The spectre of “Financial Crisis 2” continued to loom over global markets yesterday after Dubai’s revelation that it may not be able to meet its debt obligations.

Stock markets in Asia and the United States fell sharply while the dollar and Japanese yen rose as investors shifted their money to their perceived safety.

UK banks were also revealed to be the biggest lenders to the United Arab Emirates, which includes Dubai, with more than $50 billion owed by the Gulf state’s residents.

In another blow to the beleaguered UK banking sector, the Royal Bank of Scotland emerged as the largest single loan-arranger to Dubai World, the state-owned conglomerate that sparked this latest financial crisis when it sought a standstill on its debt repayments on Wednesday.

RBS, which is owned by British taxpayers, has arranged loans worth up to $2.3 billion to Dubai World.

The Financial Services Authority, the regulator, is understood to have sought assurances from banks that their exposure to Dubai will not threaten their financial strength. The FSA said it would continue to keep a close eye on the situation.

Dubai World, which owns a range of assets including the Turnberry golf club in southwest Scotland, sparked panic when it asked for the debt standstill. The company has liabilities of $60 billion and its Nakheel property division, which built the Palm Jumeirah development where the footballers David Beckham and Michael Owen own houses, was due to repay a $3.5 billion bond next month.

The standstill has raised the prospect that Dubai World and, by extension, the government of Dubai might default on their debt.

As the drama in Dubai has unfolded, financial traders have had to come to terms with the possibility that other countries may also struggle to repay their ballooning debts in coming months.

This has sparked fears that we may be entering another phase in the financial crisis should lenders take fright and hold on to their cash rather than lend it, leading to another seizure in the world economy.

“If you look to government balance sheets around the world you’ll find plenty of potential banana skins,” said Jim Reid, strategist at Deutsche Bank. “Given the nature of this crisis the probability of further sovereign events remains elevated.”

Bank of America analysts also warned that Dubai’s crisis could trigger a wider problem as countries default on their debts, resulting in a “major step back” in the global economic recovery. Another analyst dubbed this scenario “Financial Crisis 2”.

One indication of the fear among investors has been the rise in credit default swaps (CDS), which is the cost of insurance against a debtor defaulting.

Dubai’s CDSs rose by 134 basis points yesterday to 675, meaning insuring $10 million of the emirate’s debt would cost $675,000. This is just $30,000 short of the amount Lehman Brothers’ CDSs were trading for just before the bank went bust last year. The CDSs for countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Latvia and Hungary also all rose yesterday.

Gordon Brown attempted to calm growing panic over the threat to a global economic recovery. Speaking at a Commonwealth summit in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Mr Brown said: “While it is a setback, I think we will find it is not on the scale of previous problems we have dealt with. I think global recovery has depended on monetary action and fiscal stimulus.”

British banks are among the most vulnerable to a potential Dubai World debt default, partly because of the strong historical ties between the countries — Dubai was a British protectorate until 1971.

Goldman Sachs estimated that HSBC, Britain’s largest bank, could lose up to $611 million if Dubai World defaulted. The bank has a total of $15.9 billion loaned to the UAE.

Standard Chartered, another British bank, could lose up to $177 million if Dubai World defaults, while RBS is the biggest potential loser with an exposure up to $2.3 billion.

More than £14 billion was written off the value of British banks on Thursday but the FTSE 100 regained momentum yesterday and rose 51.6 points, or 1 per cent, to 5,245.73.

However, Asian stock markets fell heavily yesterday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average in New York was also down 133.24 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 10,331.16.

The yen rose to a 14-year high and the US dollar was also up against many currencies as investors fled to these safe havens. Meanwhile, commodities fell as Dubai’s difficulties raised the prospect of the global economic recovery stalling. Oil was down $2.20 to $75.76 and other commodities such as copper were also down.

Dubai has grown rapidly in recent years but this has been fuelled by debt as the emirate has borrowed heavily to build property and buy overseas assets, including the QE2, which has been converted into a hotel.

Dubai is estimated to have total debts of $88 billion but investors had assumed that this would be manageable because, if worst came to worst, the emirate could be bailed out by Abu Dhabi, its oil-rich neighbour.

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds have reserves estimated at over $700 billion, so a bailout of Dubai is easily within its reach. This implied guarantee has helped calm investor fears over Dubai’s debt burden in the past but Abu Dhabi’s decision not to help Dubai World with its Nakheel bond hints at a possible breakdown in relations between the two emirates.Mbt shoes sale   Mbt sport black   Mbt m  walk shoes

Sources in Abu Dhabi suggested that it might be waiting for Dubai to falter before stepping in with a rescue package, securing assets for a fraction of their current cost.

