Credit Suisse CEO says no plans for capital hike: paper - Reuters
ZURICH |
ZURICH (Reuters) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) has no plans to issue new shares after the Swiss central bank called on it to improve its capital base this year, but should be able to do so by retaining earnings, Chief Executive Brady Dougan was quoted as saying on Sunday.
"Of course I am disappointed. FINMA has given us directions as to how we should strengthen capital. We are fulfilling those," Dougan told the SonntagsZeitung paper in an interview.
"Even more surprising were the suggestions by the SNB to cut the dividend and to raise capital."
In its annual financial stability report published on Thursday, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) said Credit Suisse should urgently boost its loss-absorbing capital base by cutting risk, suspending dividends or issuing shares, sending the stock down 10 percent.
Dougan noted that FINMA is the regulator of the Swiss banks, rather than the SNB but said the bank was still taking the central bank's comments seriously. However, he rejected the idea of a capital hike: "That is not our plan".
"We assume that we will generate enough profit in the coming quarters to create extra equity capital," he said, adding that the bank was also offering shareholders the choice of receiving their dividends in shares, which demands less capital.
The criticism from the SNB has increased pressure on Dougan, who was lauded for navigating the bank through the subprime crisis relatively unscathed, but has come under fire of late for squandering that advantage as the bank's shares languish.
Dougan told the paper he had no plans to step down and was working closely with the board, but admitted some mistakes.
"Last year we massively cut the cost base. From today's perspective, I must concede that the critics were right who said we should have acted even earlier," he said.
Dougan added he was particularly surprised about the public criticism from the SNB as Chairman Thomas Jordan had not discussed the need for Credit Suisse to cut its dividend and raise capital when the two men met for lunch just 10 days ago.
He said the SNB's calculations of Credit Suisse's capital were incomplete and based on a very pessimistic scenario for the euro zone debt crisis, adding the report had shaken the confidence of clients and investors: "That is not just bad for us but for the whole financial centre."
Dougan rejected suggestions the SNB's concern was related to a U.S. investigation into whether the bank helped wealthy Americans evade taxes by providing secret offshore accounts.
The bank is expected to have to pay a hefty fine and hand over U.S. client names as part of a settlement.
Oswald Gruebel, a former Credit Suisse CEO, said the bank's shares had fallen sharply on Thursday because shareholders were afraid that the bank would have to raise capital.
"But CS also has the possibility to cut its balance sheet and thereby indirectly increase its capital, or do both," Gruebel wrote in his weekly column for Der Sonntag newspaper.
But Hans Geiger, a retired Zurich University banking professor and a former senior executive at Credit Suisse, said the bank was ill advised to try to fight the SNB.
"The reaction of CS is fatal," Geiger told the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper on Saturday. "Whoever goes on a confrontation course with the national bank has lost their reason." (Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Alison Birrane)
RSS chief favours Kalam - rediff.com
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday came out in support of the candidature of A P J Abdul Kalam [ Images ] in the Presidential poll, saying he is apolitical and that it will be good if he is elected.
"It will be good if he (Kalam) is elected as President. The comman man thinks that he is a nice man. While rest of the people have a political background, he does not. We can only give our opinion. But only lawmakers can elect the president," Bhagwat told reporters.
Bhagwat's remarks came on a day the NDA deferred its decision on whether or not to contest the Presidential election as it was divided over opposing UPA nominee PranabMukherjee. While Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee [ Images ] has rooted for Kalam, the former President is yet to announce whether he will contest.
Jays' Cecil makes mound return against struggling Phillies - CBC
In an already frustrating season for the Philadelphia Phillies, this weekend has been particularly taxing.
The Phillies will try to avoid a sweep by the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday in the finale of a disappointing nine-game road trip.
Expected to contend for a sixth consecutive NL East title, Philadelphia instead finds itself last in the division having lost 11 of 14.
After being held to five hits in a 3-0 loss Friday, the Phillies (31-36) suffered their third walk-off loss of this trip and eighth of the season after falling 6-5 in 10 innings Saturday.
"We've been in good positions to win, that's what's hard to figure out," manager Charlie Manuel said. "We put ourselves in good positions but we can't get the job done."
