About 250-300 employees at fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services are joining Bank of America, a newspaper said on Wednesday.
The employees were working on a Satyam project for Merrill Lynch, which was taken over by the US bank after it was hit by the subprime crisis last year, it said.
The project was not renewed by Merrill after Satyam was caught in country's biggest corporate scandal and the work of managing its database and providing infrastructure support would now be done in-house, the paper said.
The first of these employees will join Bank of America between April 2 and 8, it said, adding they have been given salary increases of around 10 per cent and joining bonuses.
A spokeswoman for Satyam said, "The report is speculative." An official at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in India said she could not immediately comment.
Satyam, whose market value has slid to $505.6 million from $7 billion last May, is in the midst of a bidding process to find a new buyer. It plunged into a crisis in January after its founder quit as chairman revealing profits had been falsified for years.
Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro and mid-sized outsourcer Tech Mahindra are among the suitors, and local media have said US private equity WL Ross & Co was also among the bidders.
Agencies
Showing posts with label Merrill Lynch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Merrill Lynch. Show all posts
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Is oil price heading towards $25-30 a barrel?
Global investment banks Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, which had earlier this year forecast oil prices would surge to USD 200 per barrel level, now foresee it slipping to USD 25-30 level, while Indian analysts anticipate a strong resistance at 40 dollars.
After hitting a peak of over 147 dollars in July this year, crude oil prices have declined sharply and are currently trading near 45 dollars level.
Goldman Sachs' commodity research team in its latest research note has predicted that the oil price might slip to 30 dollars per barrel level in the next three months.
Meanwhile, the firm's energy equity research team, led by Arjun Murti, said in another report that it is cutting its forecast for 2009 to 45 dollars, from 80 dollars previously, due to global economic slowdown.
Murti, who is known as 'oil guru', had shot to fame for rightly predicting a spike in the price to USD 100 when it was trading at around USD 40 level. Later in May, Murti forecast a spike to 150-200 dollars level in the next 6-24 months.
In an interview with the stock market weekly Barron's in June, when oil price were hovering at about 135 dollars, Murti had said that oil prices might fall below 75 dollars, but after 20 years.
The latest report from Murti's team has, however, said that there was a possibility of prices falling below USD 40 level shortly.
Indian analysts, however, see a strong resistance to the oil prices slipping below USD 40 level and do not foresee any possibility of USD 25-30 level.
"Crude oil prices may not fall below 40 dollar a barrel. Rather it will consolidate at 40 dollar a barrel level," Kotak Commodoties Vice President Si Kannan said.
Source: Agencies
After hitting a peak of over 147 dollars in July this year, crude oil prices have declined sharply and are currently trading near 45 dollars level.
Goldman Sachs' commodity research team in its latest research note has predicted that the oil price might slip to 30 dollars per barrel level in the next three months.
Meanwhile, the firm's energy equity research team, led by Arjun Murti, said in another report that it is cutting its forecast for 2009 to 45 dollars, from 80 dollars previously, due to global economic slowdown.
Murti, who is known as 'oil guru', had shot to fame for rightly predicting a spike in the price to USD 100 when it was trading at around USD 40 level. Later in May, Murti forecast a spike to 150-200 dollars level in the next 6-24 months.
In an interview with the stock market weekly Barron's in June, when oil price were hovering at about 135 dollars, Murti had said that oil prices might fall below 75 dollars, but after 20 years.
The latest report from Murti's team has, however, said that there was a possibility of prices falling below USD 40 level shortly.
Indian analysts, however, see a strong resistance to the oil prices slipping below USD 40 level and do not foresee any possibility of USD 25-30 level.
"Crude oil prices may not fall below 40 dollar a barrel. Rather it will consolidate at 40 dollar a barrel level," Kotak Commodoties Vice President Si Kannan said.
Source: Agencies
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Bank of America to slash 30,000 to 35,000 jobs
Bank of America said it expects to cut 30,000 to 35,000 jobs over the next three years, as it faces a deteriorating economic environment and tries to absorb Merrill Lynch.