Alternatively, Dubai may be on its own — an outcome that could cost British banks dearly. It may also be forced into a firesale of its assets, which include a 20 per cent stake in Cirque de Soliel, the circus troupe.

Until the diplomatic situation between Dubai and its potential white-knight neighbour becomes clearer, the threat of Dubai’s debt problems spreading to other countries will continue to stalk global markets.

 Shoes Mbt   Mbt chapa shoes    Mbt m walk

A sexta foi de anúncios na RBS TV. Cleber Grabauska e o gerente de operações da emissora, Caio Klein, vão para a África do Sul acompanhar o sorteio dos grupos da Copa 2010. O assunto será pauta dos veículos do Grupo RBS, porém apenas a Rádio Gaúcha transmitirá ao vivo.

Amanhã será lançado o novo institucional da emissora. Pra fazer a TV que você vê, a gente faz muita coisa que você não vê, mostrará cenas dos bastidores da programação da RBS, apresentadores se preparando para irem ao ar, etc. Vinhetas, jingles, entre outros, serão usados. Amanhã, no JA será apresentada a campanha e o Televisão RS mostrará pra você, logo quando for ao ar, na internet.

ATENÇÃO: vote na enquete que está no menu do site! Qual a melhor programação local do Estado?

Dia 2 de Dezembro, no Theatro São Pedro, serão escolhidos os vencedores do Prêmio Histórias Curtas. As séries exibidas na RBS TV (e em outros veículos do grupo) concorrerão em 14 categorias.

Com transmissão da TVCOM (Grupo RBS), do canal pago Canal Brasil (Globosat) e pelo Clic RBS, o evento apresentará as categorias de melhor Direção, Ator, Atriz, Ator coadjuvante, Atriz coadjuvante, Roteiro, Fotografia, Música Original, Desenho de Som, Arte, Montagem, Produção e Júri Oficial e Júri Popular. Também serão escolhidos os melhores mini-metragens e será feita uma homenagem aos pioneiros da TV no Estado, pessoas ligadas à TV Piratini, que comemoraria 50 anos.

It’s been almost thirty days since the Formula 1 season finale, the Abu Dhabi dazzle in the twilight. It’s been almost thirty days since I’ve been able to recognize this sport we love so much.

It’s also been almost thirty days since Toyota announced the end of their relationship with us and F1. Since that large blow, Mercedes split from McLaren and bought 75.1% of Brawn GP inevitably turning the team into ‘Mercedes GP.’ A few clicks of your mouse later and Button and Raikkonen were both testing waters for a McLaren seat which Button landed. His salary of peanuts sounded better to Mercedes than Raikkonen’s asking price of a hand and a leg. The Finn decided it was better to ditch next year all together, seeing that Ferrari are paying him enough to get through the inactive year.

With McLaren sitting happily with an all British line-up, it seems reasonable to suggest that Mercedes might be aiming for an all German line-up especially with the news that Rosberg has joined camp. That makes rumors of a Schumacher return tickle our fancy even more.

After BMW’s shocking exit announcement after the 2009 season, their future is not clear until… they announce selling the team back to Peter Sauber.

You consume all that and then take a breather. Oh, and Alonso announced his move to Ferrari. That slipped my mind because after a few pictures were snapped of him walking alongside Massa as an official Ferrari driver, he disappeared into Ferrari Land.

For 2010, refueling has been banned which was an idea proposed to help cut costs rather than improve F1 excitement. Anyone who knows anything about F1 knows that some of the best race moments take place during pit stops. But life is all about money so we shall only nod our heads and hope it helps us enjoy the show.

As of next season, Lotus, Campos, Manor and USF1 will be given a small nudge by the FOM: a $10 million grant including the free transportation of two chassis and 10,000 kg of freight to each race. That’s a good way to encourage fresh interest. Hands up for Volkswagen anyone?

KERS is still permitted in 2010 even though the FOTA have agreed to do without it. The minimum car weight has been increased from 605 kg to 620 kg to eliminate any driver height or weight disadvantage if any team decides to use the electric box.

Mercedes GP, Red Bull Racing, McLaren, Ferrari, Sauber F1, Williams, Renault, Force India, and Toro Rosso have been joined by Lotus, Campos, Manor and USF1. That makes 26 cars. With 24 cars in 2009, qualifying rules have been reevaluated accordingly: 8 drivers knocked out in Q1, 8 drivers in Q2 and 10 drivers fight it out in Q3.

