Good morning New York,
FT ALPHAVILLE
Taxi for Laiki as Cyprus puts form to its Plan B: Joseph has the latest from Cyprus where credible plans and threats keep popping up and disappearing.
This is the CIO! Take your silly market-making prices and [redacted]: Lisa bravely continues her journey into the belly of the whale. This time she is tackling the big question: how were such huge credit derivatives positions allowed to be put on by JPMorgan's chief investment office (CIO) in a matter of mere months back at the start of 2012?
NEWS
Cypriot parliament debates banking bills today: The parliament in Nicosia is due this morning to debate legislation to enable it to qualify for a bailout and prevent the ECB from cutting off emergency liquidity for the country's banks on Monday. The 61-page bill would guarantee deposits up to €100,000 and put Laiki into resolution, and fold deposits above €100,000 into the Laiki 'bad bank'. The government has also tabled seven other bills, including one to to restrict cashing cheques and various other transactions. The eurogroup issued a statement Thursday night saying finance ministers expected a proposal from Cyprus "as rapidly as possible"; sources told the WSJ that European officials were frustrated at the lack of detail they'd received on the latest Cypriot proposals. In Nicosia on Thursday queues formed outside ATMs and several hundred protestors, many of them bank employees, jostled with riot police. (Financial Times) (Wall Street Journal) (Bloomberg) (Eurogroup statement)(Reuters)
BP to use TNK-BP cash for $8bn buyback: BP will launch a share buyback worth as much as $8bn following the sale of its stake in TNK-BP, the oil group's joint venture in Russia with the Kremlin-controlled oil group Rosneft. The oil major, which completed the sale of its 50 per cent stake in TNK-BP to Rosneft on Thursday, received around $12.5bn in cash for the sale. (Financial Times)
Blackstone weighs up potential Dell bid: Details of any potential bid remained unclear, but these people said Blackstone was exploring several different scenarios that could lead to it making an offer for all or part of Dell, which last month agreed to be taken private by founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners for $24.4bn. Blackstone had to decide whether or not it is prepared to bid by Friday, which marks the end of a 45-day window during which other potential buyers have the opportunity to step forward. (Financial Times)
German business confidence falls: "German business confidence deteriorated unexpectedly in March, following February's sharp rise, the Ifo business survey showed Friday, as manufacturers grew less optimistic about their export prospects. The Ifo business confidence index declined for the first time in five months, to 106.7 in March from 107.4 in February, below economists' forecasts of 107.6." (Wall Street Journal)
Europe weighs iPhone sale deals with carriers for antitrust abuse: "Although they have not filed formal complaints, a group of European wireless carriers recently submitted information about their contracts with Apple to the European Commission, according to a person briefed on the communications with the carriers who asked not to be identified." (New York Times)
Top StanChart executives called before US regulators: "The top three executives of Standard Chartered, including its chairman, were summoned to Washington for an unprecedented meeting with US regulators to explain a recent statement playing down the bank's violations of US sanctions laws, a person familiar with the matter said." Chairman Sir John Peace, CEO Peter Sands and finance director Richard Meddings met yesterday with senior Department of Justice officials and Cy Vance, the Manhattan district attorney. This follows the humiliatingapology issued to the bank's staff and investors by chairman Sir John Peace on Thursday morning over comments made on March 5. (Financial Times)
"The US House of Representatives eliminated the threat of a government shutdown next week, approving on Thursday a stop-gap funding bill that temporarily eases partisan tensions after months of bitter fights over budgets." (Reuters)
BBVA plans $3.5bn Mexican push: The Spanish bank announced the biggest investment by its Latin American subsidiary to date, saying that it would funnel $3.5bn into its BBVA Bancomer Mexico arm over the next three years – $1.3bn to upgrade bank branches, $1.5bn in new technology and the remaining $700m on its corporate headquarters in Mexico City. (Financial Times)
Rosneft and BP announce Arctic projects: "Kremlin-controlled Rosneft said it would work with BP in a series of big projects in Russia's Arctic, opening up a new chapter in BP's often tempestuous relationship with Russia. The promise came as Rosneft announced the completion of its $55bn deal to acquire TNK-BP, BP's Russian joint venture, in a complex deal that nets the UK energy group $12.5bn in cash and leaves it with a 19.75% stake in the Russian national oil champion." (Financial Times)
Hedge fund revival: "The first quarter is likely to be one of the strongest ever for some hedge funds, in spite of a host of macroeconomic concerns worrying many mainstream investors. European equity-focused hedge funds have fared particularly well." (Financial Times)
Chicago moves to close 11% of elementary schools in fall: "School officials here said Thursday they plan to close 53 elementary schools and one high school, one of the largest mass school closings in the nation's history, as Mayor Rahm Emanuel seeks to fill a gaping budget hole." (Wall Street Journal)
Rajaratnam's younger brother charged: The younger brother of Raj Rajaratnam, the convicted co-founder of Galleon Group, was charged with conspiracy and securities fraud for his alleged role in a widespread insider trading scheme that toppled the hedge fund. Rengan Rajaratnam was charged with allegedly trading ahead of corporate transactions involving Clearwire and Advanced Micro Devices in 2008 that generated $1.2m in profits for him and Galleon, according to a criminal indictment made public on Thursday. (Financial Times)
CVC in Matahari share sale: "Private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners has raised around US$1.3 billion from selling nearly half of its stake in Indonesian retailer Matahari Department Store, people with knowledge of the deal said Friday." One person said the sale was almost five times oversubscribed. (Wall Street Journal)
Blackberry chief confident as Z10 enters US market: "Thorsten Heins, BlackBerry's chief executive, acknowledged on Thursday that the company faces a particularly tough battle in the US market, which he described as the "the most competitive" in the world." (Financial Times)
Markets: The tension can be seen across asset classes, with the FTSE All-World equity index down 0.3 per cent and Treasuries attracting "haven" funds, nudging 10-year yields down 1 basis point to 1.91 per cent. Main commodity barometers are soft, with copper fractionally lower at $3.43 a pound and Brent crude off 46 cents at $107.01 a barrel, its lowest price since mid December. Gold is down $2 at $1,612 an ounce, but only a few bucks shy of a one-month high by the FT's Global Markets remora Jamie Chisholm.