The final number could be even higher, analysts say. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America said it hasn’t yet completed its analysis for eliminating positions, and won’t until early next year. The company and Merrill have about 308,000 employees in total, and the cuts will affect workers from both companies and all types of businesses.
Bank of America is considered one of the country’s healthier banks, and its decision to slash so many jobs illustrates the breadth of the layoffs hitting the United States. The nation lost more than half a million jobs in November alone, and economists expect many more to come. Bank of America’s action is a particularly hard blow for Charlotte, which is also home to the beleaguered Wachovia Corp, a once strong bank that is now being acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. In what amounts to a fire sale. Just three months ago, when the Merrill Lynch deal was announced, Charlotte was dubbed Wall Street South; now, the banking center is being hit as hard as Wall Street and other towns across America, where people go to work in the morning unsure if they will still have a job that night. The announcement of job cuts at Bank of America was hardly unexpected, considering the merger and the wave of job losses seen in the banking industry and in other sectors over the past few months. Bank of America and Merrill Lynch have already eliminated thousands of investment banking jobs over the past year, as have other banks, in an effort to lower costs as they face increasing defaults in mortgages, credit card debt and other loans.
HSBC lays off 193 staffers in India
Foreign lender HSBC has decided to slash 193 jobs in its Indian consumer assets business segment after reviewing its portfolio in the backdrop of the prevailing economic conditions, the bank said. The bank is restructuring its consumer assets business division in the country and has made "every efforts to redeploy the staff," HSBC said. "Some 620 people have been redeployed in suitable positions in the bank and other group entities in India. The leavers have been placed in the bank's priority returners scheme which will give them first preference for suitable jobs that come up in the next year," it said.
Source: Agencies
The final number could be even higher, analysts say. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America said it hasn’t yet completed its analysis for eliminating positions, and won’t until early next year. The company and Merrill have about 308,000 employees in total, and the cuts will affect workers from both companies and all types of businesses.
Bank of America is considered one of the country’s healthier banks, and its decision to slash so many jobs illustrates the breadth of the layoffs hitting the United States. The nation lost more than half a million jobs in November alone, and economists expect many more to come. Bank of America’s action is a particularly hard blow for Charlotte, which is also home to the beleaguered Wachovia Corp, a once strong bank that is now being acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. In what amounts to a fire sale. Just three months ago, when the Merrill Lynch deal was announced, Charlotte was dubbed Wall Street South; now, the banking center is being hit as hard as Wall Street and other towns across America, where people go to work in the morning unsure if they will still have a job that night. The announcement of job cuts at Bank of America was hardly unexpected, considering the merger and the wave of job losses seen in the banking industry and in other sectors over the past few months. Bank of America and Merrill Lynch have already eliminated thousands of investment banking jobs over the past year, as have other banks, in an effort to lower costs as they face increasing defaults in mortgages, credit card debt and other loans.
HSBC lays off 193 staffers in India
Foreign lender HSBC has decided to slash 193 jobs in its Indian consumer assets business segment after reviewing its portfolio in the backdrop of the prevailing economic conditions, the bank said. The bank is restructuring its consumer assets business division in the country and has made "every efforts to redeploy the staff," HSBC said. "Some 620 people have been redeployed in suitable positions in the bank and other group entities in India. The leavers have been placed in the bank's priority returners scheme which will give them first preference for suitable jobs that come up in the next year," it said.
Source: Agencies
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Oil could plummet down to $25 a barrel!
Oil prices are likely to keep falling until well into next year and could reach $25 a barrel before recovering, US bank Merrill Lynch. In a research report published on Thursday, it said oil prices should begin to rally in the second half of 2009.
Merrill Lynch recently cut its forecast for the average price of US crude oil futures and North Sea Brent crude oil to $50 a barrel from a previous estimate for both crudes of $90.