Wheel covers have been banned, in season testing is still banned, a limit has been placed on number of aerodynamic upgrades per season including a limit on the number of team personnel able to attend a Grand Prix – c’mon, the more brilliant minds in the paddock will affect the success of a team? I don’t get it.

ING is gone after the Renault controversy and has been replaced by TW Steel.

RBS has canceled its trackside sponsorship in 2010 and will end its sponsorship agreement with Williams after next season.

YouTube has joined USF1.

Vigin Group have bought a 20% stake in Manor Grand Prix and plan on renaming the team.

Banco Santander is sponsoring Ferrari in 2010 and has extended its agreement with McLaren as well.

Since when has there been this much information during an off season? And in less than 30 days? I can’t remember when. It’s a busy winter and I am sure it’s going to get busier. I just hope all these changes are for the better. KERS had some pros but most of its cons were reoccurring. I honestly think KERS is genius and just needs more time to evolve for F1 to become accustomed to it.

Let’s hope with all these changes Formula 1 is still worth retaining its number: 1.

Reuters:   Japan raised the idea that the G7 make a statement about the dollar.

Reuters:   Shoppers move into Black Friday with small budgets.

Reuters:   Dubai’s debt crisis raised the prospect of more trouble in the financial markets.

Reuters:   ING will make a $11 billion rights offering at a large discount.

Reuters:   One of the German states called Opel job cut plans “unacceptable”.

Reuters:   Tighter capital controls are emerging in Asia.

WSJ:   Large Wall St. firms are beginning to fund M&A deals again.

WSJ:   Sony (NYSE:SNE) is betting on 3D TV sales.

WSJ:   The Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone will be sold in Korea.

WSJ:   Data show that the sharp recession may not, in the current case, be followed by a sharp recovery.

WSJ:   Big retailers like Target (NYSE:TGT), Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and JC Penney (NYSE:JCP) have put sales online early to simulate traffic.

WSJ:   Video game sales are running out of momentum as holiday begin.

WSJ:   China is facing a protectionist backlash next year according to one organization.

FT:   Black Friday retail marketing is turning to social networks.

Bloomberg:   RBS (NYSE:RBS) has large exposure to Dubai debt.

Bloomberg:   Shipping prices could drop another year.

Douglas A. McIntyre

As emissoras Pampa (Rede TV!) e Rede Vida já podem usar equipamentos de transmissão em sinal digital no Estado. O Ministério das Comunicações aprovou que a Empresa Porto Alegrense de Comunicação LTDA (que administra a Rede Pampa) instale novos equipamentos e transmitir no futuro canal 26. Porém, ainda faltam mais certificações.

Em breve podemos ter, então, Record (apesar de tantos atrasos), Pampa e Rede Vida, junto com a pioneira, RBS.

Calverley firm looks to expand

By Chris Holland » Telegraph and Argus

A £15 million funding package will support long-term growth plans at Zenith Provecta, the UK’s leading independent leasing, fleet management and vehicle outsourcing business.

The Calverley-based company has secured the deal through Royal Bank of Scotland and will be used to support growth.

Zenith, established in 1989, bought Provecta Car Plan in 2008, creating the largest independent leasing company in the UK with 26,000 vehicles under management to mainly blue chip customers.

The company has a £116 million turnover and employs 148 people.

Zenith has continued to win new clients and has played a leading role in the development of transparent pricing, fleet outsourcing, ECO (employee car ownership) schemes and environmentally-aware fleet policies.

Mark Phillips, chief financial officer of Zenith Provecta, said: “The company’s performance remains very strong despite the wider economic difficulties currently being experienced.

“This additional support from RBS provides firm foundations allowing us to continue to grow in line with our objectives.

“We are delighted that RBS has shown its full support to us by backing our plans for significant increased demand over the coming months.”

Andy Killingback, of RBS in Leeds, said: “Zenith continues to outperform the market which is a great achievement in a challenging environment.

“The new financial package means that it can implement its plans from a sound and secure platform.”

O Programa Patrola, da RBS TV, faz uma matéria sobre o Festival de Surfe Nas Ondas do Aroeira, organizado pelo projeto Procurando Caminho, do Centro Cultural Escrava Anastácia. Confira no vídeo abaixo:

by HM Treasury, November 26, 2009.

The Government announced on 26 November 2009 that it will move quickly to implement the reforms of bank pay and governance proposed by Sir David Walker. Sir David’s review was commissioned by the Government earlier this year to explore failures of corporate governance and management of banks.  His final report suggests a series of reforms to strengthen the role of shareholders, improve the quality of bank boards, and to increase transparency of pay and bonus policies.

