Aug 10
24
Fed loses the bank disclosure appeal
International Market Report 24th Augst 2010
The Nikkei lost 1.3% or 121.55 points to close at 8,995.15, which was its lowest close since May 2009. The Topix dropped 0.9% to close at 817.73. The Dow dropped 39 points to close at 10,174. The Nasdaq fell 20 points to 2,159. The S&P 500 dropped 4 points to close at 1,067.
Tomorrow, German Ministers will put their weight behind a levy on bank assets designed to raise €1bn (£820m) a year. This announcement is part of a pact between the UK, German and French authorities to introduce parallel taxes which will start in 2011. The German levy, which will enter a fund used in the event of future bailouts and will only apply to banks headquartered in Germany. It is not immediately clear how this will fit with legislation announced by chancellor George Osborne in June, which will apply a tax on the balance sheets of banks trading in the UK. This could potentially leave banks open to double taxation.The FED will have to appeal to the Supreme Court if it wants to avoid having to disclose details of its emergency lending programmes to banks bailed out with taxpayer money during the financial crisis. On Friday the US Court of Appeals denied the Fed’s motion to rehear the case in which Bloomberg, the parent of Bloomberg News, and News Corp’s Fox News Network sought information on the US central bank’s emergency lending programmes that began in late 2007.
Due for release today is the NZD Inflation Expectations q/q, CAD Core Retail Sales m/m and Existing Home Sales.
