RLPC-French banks sell global loan portfolios
* Some sales already completedBy Tessa WalshLONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - French banks have put global
syndicated loan portfolios up for sale, including dollar loans
to highly rated companies and project financings, in a bid to
cut balance sheets and comply with the EU’s compulsory
recapitalisation plan.The European Commission’s recapitalisation plan could result
in billions of dollars of loan sales globally as banks try to
sell assets rather than raise capital at depressed equity prices
or through dislocated and expensive bond markets.BNP Paribas and Societe Generale are
leading the drive to reduce balance sheets after recently
announcing plans to offload a combined 150 billion euros of
risk-weighted assets, banking sources said.”BNP and SG have been selling out of three main locations —
London, New York and Hong Kong. They have had some success. I
know they’ve made sales, but I don’t know how much has been
sold. The sales definitely include project finance assets,” a
banker said.Details of the recapitalisation plan have yet to be
finalised, but capital ratios are expected to be raised to 9
percent of risk-weighed assets or more.BNP and SG were already deleveraging to enable the banks to
be fully compliant with Basel III capital adequacy ratios by the
end of 2012, but both banks have stepped up loan sales in the
last two weeks, bankers said.Credit Agricole CIB and Natixis have also been
making enquiries on selling loans, loan traders said.BNP’s deleveraging is focusing on selling dollar assets, a
process that the bank said on Friday was going well. Societe
Generale declined to comment.A diverse range of loans have been put up for sale. Most are
investment-grade credits for highly rated companies in the
Middle East and Russia as well as Asia and the United States.
Some leveraged loans for riskier non-investment grade companies
have been included, the sources said.The loans for sale are performing near-par loans of good
credit quality, which are being offered for sale at around 97-98
percent of face value, they added.Sales are being executed through the secondary loan trading
markets or in bespoke sales direct to investors. The sellers are
not under pressure and will only trade when they get good
execution, the bankers said.BNP is also considering putting its U.S. project finance
book up for sale, a banking source said, in a move that might be
copied by other European banks, including UK, Italian and German
lenders.Appetite for Middle Eastern loans, which include project
financings, is said to be strong from regional and domestic bank
buyers.”We have simply accelerated a bit what we were going to do.
This plan is not only dollars, it is to sell every kind of
asset. It is not a fire sale, it’s just to sell the good assets
we have,” a banker at a French bank said.
Goldman lowered tax bill by 10 mln pounds - report
* Goldman battled UK for five years on tax paymentOct 11 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc managed
to lower its tax bill by 10 million pounds last year after
having “shaken hands” with a top UK tax official, according to
a leaked document and reports in the British press.The UK government had been seeking a settlement regarding
more than 30 million pounds in back taxes it said Goldman owed,
which, along with interest, amounted to roughly 40 million
pounds, according to the Guardian newspaper.Thanks to a deal negotiated privately with Dave Hartnett,
the permanent secretary of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
(HMRC), Goldman was able to pay just the accrued taxes and
avoid the 10 million pound interest payment.The government sought back taxes from a group of 22
financial firms in 2005 after uncovering a scheme to route
bonuses through offshore entities to avoid taxes. All of the
companies but Goldman settled, leading to a drawn-out legal
battle between the UK government and the Wall Street bank.Minutes of a meeting of top officials from the HMRC on Dec.
8, 2010, show a deal was finally reached after Hartnett “had
‘shaken hands’ with Goldman Sachs.”Other officials questioned the propriety of the agreement.A lawyer named Dean Rowland noted Goldman had “resisted for
five more years, raking up every conceivable point in the
tribunal, and putting up a ‘stooge’ witness when Mr Housden was
the obvious person to answer questions,” according to the
minutes. Michael Housden is the Goldman’s director of European
tax.Anthony Inglese, the HMRC’s general counsel, said he would
not support the deal if it were “unconscionable” and noted “the
difficulty all those present at this meeting were having in
justifying a settlement without an interest element.”Spokespeople for Goldman and HMRC did not immediately
return requests for comment.In a statement to the Guardian, the HMRC said its portrayal
of the issue was “incomplete and therefore fundamentally
flawed” but declined to provide more detail because of
“taxpayer confidentiality.”News of the tax-interest break was first reported by
Private Eye magazine.The 10 million pound tax-interest break is paltry next to
the $15.4 billion in compensation and benefits Goldman paid
last year. The bank also took a special charge of $465 million
in 2010 for special UK taxes on bonuses above 25,000 pounds.
Blast, fire hit Saskatchewan refinery -report
Consumers’ Co-operative Refineries Ltd. is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Federated Co-operatives Ltd and processes about
100,000 barrels of crude oil a day, the report said.