Background

The Walker Review of Corporate Governance of UK Banking Industry was announced on 9 February 2009 by the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Universities and Skills. Sir David Walker was asked to conduct a review of the corporate governance of banks and other financial firms, to recommend how financial institutions can better equip themselves to respond to lessons learnt from the crisis. An interim report was produced on 16 July and the consultation ran until 1 October 2009.

In responding to the Review, the Government has endorsed the call for major changes to the way that bank boards function, including improved risk management, more effective control and enhanced disclosure of remuneration, more effective and better informed directors, and enhanced engagement between boards and shareholders…(continue reading)

Non c’è verso. Lo si è detto, lo si è scritto, ma nessuno ci credeva. La crisi finanziaria non lascia scampo nemmeno a Dubai, patria incontrastata del lusso estremo. E a essere spaventati non sono tanto gli emiri, ma le banche europee che hanno giocato coi credit default swap sul debito sovrano a cinque anni. Hsbc, Rbs, Lloyds, Barclays e Bnp Paribas sono i soggetti più a rischio, con un complesso di passività potenziali che è di circa 40 miliardi di dollari. Chi pensava realmente che fosse tutto terminato?

Hoje comecei o dia com o pé direito! Recebi o email da Só Talentos informando que eu fui aprovada na dinâmica e agora preciso aguardar as instruções para a próxima etapa: o painel com o gestor da área.

Que legal!!! Fiquei bastante empolgada!

Depois de uma semana cheia de turbulências, segunda notícia boa!!

Adorei!

Agora vamos aguardar…

Alguém aí também recebeu retorno positivo? Ou negativo?

Maybe you saw that Lloyds is embarking on a £13.5bn Rights Issue. If you already own Lloyds shares you will be given the option to buy 1.34 new Ordinary shares for every 1 you hold, at 37 pence each.  One might expect that Lloyds would be looking for additional funds after the HBoS take-over that was encouraged by the UK government.  It has since then emerged that the value of HBoS was inflated by a secret loan made by the Government and also that apparently Lloyds chief executive and the former chairman both knew about the secret arrangement. This was not disclosed to the investors during the time of persuading that a take-over of HBoS would be a good idea. With this loan, and another such secret loan made by the Government to RBS, having been repaid early this year it is not surprising that funds are low. No, I’m not going to refer to bonuses again…

My MBA class is now busy with the Integrative Project that sees them competing against each other in a virtual market – lots of hectic decision-making and, dare I say, a bit of industrial espionage taking place! After that we have a week of revision before the exams. And then, before we know it, it is time to pack our bags and set off for the Christmas break.

Macro

The Real War on Terror

Message from the Fed to the W-Shaped Evil-doers and Devilish Deflation-mongerers (courtesy of Winston Churchill):

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France,
we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,
we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender… 

Now, that’s fighting talk! It might as well have been the Bank of England’s Mantra on Deflation.

That’s all very well but is it just me or is there a worryingly ominous deflationary creep encroaching into our investment psyche?

• The “Depressionists” are back in vogue.
• Auto Sales fell off a cliff after the cash for clunkers program expired.
• The Japanese economy once again failed to reach the, now seemingly mythical, escape velocity and once more slips back into deflation.
• US GDP growth was revised down at +2.8% this week, much lower than the +3.5% originally reported. David Rosenberg thinks that this number would actually have been negative were it not for the carpet-bombing of cash and spending administered by the Government and Fed. “Is that all I get for my money?” he scoffs, quoting a Billy Idol Lyric.
• Meredith Whitney says that she has “never been this bearish in over a year” and (more significantly) that she “has never seen this level of credit contraction”.
• Mervin King unveiled the startling revelation that the BoE actually secretly bailed out two of Britain’s largest banks.
• US initial jobless claims have only just managed to breach less than half a million joblosses a week and chatter over Wage Deflation has resurfaced.
• Mauldin muses the over-crowded “sell treasuries” trade – a yield curve which this week yielded negative at the short end, and even entertains the notion of “value” in a market where 5 year US government bonds which yield less than 2.5%. I can’t help feeling reminded of the old Japanese government bond traders’ motto at the height of their deflationary despondence: “Never go home short government bonds”.
• Bankruptcy Filings are up 34% YoY.
• BNP US Economist talks about slack in the economy drowning out any notion of an inflationary tailwind:  deflation is their immediate forecast. While Asia did not decouple coming into the crisis, the French bank’s Chief Economist admits it is almost inevitable that Asia (in particular China) will decouple coming out of the crisis, leaving the rest of the World to languish in depression and muted growth.

