Obama ruling throws cold water on RBS unit sale

[FarCenter]

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been forced back to the negotiating table in the $2 billion (£1.3 billion) sale of RBS Sempra, its commodities trading unit, after its preferred buyer balked at President Obama’s clampdown on proprietary trading.

JP Morgan, which was named two weeks ago as the exclusive bidder for RBS’s 51 per cent stake in RBS Sempra, has ruled out the purchase of the North American assets in the wake of Mr Obama’s ruling.

The President took American banks by surprise last month when he proposed a ban on proprietary trading — where the banks place investment bets using their own money. He unveiled his proposals, to be known as the Volcker Rule, the day after JP Morgan had secured exclusivity with RBS, casting a question mark over the prospects for a quick deal.

JP Morgan is still keen to buy RBS Sempra’s international operations, including its oil-trading activities in Britain, but a buyer has to be found for the North American operations.

<SNIP>http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article7010424.ece

[babylonsister]

1. Bummer-not! nt

[OffWithTheirHeads]

2. Fuck em! Drive a stake through their blood sucking hearts!

Fucking Vampires! They live forever and suck the blood out of society. They need to die!

[dkf]

3. Do I care?

Not really

[ddeclue]

4. cry me a river...