Out of touch?

[andrewb]

Royal Bank of Scotland January 2008 shares: 154p
Royal Bank of Scotland January 2009 shares: 10p

A fall of 1440% in just one year.

If someone says 'the banks are not in free fall', does this make them out of touch?

[garinda]

It the banks are going to be wholly, or partly privatised, which is in reality what is happening, then urgent restraints need to be brought in to cap the massive salaries, and mega bonuses, of it's fat cat directors.

Banks can't be shored up with struggling tax payer's hard earned cash, while these people continue to live off the cream.

It's partly the greed of these bankers that is to blame for the financial mess the world is in today.

Bankers!

[garinda]

'...the downtrodden taxpayer is having to fund a staggering £1.2 million salary (plus, I assume, a considerable extra package) for the bank's chief executive, Stephen Hester, who has three homes, including a 350-acre estate in Oxfordshire.'

PETER OBORNE: Bailed-out bank bosses receive such obscene salaries | Mail Online

[BERNADETTE]

But according to the evening news the goverment are once again going to bail the banks out. Can remember Ian raising a topic about this, seems he was right

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by andrewb

Royal Bank of Scotland January 2008 shares: 154p
Royal Bank of Scotland January 2009 shares: 10p

A fall of 1440% in just one year.

If someone says 'the banks are not in free fall', does this make them out of touch?

I would say they are well out of touch, wonder who on earth could even remotely think they weren't

[entwisi]

Banks should be looked at independantly of one another. RBS have announced 20 billion LOSS and are borrowing more and more from UK taxpayers, Barclays share price was battered on Friday and yesterday despite them having not borrowed a penny from UK taxpayers and are on target to announce 5 billion profit. Go Figure that one.

Soem are mis managed, some aren't.

[Taggy]

Barclays have actually borrowed money from the Arabs, to try to avoid future interference in their bonus schemes, by the government. They are paying far more in Interest to the Arabs, than they would have done via a Government loan. I somehow dont think it will be too long before they have their snouts in the same trough though!!


Best Regards - Taggy

[entwisi]

They didn't borrow for the reasons you state. The private investment was always there and by taking it we remain independant of goverment meddling. And lets look at said goverment, would you trust them with the change in your pocket never mind your crown jewels?. Its much safer to be in private hands with no one 'pulling your strings' in these difficult times.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Taggy

Barclays have actually borrowed money from the Arabs

I thought they had sold a third of the business to them

Barclays' £7billion deal with Arab investors a 'scandal of mammoth proportions' | Mail Online

Barclays secures £5.8bn from Arab investors

Bailing out Barclays - Times Online

[entwisi]

not a third if my maths is as good as it was

Daily mail I won't even click,

Times - if you read teh article it clearly states teh aims,

to not be at the back of teh Q as that is where expensive funding lies...

to maintain its commercial independance

to align itself with its Global vision ( this is sometning I've seen a lot longer than mosta s its been the driver and focus of all change within the bank for some time )

So is having 30% of your company owned by a small number of investers a bad thing? Not according to history. Does it expose Barclays to any risks? what impact and risks and control would having UK GOV as a maor shareholder bring to the table?


These are highly complex and controversial decisions. As an employee do I think they did teh right thing? Absolutely and so do the vast majority of my colleagues that I've spoken to.

RBS 52 week high 427

Barclays 52 week high 524


RBS today 12.8

Barclays today 73

Suggests more confidence in private finance than goverment

[Neil]

Originally Posted by entwisi

Daily mail I won't even click

lol, I actually read the story in the Daily Mirror this morning while eating a double sausage and egg McMuffin. Not my choice of paper but all I could find in McDonalds

[entwisi]

I didn't think you out of everyone would struggle to find a newspaper to read!

[Neil]

You can see too many of the damn things

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by entwisi

They didn't borrow for the reasons you state. The private investment was always there and by taking it we remain independant of goverment meddling. And lets look at said goverment, would you trust them with the change in your pocket never mind your crown jewels?. Its much safer to be in private hands with no one 'pulling your strings' in these difficult times.

Think your stop on there Ian, you wouldn't really buy a used car from Brown and Darling never mind letting them get their greasy little fingers in your till would you

[Taggy]

Well lets see how long Barclays remains free of "Government Medling" Think you'll find the Arab deal has strings attached too! The dramatic fall in RBS shares has just as much to do with Hedge Fund Speculators resuming their "Short Selling" practises again as the performance of the business. Barclays arnt immune from that...time will tell. None of the banks...including Barclays are willing to accept that they, along with fund managers are the cause of the current finnancial crisis. Its their Greed and incompetance which is behind the recession we now find ourselves in. Heads need to roll, and more regulation needs to be put in place to stop this from ever happening again. Bonus payments should be for long term performance, not short term, unsustainable gains. First and formost Banks should have preferential rates and lending criteria for British Businesses and individuals. We keep hearing how we as individuals have borrowed more than we can afford...yet the bulk of the so called "Toxic Debt" is what banks have lent to foreign customers....they need to stick primarily to markets and areas that they understand and are easier to regulate.

Best Regards - Taggy