"With demand vanishing across all key oil consuming regions, benchmark crude oil prices continue to plummet," it said. "In the short-run, market participants will focus on both OPEC and perhaps even non-OPEC producer responses to balance the market."
"A temporary drop below $25 is possible if the global recession extends to China and significant non-OPEC production cuts are required," it said.
"In our view, oil prices could find a trough at the end of Q1 2009 or early Q2 2009 with the seasonal slowdown in demand. Then, as economic activity starts to strengthen, we see oil prices posting a modest recovery in the second half of 2009."
Oil prices hit a peak above $147 a barrel in July but have fallen more than $100 since then as the severity of the global economic downturn has become clear.
Merrill Lynch said a combination of high oil prices and high leverage had proven dangerous for the global economy.
"On October 1, we lowered our average crude oil price forecast in 2009 to $90 per barrel based on a global GDP growth forecast of 3 percent. Since then, our economists have revised their 2009 global GDP growth forecast down to 1.3 percent, a scenario consistent with a global recession.
"As a result, we are now lowering our average WTI and Brent crude oil price forecast to $50 per barrel for 2009."
It said the major downside risk to its price forecast would be a revision of economic growth assumptions for China, which are currently at 8.6 percent for next year.
"In the short-run, global oil demand growth will likely take a further beating as banks continue to cut credit to consumers and corporations," it said. "We now expect an outright contraction in global oil demand in 2009."
Source: Economic Times
Merrill Lynch recently cut its forecast for the average price of US crude oil futures and North Sea Brent crude oil to $50 a barrel from a previous estimate for both crudes of $90.
"With demand vanishing across all key oil consuming regions, benchmark crude oil prices continue to plummet," it said. "In the short-run, market participants will focus on both OPEC and perhaps even non-OPEC producer responses to balance the market."
"A temporary drop below $25 is possible if the global recession extends to China and significant non-OPEC production cuts are required," it said.
"In our view, oil prices could find a trough at the end of Q1 2009 or early Q2 2009 with the seasonal slowdown in demand. Then, as economic activity starts to strengthen, we see oil prices posting a modest recovery in the second half of 2009."
Oil prices hit a peak above $147 a barrel in July but have fallen more than $100 since then as the severity of the global economic downturn has become clear.
Merrill Lynch said a combination of high oil prices and high leverage had proven dangerous for the global economy.
"On October 1, we lowered our average crude oil price forecast in 2009 to $90 per barrel based on a global GDP growth forecast of 3 percent. Since then, our economists have revised their 2009 global GDP growth forecast down to 1.3 percent, a scenario consistent with a global recession.
"As a result, we are now lowering our average WTI and Brent crude oil price forecast to $50 per barrel for 2009."
It said the major downside risk to its price forecast would be a revision of economic growth assumptions for China, which are currently at 8.6 percent for next year.
"In the short-run, global oil demand growth will likely take a further beating as banks continue to cut credit to consumers and corporations," it said. "We now expect an outright contraction in global oil demand in 2009."
Source: Economic Times
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
A lot more job cuts coming?
We are witnessing the worst of financial services job cuts in history? Well, here's one way to look at it: If banks were bent on maintaining their compensation ratio--that is, their compensation costs as a percentage of revenues--they would have to lay off many, many more employees, says a financial analyst.
It says the results of its analysis "range from the farcical (Merrill Lynch) to the disturbing (Credit Suisse), and the reassuring (Goldman and Morgan Stanley)." More specifically, Merrill Lynch would have to lay off more than 58,000. Credit Suisse would have to lay of 16,000. JPMorgan would have to layoff more than 5,000. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley would not require any additional layoffs, adds the analyst.
Source: Agencies
It says the results of its analysis "range from the farcical (Merrill Lynch) to the disturbing (Credit Suisse), and the reassuring (Goldman and Morgan Stanley)." More specifically, Merrill Lynch would have to lay off more than 58,000. Credit Suisse would have to lay of 16,000. JPMorgan would have to layoff more than 5,000. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley would not require any additional layoffs, adds the analyst.