Rajai Davis' single that bounced over the wall with two outs in the 10th knocked in the winning run to complete the rally for the Blue Jays, who scored three runs in the eighth off winless Cliff Lee to erase a 5-2 deficit.
This has been a tough stretch for Phillies pitching. Over the last 10 games, their starters are 3-4 with a 5.12 ERA, while the bullpen has blown two save opportunities during that stretch.
Philadelphia is looking to avoid getting swept in an interleague series for the first time since 2009 against Baltimore. The Phillies may be without Carlos Ruiz, batting a team-leading .362, for a second straight game after he left Friday with a sore muscle in his side.
Manuel said Ruiz could miss a few games, although the catcher said he was available if needed.
The win for the Blue Jays (33-32) came after they placed right-hander Drew Hutchison on the disabled list. He joins Kyle Drabek and Brandon Morrow as starting pitchers to suffer injuries this week.
"Adversity makes you tighter and stronger, either makes you or breaks you," Davis said. "This is a team of character and we have a lot of strength in our character."
In place of Morrow, Brett Cecil will make his 2012 debut.
The left-hander went 4-11 with a 4.73 ERA last season after winning 15 games in 2010. He was expected to be part of the rotation to start the year, but struggles with his control in spring training led to him starting the year in the minors.
"I never want to take a guy's spot because he's hurt," Cecil told the Blue Jays' official website. "I want to feel like I earned it, and I do feel like I earned it and I do deserve to be up here."
Cecil made his only appearance against the Phillies in 2010, allowing seven runs, five earned, in 4 2/3 innings of an 11-2 loss.
Kyle Kendrick (2-6, 5.08 ERA) will try to bounce back from two disappointing outings for Philadelphia.
The right-hander has allowed 11 runs and 12 hits over 9 2/3 innings in losing his past two starts. He lasted four innings in his second shortest start of the season Tuesday in an 11-7 loss at Minnesota.
Kendrick struggled at Toronto on July 1, yielding six runs and eight hits, two homers , while hitting two batters over seven innings before leaving without a decision.
Vertonghen still has Spurs in his sights - Football
Published: 17 Jun 2012 - 14:18:17
Jan Vertonghen's agent insists his client's move to Tottenham is still on despite the sacking of Harry Redknapp.
Spurs began talks with Ajax over the transfer of Vertonghen some weeks ago, but the two sides are still reported to be some way apart on their valuation of the 25-year-old defender.
This week's sacking of Redknapp, who wanted to sign the player in January, raised doubts over whether the deal would go ahead, but Vertonghen's agent Mustapha Nakhli insists the move is "very close". "Nothing has changed at all. He is coming to Tottenham for the club and not for the manager," Nakhli told Press Association Sport.
"Managers come and go. Of course Jan is sorry that Harry Redknapp is no longer there but he is going for the club.
"We have a good relationship with Daniel Levy. He wants the deal to happen and there is a good atmosphere (between us). I don't know when it will happen but the deal is close, very close."
Two weeks ago after lauding the Premier League, Vertonghen was asked whether Tottenham was the club he wanted to join.
He said: "Yes. I know where I want to go and I think it is clear to everybody. I am a big fan of the Premier League. It is almost the only competition I watch on TV and for me it is the best competition in the world."
Redknapp's three-and-a-half year reign at Tottenham came to an end in the early hours of Thursday morning when his sacking was announced by the club.
Speculation over who will replace the former West Ham and Portsmouth boss has been rife since.
David Moyes, Roberto Martinez, Laurent Blanc and Andre Villas-Boas have all been mentioned as possible successors, and Spurs have vowed to take their time over a new appointment.
Related Tottenham Hotspur News
Saudi king to bury Crown Prince, find successor - Reuters
RIYADH |
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah prepared to bury his former heir, Crown Prince Nayef, on Sunday before naming a new successor at a challenging time for the world's top oil exporter and self-styled steward of Islam.
The crown prince's body arrived in Jeddah on Sunday a day after his death, where it was met at King Khaled Airport by a host of Saudi princes.
