the swap provider, Credit Suisse International, plus one notch.Our analysis indicates that the notes are unable to maintain their current ratings without credit being given to the swap. In light of this, on June 17, 2011, we lowered to ‘AA- (sf)’ our ratings on the class A and B notes in E-MAC NL 2006-III, to reflect our rating on Credit Suisse International (A+/Stable/A-1), plus one notch (see “Ratings List Resolving European Structured Finance Counterparty CreditWatch Placements - June 17, 2011 Review”).

Posted 7 months ago

34 notes

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Oct 12

Senate defeats Obama’s jobs bill


The $447 billion package of tax cuts and new spending failed by a vote of 50 to 48, short of the 60 votes it needed to advance in the 100-member Senate. Voting was expected to continue for several hours but would not affect the outcome.Obama, campaigning in Florida, said the vote was not the end of the fight for the measure. In a statement after the vote, Obama accused Republicans of obstruction and said he would work with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to make sure that individual proposals in the bill would get a vote as soon as possible.”Ultimately, the American people won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. It’s time for Congress to meet their responsibility, put their party politics aside and take action on jobs right now.”Obama had barnstormed around the country to pressure his Republican opponents to back his top legislative priority, but he did not pick up a single Republican vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate.Two Democrats, facing re-election in conservative states, also voted against the measure.Obama said earlier on Tuesday he would try to pass components of the bill individually.Though Obama’s top legislative priority is now dead in Congress, it is certain to have a long afterlife on the campaign trail.Obama’s 2012 re-election chances depend on his ability to spur the sluggish economic recovery and revive the nearly stagnant job market.The U.S. unemployment rate has been above 9 percent since May and almost 45 percent of the 14 million jobless Americans have been out of work for six months or more.Even Wall Street is feeling the pinch, with a report from the New York State Comptroller showing that banker bonuses are likely to drop for the second year in a row.Among the elements of the bill which might be salvaged are a payroll tax cut which Obama wants to extend to avoid imposing an effective tax increase at a time when wages have not been rising much. Obama’s bill would also extend unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed, another area that could yield bipartisan support.Other elements, such as increased highway spending and aid for cash-strapped states, aren’t likely to pick up Republican support.POLITICAL FOOTBALLDemocrats say that Republicans are more interested in defeating Obama than helping the country recover from the deepest recession since the 1930s.”Republicans think if the economy improves it might help President Obama. So they root for the economy to fail, and oppose every effort to improve it,” Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said before the vote.Republicans, who have lined up behind a job-creation agenda centered around relaxing business regulations, say Obama’s jobs bill is essentially a warmed-over version of his 2009 stimulus.That effort helped to ease the impact of the worst recession since the 1930s, but Republicans point out that it did not keep unemployment below 8 percent as the White House had promised.”Everyone who votes for this second stimulus will have to answer a simple but important question: why on Earth would you support an approach that we already know won’t work?” said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.Obama’s so-called Jobs Council, under the chairmanship of GE Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt, earlier delivered a report in which they proposed steps to foster U.S. innovation and make the country more attractive to foreign investment.

Posted 7 months ago

47 notes

Senate, defeats, Obamas, jobs, bill,