Despite the heaviest artillery since Adolf Hilter rolled out the Bismarck, there is doubt as to whether the Fed’s Naval Fleet has the arsenal to blast the terrifying and disturbingly immovable object of looming deflation. The Rumsfeld-esque “Shock and Awe” guerilla raids on the Monetary Base and mezmerizing propaganda from the body politic go only so far before the awe is no longer awesome and the shock ceases to be shocking. That over-zealous use of the printing-press throttle may be flooding the engine and drowning in liquidity.

Inflation-ites beware; the Mission is NOT yet accomplished. We fight an elusive enemy which lurks in caves and the dark shadows of your consciousness, the Jury is still out as to whether “The War on Deflation” is actually over.

Macro Data to Watch

• Happy Thanksgiving!
• German CPI

Markets

Oh dear me. The Dollar got spanked overnight, the Euro traded above 1.50 again and the DXY dollar index hit a new low capitulating through 75 (see chart of the day below).

Source: Bloomberg

The Dollar-Yen waltzed through 88 then susequently plummeted to its lowest level against the Japanese Currency since 1995.

The Swiss Franc broke parity (1.00) on the Dollar – a Dollar bill now will not even get you a single, solitary Swiss Franc… if the Greenback breaks 0.98 it will be the lowest level against the Swiss currency since… … wait a minute, since the beginning of time!

Global Stocks to Watch

• Chinese B-shares bounced last night – but the volatility remains.
• Asahi Glass comes out with $1billion convertible bond issue – CB investors are getting skittish into year end, this deal will have to be priced cheap!

Poucas são as iniciativas efetivas para romper com o monopólio dos meios de comunicação no Brasil. Uma delas aconteceu hoje, quarta-feira 25, promovida pelo Ministério Público Federal com representação em Canoas. Uma audiência pública discutiu o monopólio da RBS no Rio Grande do Sul.

O fato de as probabilidades de alguma coisa realmente mudar serem pequenas não anula a validade de se insistir. Sem se fazer nada é que as coisas não vão mesmo acontecer. Convocada pelo procurador Pedro Antônio Roso, a audiência escancarou o óbvio, que a RBS não cumpre a lei. Mesmo que no papel esteja tudo direitinho, com não mais do que dois canais de TV por CNPJ, na prática isso não acontece. São 12 os CNPJ que transmitem o mesmo conteúdo, que não é nem da RBS, mas praticamente todo da Globo. Meios de comunicação deviam ser fiscalizados pelos seu conteúdo, não simplesmente pelos números no papel.

Essas questões foram colocadas pelo público hoje à tarde. Público, aliás, já conhecido pelo pessoal do Jornalismo B. São os mesmos que estão sempre na luta: o pessoal do Dialógico, do RS Urgente, do Coletivo Catarse, dos movimentos estudantis. Estavam também o vice-presidente do Media Watch Global (do qual o presidente é Ignácio Ramonet), o presidente do Sindicato dos Jornalistas do RS e o dono do Jornal Já.

Participando da mesa, além do procurador Pedro Roso, o presidente da TV comunitária POA TV, uma representante do Conselho Regional de Radiodifusão Comunitária do RS (CONRAD), um representante da Anatel, entre outros, estava uma representante do Grupo RBS, Fernanda Gutheil (ainda não descobrimos qual CNPJ ela representava). Sua função lá foi bem simples: entrar muda e sair calada. Falou o estritamente necessário, sem um posicionamento verdadeiro por parte da empresa. Entrevistada depois da audiência, Fernanda disse que foi só prestar esclarecimentos, e que não podia falar em nome da RBS, apenas no dela própria. Mas estava como representante do grupo. Vai entender…

Por incrível que pareça, a RBS alega que não tem afiliadas, mas repetidoras. A marca “Grupo RBS” pertence à RBS Participações S/A, que detém as concessões de Porto Alegre e Caxias. São duas só, tudo dentro da lei. Pouco importa, para a empresa, se no site do grupo apareçam “18 emissoras de televisão aberta (afiliadas à Rede Globo)”, entre tantos outros veículos, de TV, rádio, jornais, editoras… Isso tudo na parte institucional, sob o título “Plataforma multimídia do Grupo RBS”. Cláudia Cardoso, do Dialógico, resumiu: “isso caracteriza inconstitucionalidade, é monopólio”.

