All the latest economic and financial news, including developments around Greece’s bailout extension and Royal Bank of Scotland’s latest lossGerman jitters over GreeceThe Agenda: tensions in AthensRBS posts another loss......and plans substantial job cuts 9.12am GMT This morning's news of far bigger drop than expected of 20k in German Feb unemployment fits with my read the world economy is picking up. 9.02am GMT Just in: Another strong month of unemployment data from Germany, backing hopes that Europe’s largest economy is picking up.The unemployment total fell by 20,000 this month, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, twice as much as expected. GERMAN UNEMPLOYMENT FELL 20,000 IN FEB. VS EST. 10,000 DROP 8.54am GMT Some City bankers are too buttoned up. But not Bill Winters, the new boss of Standard Chartered! As this video shows, he doesn’t mind loosening a few buttons for charity, and can pull off a decent falsetto at the same time.@katie_martin_FX he'll be so delighted he did that. 8.44am GMT There are fresh signs of jitters in Germany over Greece’s bailout today.Reuters is reporting that finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble told CDU party members that the extension could be abandoned if Athens doesn’t stick to its pledges.Germany’s Wolfgang Schaeuble told a meeting of conservatives lawmakers on Thursday that recent remarks by the Greek finance minister had strained European solidarity and that a bailout extension for Athens could be ditched if the country failed to stick to its promises, according to participants.The German finance minister met lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc to prepare for Friday’s vote in the Bundestag on extending the Greek bailout in return for a new package of reform commitments by the new leftist-led government of Alexis Tsipras.German Fin Min Schaeuble tells German MPs that Greek Fin Min Varoufakis ' strains the solidarity of European partners.'#GreeceHow low can they go? "No further billions 2 greedy #Greeks" screams #Bild! Says hold page up, take selfie & send it! pic.twitter.com/ccSm9wUqsM 8.19am GMT It’s official: Standard Chartered CEO Peter Sands is leaving the company, replaced by Bill Winters. And he’s not alone -- the bank has also announced that chairman John Peace will depart in 2016. Jaspal Bindra, CEO for Asia, is also leaving soon, along with three other long-serving non-executives. Here’s the statement. 8.10am GMT Newsflash from Germany: 22 members of Angela Merkel’s government are planning to oppose Greece’s four-month bailout extension in Friday’s vote.*GREEK AID EXTENSION OPPOSED BY 22 MERKEL CAUCUS MEMBERS: HILLE 8.07am GMT In other banking news, Sky are reporting that Standard Chartered is about to name a new chief executive:EXCLUSIVE: Standard Chartered to name Ex-JP Morgan executive Bill Winters as new chief executive; announcement later today, I'm told. 7.59am GMT RBS CEO Ross McEwan has announced there will be “substantial” job cuts as he continues to reshape the company.Its investment bank is being particularly hit."Let me be clear, this marks the end of a standalone investment bank at RBS" says CEO McEwan as he announces further retrenchmentRBS boss admits there will be "substantial" job cuts as a result of the latest restructuring… "unfortunately they will be substantial" 7.49am GMT Chancellor George Osborne has flexed his muscles and decreed that RBS’s top directors should not take home a bonus this year.In a letter to the bank, Osborne says:I would expect that no executive directors or members of the executive committee will receive bonuses.” 7.40am GMT RBS incurred almost £2.2bn in fines, provisions and legal costs last year, for its role in a series of banking scandals and blunders.The bank explains:This included additional provisions for PPI redress (£650 million) in PBB, provisions relating to investigations into the foreign exchange market (£720 million) in CIB, Interest Rate Hedging Product redress (£185 million), the fine relating to the 2012 IT incident (£59 million) booked in Centre and other costs (£580 million) including provisions relating to packaged accounts and investment products.#RBS takes £2.2bn hit on costs of litigation and mis-selling in 2014 accounts 7.37am GMT RBS has also confirmed that its CEO, Ross McEwan, will not take a £1m ‘pay allowance’ [designed to avoid the EU’s bonus cap] which he was entitled to 2014, as reported last night. 7.31am GMT RBS also has a new chairman, Sir Howard Davies (former head of the CBI, the Financial Services Authority, the London School of Economics...)#RBS confirms Howard Davies will be its new chairman. #RBS narrows its losses to £3.5 billion in 2014 - down from £9 billion in 2013. 7.30am GMT 2014 wasn’t a vintage year for RBS’s investment bankers:Total #RBS bonus pool £421m down 21% on last year. Bonuses for 'risky' investment bank down by half to £114m @BBCNews 7.28am GMT Another year, another loss at Royal Bank of Scotland.RBS has just reported that it made an attributable loss of £3.5bn in the last financial year. That’s mainly due to writing down the value of its US business, Citizens, by £4bn and a tax charge. 7.20am GMT Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of Greece, the world economy, the financial markets and business.Today we’ll be tracking the political tensions in Athens over its bailout agreement, as analysts fret about Greece’s ability to meet its debt repayments in the coming months.“There are parts of the letter [with reform proposals] that are reminiscent of the lenders’ language, not ours.”Today: Euro-zone consumer confidence, German unemployment; Greece’s Varoufakis says counts on ECB’s #Draghi to avoid a default next monthUK companies posting results today - Capita, RBS, Ladbrokes, Interserve, RSA, Merlin Entertainment, Domino Pizza, Spirent Communications Continue reading...
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