Bloomberg reports that the Mexican peso and the Brazilian real are among currencies that have weakened, which could lead to 'value destruction' for Citigroup, according to Peabody, an analyst for New York-based Portales who was interviewed today by Tom Keene on Bloomberg Surveillance. The bank disputed Peabody’s conclusion in an e-mailed statement.
In the meantime, Reuters reports that Commerzbank is attempting to overturn an English court decision that forces it to stump up around $65m in unpaid bonuses to a group of London-based investment bankers.
The bank said on Wednesday it had applied directly to the UK Court of Appeal after last month failing to persuade London's High Court to allow it to appeal a ruling that it had breached its legal duties by slashing 2008 bonuses by up to 90%.
And Bloomberg reports that JPMorgan is poised to more than double the value of its investment in London Metal Exchange shares bought seven months ago from the U.K. unit of bankrupt MF Global Holdings.
Finally, Reuters reports that UBS has got itself into a royal pickle in Kuwait.
The Swiss bank is fighting a claim that it failed to pay a local sheikh for helping it secure the $10.7bn sale of the African subsidiary of part state-owned telecom operator Zain. UBS denies that it entered into any contract with the sheikh. Yet if nothing else, the case has exposed the lengths to which big banks will go to schmooze Gulf royals.
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