Para Marco Weissheimer, do RS Urgente e da Carta Maior, toda a RBS atua como uma única empresa. Há estratégias institucionais voltadas para todas as retransmissoras da mesma forma. As cores dos produtos, o formato dos programas, os e-mails, até os crachás dos funcionários, tudo é uniforme (isso sem citar o conteúdo, é claro), mas a RBS se defende afirmando que possui apenas duas TVs.

No fim das contas, foram definidos alguns encaminhamentos para dar sequência ao caso: solicitar os contratos da Globo com os 12 CNPJ da RBS no estado, requisitar a informação de a quem pertence a marca “RBS”, além de dados sobre a movimentação financeira da empresa, de como são feitos os pagamentos e qual é o percentual de lucro destinado à Globo, à RBS Participações S/A e às retransmissoras do interior, entre outros. Espera-se, com isso, fornecer subsídios para se abrir um processo judicial contra a RBS.

Talvez não dê em nada, tendo em vista que os interesses são muito fortes e o poder econômico que suporta o grupo é enorme. Mas é um começo. É uma luta. Um dia, tenho fé, teremos uma comunicação verdadeiramente inclusiva e democrática no Brasil.

Postado por Cris Rodrigues

The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, has defended the Bank of England’s secret loans to RBS and HBOS in an emergency statement to parliament.

Mr Darling said that any disclosure or leak of the operations would have seriously jeopardised the financial stability of the system as a whole.

He added that there had been no cost to the taxpayer.

It emerged on Tuesday that the two banks were secretly given £61.6bn last autumn to keep them afloat.

Both banks had repaid the loans by January 2009.

The shadow chancellor, George Osborne, said it was important that the Bank of England was allowed to carry out its function as lender of last resort.

But he added that it “raises the question of how…these banks came so close to collapse in the first place”.

He said it underlined the need for fundamental reform to increase the power held by the Bank of England rather than regulators.

Mr Cable said he agreed in principle with the action but wanted to know why the government had waited so long to announce the details of the loans in public.

FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME Listen to the full interview

Earlier, the government’s City minister, Lord Myners, said Lloyds shareholders had been kept fully in the picture about the Bank of England’s actions.

Lloyds was in the process of buying the struggling HBOS at the time.

Mr Myners denied that the “books were cooked”, saying the Bank of England’s accounts were audited and showed the impact of the support.

He added that the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve had also carried out similar covert operations.

sourced from The BBC

The Bank of England has revealed for the first time that it lent Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HBOS £61.6bn in emergency funding last autumn.

Bank governor Mervyn King told a committee of MPs it “was to prevent a loss of confidence spreading through the financial system as a whole”.

The money was repaid in full by January this year, he added.

A spokesman for the prime minister said it was “a powerful reminder” of how the banking system had nearly collapsed.

Why on earth did the Bank, Treasury and FSA think it was a good idea to keep the £61.6bn of lending secret? Robert Peston Read Robert Peston’s blog

It was also revealed that Chancellor Alistair Darling had agreed to underwrite any losses which the Bank may have made on the loans.

The Liberal Democrats have called on Mr Darling to explain to the House of Commons why the Treasury guarantees were kept secret.

Vince Cable, the party’s Treasury spokesman, called it a “shocking cover-up”.

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said the revelations about the secret loans showed the need to reform the system of banking regulation.

“The scale of these loans raises the question of how Labour’s tripartite regulatory structure allowed these banks to come so close to collapse in the first place, and underlines the need for fundamental reform to put the Bank of England back in charge,” he said.

Secrecy

It is the first time that the central bank has detailed this support for the two institutions.

ANALYSIS By Hugh Pym, chief economics correspondent We may feel numbed these days when there is talk of the hundreds of billions of pounds in taxpayer support to the banks. Even so, the revelation of these secret emergency loans to RBS and HBOS a year ago is breath-taking. The Bank of England only felt it was safe to reveal this covert support now, once the ink was dry on longer-term bailout deals agreed with the banks a couple of weeks ago. Lloyds shareholders were being asked to approve the takeover of HBOS. Yet they were not told about a Northern Rock-style cash bailout of HBOS. The authorities argue that disclosing the loans would have caused greater disturbance to the whole system. But bank shareholders might well see it differently.

Mervyn King said the Bank was acting in its capacity as the lender of last resort.

The loans, which were given in October and November of 2008, were in addition to other financial support measures extended to the banks by the government.

The chairman of the Treasury Committee, John McFall, said that when he saw the amount there had been “a little bit of an intake of breath thinking how many universities, how many colleges, how many jobs you could support with this”.

The Bank of England said it had carefully considered the public interest case for disclosure but decided that the assistance should only be revealed “once the Bank considers that the need for secrecy has ceased”.

