Finance Matters

Posts Tagged ‘merger’

The EU has blocked the $10bn Deutsche Boerse, NYSE merger.

Savers with money in both Northern Rock and Virgin Money will not be disadvantaged by Virgin’s takeover of the Newcastle-based bank if either of the banks collapses.

Both Virgin Money and Northern Rock will keep separate banking licences following the £747 million deal, which is expected to be rubber-stamped in January.

This means that the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) will cover each bank separately and customers will be able to claim the full amount of compensation on their accounts in each bank in the event of difficulties.

The news should reassure savers who were concerned that the takeover could result in their compensation limits being halved, although the two licences could be merged at some stage in the future.

The FSCS covers deposits of up to £85,000 in single accounts and £170,000 in joint accounts.

Mark Neale, chief executive of the FSCS, said: “Those with large amounts of cash should remember to always try to keep within the £85,000 FSCS deposit limit, or £170,000 for joint accounts, per banking licence to protect their money.

“Anyone with savings above those limits should consider spreading their money around to ensure it is safe.”

Northern Rock will eventually operate under the Virgin Money brand and the combined entity will have four million customers, placing it in competition with Britain’s ‘big five’ of Santander, HSBC, Barclays, RBS and Lloyds and hopefully leading to better rates on the high street.

At the moment, Northern Rock tends to offer better rates on its savings accounts than Virgin Money, so savers would be wise to keep an eye on developments following the merger.

Sir David Clementi, the former deputy governor of the Bank of England, will become chairman of the combined bank, while Virgin Money’s Jayne-Anne Gadhia will retain her role as CEO.

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong really wants to merge AOL with Yahoo.

The latest: He’s been meeting with AOL’s major shareholders, telling them that if Yahoo bought AOL it would create $1 billion to $1.5 billion in savings firing all the people who run redundant data centers and news sites.

Reuters reported this latest round of wishful thinking from Armstrong.

Back in September, Bloomberg reported that Armstrong asked Yahoo’s board if it would like to explore a merger.

Moments – literally, moments – after that report, CNBC reported that a “source close to Yahoo says no interest in a deal with AOL.”

Our stance:

• Yes, AOL and Yahoo should merge.

• No, Tim should not be the CEO.

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See Also:

• THE DOWNLOAD: Ex-Yahoo Dan Rosensweig Opens Up About Why Yahoo Collapsed And How To Save It
• YAHOO CEO: We’d Be Happy To Sell The Company, But We’re Not Selling The Company (HUH?)
• HERE IT IS: Jack Ma Talks About Buying Yahoo In This Video

Major market indices took a beating this quarter, down 20% on average.

Earnings have yet to deteriorate noticeably, and  Many analysts are still holding to original 2011 expectations as early reporters show deliver better-than-expected earnings.

Still fears of a slowdown, a China collapse, and a European meltdown cost investors trillions.

The Dow: -12.09%

YTD Performance: -5.74

Month Performance: -6.03%

Week Performance: +1.32%

Source: Bloomberg

The NASDAQ: -12.91% In Q3

YTD Performance: -8.95%

Month Performance: -6.36%

Week Performance: -2.73%

Source: Bloomberg

S&P 500: -14.33% in Q3

YTD Performance: -10.04%

Month Performance: -7.18%

Week Performance: -0.44%

Source: Bloomberg

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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See Also:

• An Epic Index Merger Is In The Works
• Stock Markets DIVE After Early Climb
• What Sell Side Analysts Are Buzzing About This Morning

Shares in financial institution NBNK has had its shares suspended on AIM after it confirmed it is in merger talks. The bank, which is run by Gary Hoffman who is the former chief executive of crisis-torn Northern Rock, was established a year ago to make acquisitions and is set to build a significant presence in [...]