Tag: Citi

Banks have set their sights on Nigeria. Should you?

Finance Addict | March 14, 2012 | 0 Comments

After several years of banking only with companies, Citi has decided to jump with both feet into Africa’s most populous nation, with its regional head announcing plans to open a consumer banking franchise in Nigeria (schedule unknown.) The country of 165 million people is apparently “at the top of the list” of Citi’s African prospects. Continue Reading

A $360 trillion confidence trick

Finance Addict | February 13, 2012 | 6 Comments

Riddle me this: what’s the most important set of numbers in the entire world? The climate change models that say how much time is left until carbon dioxide levels pass the point of no return? Or the numbers that comprise the launch codes for our nuclear warheads?

Either might qualify but some experts would instead point to something else: Libor inputs. Libor’s the interest rate that underlies $360 trillion of financial contracts worldwide. Interest rate swaps and corporate loans, but also mortgages, student loans, credit cards and more. What’s $360 trillion dollars? That’s the economic size of 24 United States of Americas.

Weekend wrap-up: 2/6 to 2/10/12

Finance Addict | February 11, 2012 | 0 Comments

Here’s what you may have missed on the Finance Addict this week. Also check out our GIF of the Week after the jump!

Risky repos rear their head and threaten us all. Looks like there’s a storm brewing in the U.S. repo markets.
Why Dodd-Frank has already failed. Here’s why Dodd-Frank is irredeemably flawed and won’t do enough to protect our economy from troubled financial institutions.
The Super Bowl & general ad spend: bullish indicator? Super Bowl commercials, and ad spending in general, are great economic indicators since ad budgets are usually the first to go in a downturn.
The saga of Maiden Lane II. Nothing better captures the bailout dilemma than the saga of Maiden Lane II.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to really leave the stage? Can we realistically abolish Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s central role in the housing market? What are the implications?
Of fallen angels and demons restored. Alan Greenspan is a fallen angel. Who else do you think will go from hero to zero, and vice versa, when we look back again?

Risky repos rear their head and threaten us all

Finance Addict | February 7, 2012 | 2 Comments

Looks like there’s a storm brewing in the U.S. repo markets.

It figures: profit-center banks have every motivation to stay one step ahead of the regs and the pols. Since the gamekeepers have now gotten around to looking at proprietary trading and bringing derivatives onto exchanges, you can almost bet your first-born that the next crisis will be in neither one of these areas but someplace else entirely different. Continue Reading

Weekend wrap-up: 1/30 to 2/3/12

Finance Addict | February 4, 2012 | 0 Comments

Here’s all the great stuff you missed on the Finance Addict this week. And also check out our GIF of the Week after the jump!

Banks to face the RICO Act for robosigning credit cards? While the RICO Act’s usually exercised against organized crime rings, it may be used against banks who’ve supported credit card robosigning.
Germany plays hopscotch over the rubicon. Angela Merkel of Germany is blithely hopscotching over a point of no return.
Shareholder rights again under attack. What will the landscape look like if Carlyle Group wins its battle to erode shareholder rights?
Are we going to own AIG forever? Here’s the thing: AIG is not so sure that we’ll ever get our $51 billion back.
We don’t need no education. Another view of how the banks, the politicians and the press work together to keep in place a status quo favorable to banking interests.
Sometimes the “long-term” never comes. It’s easy to forget the extraordinary, unprecedented amount of assistance being lent to the economy by the central banks.
They *do* exist. A regulator who’s resistant to corporate lobbying? Hallelujah!
Who really pays for the things we love? Many will watch the Superbowl and use our iPhones to share the experience. But if we’re honest we’ll take our wings with a side of guilt.