Source: Agencies
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Will US govt bail out Bank of America next?
US government rescue plan has eased investors’ concerns about Citigroup, but mines lurking in the balance sheets of rivals including Bank of America still tempt shortsellers. Bank of America, the No 3 US bank by assets, has loaded up on mortgages as the world’s largest economy wrestles with the worst housing market since the Great Depression.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank further heightened its exposure to home loans by acquiring Countrywide Financial, the largest US independent mortgage lender and agreeing to buy Merrill Lynch, which owns the world’s largest retail brokerage.
If losses on mortgages and other debt securities mount significantly, the bank may see the ratio of equity to risk-weighted assets, known as Tier-1 capital, dwindle to alarmingly low levels.
“I would expect there are more banks who are in dire straits and more who can expect to be helped,” said Michael Farr, president of investment management company Farr, Miller & Washington in Washington, DC. “The share price makes it look like Bank of America might be next in line,” he said.
Before Monday’s stock market rally, Bank of America shares had lost 52% in November alone, making them the second biggest decliner for the month in the KBW Banks index after Citigroup. Analysts at independent research company CreditSights forecast that in a scenario where the commercial and residential real estate markets really tank beyond banks’ expectations, Bank of America would have a Tier-1 capital ratio of 7.15%.
The minimum that regulators seek to consider a bank “well capitalized” is 6%, but any ratio near or below 7% tends to spook investors. Bank of America declined comment. CreditSights also expressed concern about Wells Fargo, which it said would have a Tier-1 capital ratio of 6.98% under its worst case scenario. Wells Fargo recently agreed to buy Wachovia.
Under the same assumptions, and before the government’s latest investment, Citigroup would have a Tier-1 capital ratio of 8.64%.
American Express CEO for Citi Bank?
Vikram pandit may thank the TINA (there is no alternative) factor for still being in job as Citigroup CEO, as the US government reportedly did not push for his ouster in its rescue package. A day after the mega rescue plan, it has now come out that the authorities discussed whether to replace Pandit as Citi CEO, but there was an disagreement over the issue. A report from a US business daily has said that the name of American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault had emerged as a possible replacement.
Source: Reuters
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank further heightened its exposure to home loans by acquiring Countrywide Financial, the largest US independent mortgage lender and agreeing to buy Merrill Lynch, which owns the world’s largest retail brokerage.
If losses on mortgages and other debt securities mount significantly, the bank may see the ratio of equity to risk-weighted assets, known as Tier-1 capital, dwindle to alarmingly low levels.
“I would expect there are more banks who are in dire straits and more who can expect to be helped,” said Michael Farr, president of investment management company Farr, Miller & Washington in Washington, DC. “The share price makes it look like Bank of America might be next in line,” he said.
Before Monday’s stock market rally, Bank of America shares had lost 52% in November alone, making them the second biggest decliner for the month in the KBW Banks index after Citigroup. Analysts at independent research company CreditSights forecast that in a scenario where the commercial and residential real estate markets really tank beyond banks’ expectations, Bank of America would have a Tier-1 capital ratio of 7.15%.
The minimum that regulators seek to consider a bank “well capitalized” is 6%, but any ratio near or below 7% tends to spook investors. Bank of America declined comment. CreditSights also expressed concern about Wells Fargo, which it said would have a Tier-1 capital ratio of 6.98% under its worst case scenario. Wells Fargo recently agreed to buy Wachovia.
Under the same assumptions, and before the government’s latest investment, Citigroup would have a Tier-1 capital ratio of 8.64%.
American Express CEO for Citi Bank?
Vikram pandit may thank the TINA (there is no alternative) factor for still being in job as Citigroup CEO, as the US government reportedly did not push for his ouster in its rescue package. A day after the mega rescue plan, it has now come out that the authorities discussed whether to replace Pandit as Citi CEO, but there was an disagreement over the issue. A report from a US business daily has said that the name of American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault had emerged as a possible replacement.
Source: Reuters
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