Among them was the most likely candidate to take the position to succeed the 89-year-old king is Prince Salman, 76, another son of Saudi Arabia's founder Abdulaziz ibn Saud.
The new crown prince will become heir to a king who is aged 89 at a time when Saudi Arabia faces a variety of challenges at home and abroad.
Although the Interior Ministry, which the late Nayef headed for 37 years, crushed al Qaeda inside Saudi Arabia its Yemeni wing has sworn to topple the ruling al-Saud family and has plotted attacks against the kingdom.
Saudi rulers are also grappling with unrest in areas populated by the Shi'ite Muslim minority and with entrenched youth unemployment.
The kingdom is also locked in a region-wide rivalry with Shi'ite Iran - the party at the airport included former Lebanese prime minister Saad al-Hariri, representing the Sunni Muslim political alliance that Saudi Arabia cultivates against Iran.
"We call on God to help King Abdullah choose the right person who can bear the burdens of this position at this difficult time we face both at the level of the Arab nation and that of the Islamic community," Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah bin Turki al-Saud told Reuters.
Salman, who is seen as a pragmatist with a strong grasp of the intricate balance of competing princely and clerical interests that dominate Saudi politics, was named defense minister last year.
The appointment of a new crown prince is not likely to change the kingdom's position on foreign or domestic policy but might influence the course of cautious social and economic reforms started under King Abdullah.
"Certainly they are going to continue to focus on the relationship with the U.S., and continue to make efforts to properly husband their abundant natural resources of oil," said Robert Jordan, U.S. ambassador to Riyadh from 2001 to 2003.
FAMILY COUNCIL
Although most analysts believe it is highly likely Salman will be chosen, the ultimate decision may rest with a family Allegiance Council called to approve King Abdullah's decision.
The Saudi succession does not pass from father to eldest son but has moved along a line of brothers born to Ibn Saud. A previous crown prince, Sultan, died last October.
Under rules drawn up by King Abdullah, the Allegiance Council has 30 days to approve the monarch's successor.
"There will be a meeting where the next crown prince will be decided. It has always been done in an orderly and organized manner. Prince Salman fits the profile in many ways," said Khaled Almaeena, editor-in-chief of the Saudi Gazette.
A source close to the royal family said Nayef had died suddenly in Geneva after receiving treatment for a knee complaint. He was thought to be 78.
Before the funeral, King Abdullah travelled to Mecca on Sunday evening from Jeddah, where the royal court and cabinet spend the summer, Saudi Press Agency reported.
Television showed a host of princes in red-and-white headdresses, including Salman and Mecca governor Prince Khaled al-Faisal gathered on the runway to escort Nayef's body to an ambulance.
Newspapers on Sunday mourned the death on their front pages.
Al-Jazirah's front page was entirely in black and white and showed photographs of the king and late crown prince. The English-language Saudi Gazette splashed a full-page picture of Nayef with the headline: "Unto God do we belong and, verily, unto Him we shall return".
Analysts say the most difficult decision in the succession will be when the line of Ibn Saud's sons is exhausted and a grandson must be chosen as crown prince.
Grandsons with the experience and qualifications to rule include Prince Khaled al-Faisal, the governor of Mecca province who is 71, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the deputy interior minister, who is 52.
"The house of Saud will need to think about what would happen in the event the king became unwell, and there is no way on earth you would hand the crown prince role to a grandson in 48 hours time. You have to find an older prince," said Michael Stephens of the Royal United Services Institute in Qatar.
Only a few princes of the older generation have the experience deemed necessary to rule the Middle East's largest economy.
One of them, Prince Ahmed, is a full brother of Nayef and Salman, as well as the late King Fahd and the former crown prince, Sultan. He has been deputy interior minister since 1975 and is seen as likely to replace Nayef as full minister.
"The expectation is that Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz will take over the position of the interior minister after Prince Nayef passed away considering that Prince Ahmed has served as deputy interior minister for 20 years. I think he is the closest to take over this position," Prince Sultan bin Saud al-Saud told Reuters. (Reporting by Angus McDowall; Additional reporting by Ismail Nofal in Jeddah and Isabel Coles in Dubai; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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