A round-up of the key stories across the specialist financial media, including news that Standard & Poor’s has turned negative on 16 of Spain’s largest banks as the government held talks to segregate problematic property loans
Spain in talks over ‘bad bank’ scheme
Standard & Poor’s, the US credit rating agency, turned negative on 16 of Spain’s largest banks on Monday as the government held talks to segregate problematic property loans into one or more asset management companies to relieve the burden on struggling lenders.
Stock-trading hedge funds looking to extend their first-quarter rebound ran into a familiar adversary this month: a nervous market. Amid renewed concerns over Europe''s debt crisis, the strength of the US economy and doubts about China''s growth, volatility returned in early April – hurting some hedge funds'' performance.
National Australia Bank is to abandon commercial property lending in the UK and cut 1,400 jobs, citing a double dip in asset prices caused by weak economic growth and accelerated disposals by state-controlled banks RBS and Lloyds Banking Group.
China mulls guarantees for ships carrying Iran oil
China is considering sovereign guarantees for its ships to enable the world''s second-biggest oil consumer to continue importing Iranian crude after new EU sanctions come into effect in July, the head of China''s shipowners'' association says.
