According to the news agency, Kurer said that UBS would not be introducing a compensation cap, but confirmed that all executive bonuses would be significantly down on previous years. He said that he didn't know his own compensation yet, but expected it to be less than 10 million francs ($8.8m) this year (predecessor Marcel Ospel made $23m last year). Kurer is quoted saying: Certainly all management salaries will be lower after the crisis than before, in some cases noticeably so. I find that the right thing. But in some special situations, salaries over 10 million francs are still possible'.
Canada's National Post reports that Barclays Capital has unveiled a plan to double the size of its Canadian investment banking unit. The firm has said that it expects to increase its Toronto investment banking unit to between 20 - 30, with up to 35 in Calgary.
The New York Post reports that Morgan Stanley is likely to sell a number of assets in order to acquire a regional bank.
The Financial Times reports that UniCredit plans to raise up to $9bn in capital to beef up its balance sheet and reassure investors. The Italian bank's stock fell 24% in the first 3 days of trading last week. UniCredit will also review central costs, and restructure its investment banking operations.
Reuters says that BayernLB, Commerzbank, LBBW and WestLB have been forced to come out and deny a report in German weekly Der Spiegel, which claimed that the banks will face problems refinancing around $277bn in funding due to be reviewed in the coming months. The news agency also reports that AIG confirmed Friday that it plans to sell as many assets as its needs to to repay the $85bn in borrowing it recently received from the US government as part of a rescue package. Edward Liddy, the firm's new Chairman and CEO, said: 'We have already been contacted by numerous strong, stable parties, and we expect the buyers will recognise the value of these properties'.
Bloomberg reports that the Dutch government has agreed to buy most of Fortis's Netherland operations for $23bn, 'after realizing an earlier rescue plan didn't go far enough to ensure the bank's stability'. And BNP Paribas has agreed to take control of the bank's Belgium and Luxembourg operations in a deal worth $19.8bn. The German government has also agreed to a $68bn rescue package to bailout commercial property lender Hypo Real Estate.
Reuters reports that Societe Generale CEO Frederic Oudea has said that his bank is in good shape, and ready to look at opportunistic acquisitions.
Finally, The New York Post reports that, according to analysts at Bank of America, the US Federal Reserve will announce on October 23rd that it has lost between $2 - $6bn on the value of the $30bn of mortgage-backed assets it took on from Bear Stearns, which enabled JPMorgan to come in an takeover the firm earlier this year.
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