RBS has since signed up for the government’s Asset Protection Scheme while Lloyds Banking Group – which took over HBOS – has announced plans to raise capital from its shareholders.

The BBC’s chief economics correspondent Hugh Pym said that the £62bn of emergency loans were agreed just as shareholders were being asked to approve the takeover of HBOS. He suggested that shareholders might be unhappy at not being told earlier.

Profound challenges

In his parliamentary testimony Mr King also discussed the wider UK economy, reiterating his view that the recovery was still in the early stages.

He told the Treasury Committee that the economy still faced “profound challenges”.

Regarding the Bank’s policy of quantitative easing – pumping money into the economy to try to boost lending by the commercial banks – Adam Posen, one of Mr King’s colleagues on the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), said he hoped the initiative was “coming to an end”.

Last month, the MPC voted to increase its quantitative easing programme by a further £25bn to £200bn.

However, minutes released subsequently showed a three-way split on the decision, with seven of the nine MPC members voting for it, one wanting a larger increase in the scheme, and one calling for no additional spending.

Mr King also told MPs that he did not think there was any “immediate risk” of the UK having a credit downgrade.

sourced from The BBC

Vamos falar sério?

O Crack é uma droga arrasadora que mata o usuário em pouco tempo, além de destruir toda a família. Veja o vídeo abaixo sobre o assunto.

DIVULGUE!

NÃO SEJA UM INCOMPETENTE!

A questão é: quem vai democratizar a informação? a) Grandes empresas de comunicação; b) Governo; c) Mídia independente; d) Sociedade; e) n.d.a. Descartaria, de cara, a opção “a”. Eles não tem qualquer interesse em que você possa opinar. Para eles, você deve ler, olhar, ouvir e obedecer.

A RBS, em parceria com a PUCRS e com o Instituto de Tecnologia de Massachussetts (MIT) lançou nessa segunda-feira, 22, o site do projeto Locast. Vai funcionar mais ou menos assim: inicialmente repórteres e estudantes de jornalismo da PUCRS e, mais tarde, leitores, poderão enviar para a RBS, por celular ou outra forma de internet móvel, vídeos e notícias. Pré-selecionados pelos jornalistas do grupo, esses conteúdos irão ao ar no site e os internautas poderão, em um mapa de Porto Alegre, localizar de onde vieram as notícias, podendo ir direto ao local próximo de onde mora, trabalha ou simplesmente tem interesse.

O Grupo RBS tenta, dessa forma, antecipar-se. Muito se tem teorizado sobre a possibilidade de crescimento do jornalismo local através da web. É uma forma de seleção de conteúdo, diante da grande profusão de possibilidades que a internet oferece ao público. Agora, é realmente preocupante que uma grande empresa de comunicação dê passos na frente em relação a mais esse recurso.

A internet, como já afirmei aqui no Jornalismo B, é um espaço ainda pouco explorado e menos ainda compreendido. Quem começar a entendê-lo primeiro vai pular na frente e, se quem fizer isso forem as grandes empresas, será mais uma mídia que nasceu com a expectativa de democratizar a informação e, por incompetência de uns e competência demais de outros, perdeu-se pelo caminho.

Abrir espaço para que o público envie conteúdo nada mais é do que a centralização das decisões sobre o que é notícia e sobre o que as pessoas merecem saber nas mãos dos editores. Isso já acontece – com mais força ainda – fora da internet. Agora, em um momento em que o acesso a computadores e à rede começa a chegar a um número considerável de pessoas, os grandes veículos querem também ocupar esse espaço.

Colaborar com eles enviando conteúdo é colaborar para a manutenção do modelo ditatorial que temos na comunicação brasileira. Criar novos espaços, integrar redes, ser mais uma parte do espectro de contestação que começa a se fortalecer na web é participar da mudança e, mais do que isso, torná-la possível. Isso vale para quem ainda não teve contato com produção de conteúdo para a web e também para quem já está nela há mais tempo. Estamos todos engatinhando, mas temos que engatinhar olhando para a frente, não para baixo.

* Nessa quinta-feira, 26 de novembro, a partir das 18h30min, o Jornalismo B promove o debate “Rádios Comunitárias – qual o seu papel na sociedade?“, com os debatedores Doraci Engel, da Rádio Ipanema Comunitária, e Leonardo Santos, da Rádio A Voz do Morro. Será na livraria Letras e Cia (Osvaldo Aranha, 444, Porto Alegre). O evento é totalmente gratuito. Esperamos todos vocês lá para debater com a gente e participar da construção desse espaço.

