GLG News in Financial & Business Services

As is well recognised , India is behind in infrastructure in almost all aspects . Unlike China where an efficient road system has been put in place over the past decade , work has just started in India. The Citigroup injection of 400 M$ is part of the 15 to 25 Billion required . Whilst India is incorporating siginficant private participation , politics and to some extent , corruption...

CMS (and several large insurers) refusing to pay for "Never Events" will further challenge cash strapped hospitals, and poses increased pressure to increase prices as hospitals attempt to cost-shift to the commercial carriers.  Not paying for alleged hospital mistakes will garner stronger administrative action against staff and doctors who get more adverse high cost patients.  The world...

1. Profit margins are challenged by market conditions. 2. The marketplace is very competetive. 3. Regulatory power struggles create fewer channels for sales.

FAIR Plans are no longer the only carrier in business. 

While MasterCard arguably will pay American Express too much, the settlement removes a troubling overhang.   It is time for MasterCard and Visa Inc. to focus their energies on fending off a potentially far more damaging threat: the “Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008.”

Best said it believes AIG needs to embark on a companywide strategic and operational review of its businesses.  Every time the tide recedes we find out who was enjoying a cocktail while their swimsuit floated off.  Companies are required to have an annual financial audit.  Why doesn't every CEO, either selfishly for job security or intelligently from a core leadership skill,...

Does anyone want to increase revenue, reduce expenses and increase quality?

Angst about the consumer credit environment and risk associated with GE Consumer Finance’s near-prime retail credit card portfolio, not surprisingly, have given a number of large US card issuers who otherwise should have been keen to bid, cause for pause. Nonetheless, for the right buyer – most likely a European FI such as Barclays, RBS or BNP, and the right price, GE’s US card business is a choice...

The mortgage  insurance industry has suffered horrific losses and is quickly losing ground in a struggle for survival. Triad announced that it will cease insuring new loans.  The three major mortgage insurers (MTG, PMI, RDN) have been downgraded below AA, the minimum rating required by the GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac).  The GSEs are allowing the MI's to continue insuring...

Conference take-aways: (1) All payment systems – paper checks, truncated checks, pin and signature debit cards and credit cards and ACH are subject to fraud. (2)  Fraud prevention systems need to take a holistic enterprise-wide rather than a point solution approach.       (3) A huge amount of first-person fraud losses are miscategorized as credit losses. undefined·  (4)...