Postado por Alexandre Haubrich

Quase 400 pessoas foram ao Auditório Dante Barone, na Assembléia Legislativa, assistiram a final da 10ª edição do Prêmio Press, realizado pela Revista Press & Advertising.

Mais de 200 mil votos, 500 indicados e 16 vencedores. Johnny Saad, presidente do Grupo Bandeirantes foi o homenageado especial do evento.

Os vencedores das categorias relacionadas à televisão são:

Repórter de Televisão do Ano: Daniel Scola (RBS TV)

Comentarista de Televisão do Ano: Lasier Martins (RBS TV)

Apresentador de Televisão do Ano: Alexandre Motta (TV Record)

Jornalista do Ano - Troféu Nestlé: Felipe Vieira (Band)

Renata Fan e Felipe Vieira, jornalista do ano

Parabéns aos vencedores e especialmente aos que atuam na TV gaúcha!

Parece que o grupo RBS está querendo mesmo padronizar todos os layouts de suas publicações. Além de já ter dois jornais populares muito semelhantes no RS e em SC, Diário Gaúcho e A Hora, a partir deste domingo dois outros jornais se tornaram absolutamente iguais em questões de diagramação.

O Diário Catarinense mudou todo o seu projeto gráfico a partir da edição deste domingo (22). Agora, está igual ao seu co-irmão gaúcho, a Zero Hora. São as mesmas fontes, o mesmo cabeçalho, o mesmo estilo de colunas e a mesma sobriedade que já era característica da ZH. Os cadernos também acompanharam a mudança. O Donna, por exemplo, segue a mesma linha gráfica da última mudança feita no Donna da Zero Hora, mudando logotipo e implantando cores sóbrias, em tons de marrom e pastel, além das colunas com transparências.

O site do DC também mudou, tornando-se igual ao já existente da zerohora.com. Aliás, está tudo tão tão, igual, que se não fosse pelo logo do jornal no topo da página, poderia-se confundir facilmente os dois portais.

Para quem se interessar, no site do Diário Catarinense tem uma página especial com todas as explicações sobre o novo projeto gráfico. Além disso, tem todo um jornal impresso em pdf para quem quiser comparar os layouts.

Reunião almoço com palestra. Um dos eventos de maior sucesso e tradição da Federasul. Desde a sua criação, em 1993, essas reuniões têm contribuído para a difusão de idéias, informações e para o debate de questões relevantes para o empresariado do Rio Grande do Sul. A cada ano, em suas quarenta edições, o Tá na Mesa reúne mais de 10 mil pessoas. Nessa quinta-feira, terá como palestrante o vice-presidente do Grupo RBS Eduardo Sirotsky Melzer.

O QUE: Tá na Mesa

QUANDO: 09 de dezembro, das 12h às 14h.

LOCAL: Federasul – Largo Visconde do Cairu, 17 – 7º andar

QUANTO: Sócios da Federasul/ACPA: R$ 44,00

Não Sócios: R$ 65,00

VENDA ANTECIPADA DE INGRESSOS E INFORMAÇÕES: eventos@federasul.com.br OU 3214.0200

Hej kära bloggläsare!

If your name is Cecilia or Sissela, then today is your day! Grattis!

Weather is cloudy with occasional mist. Feels cold out.

Lunch with John in Lindsborg. Had coconut shrimp and lingonberry bread pudding.

Had to unlock the Red Barn today.

Now home. Took a nap. Futbol is on now. Championship game. My team not playing.

‘An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry, any good thing to make us all merry’.

«Ett gott skratt förlälnger livet!»

Go Sounders!!!

Create your own visitor map!

Julie-Ann den 22/11/09                      Hemlängtan för Sverige!

The Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE:RBS) has had Cadbury as a corporate client for decades. The financial firm agreed to help fund Kraft’s (NYSE:KFT) potential buyout of Cadbury. RBS’s ownership is controlled by the UK government. A number politicians have raised the issue of why a bank which the British taxpayers own in large part is supporting a hostile takeover that may cost local workers their jobs.

According to the Guardian, “Trade union Unite, which represents Cadbury workers, has also expressed concern about the bank’s role in the possible takeover, particularly since Kraft has so far failed to give firm commitments on job losses or plant closures.”

So, what happens if the day comes when Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) or Citigroup (NYSE:C), where the US government has huge ownership stakes, gives financial support to a bid by a China or EU- or UK-based company to buy a firm in America in which the consolidation may cause job cuts? Members of Congress will object. How far that will get them is anyone’s guess.

Douglas A. McIntyre