BNP Paribas clients to get rich off crisis
BNP Paribas Investment Partners, the asset management division of the French bank BNP Paribas, will unfreeze three of its funds that were taken out of service because of the mortgage crisis.
Parvest Dynamic ABS, BNP Paribas ABS Euribor and BNP Paribas ABS Eonia will begin activity again next week. The bank said that it wanted to give investors a chance to take advantage of falling stock prices. Activity on the funds was halted on August 7. Their value was €1.6 billion ($2.18 billion) at that time, as compared to €2 billion ($2.73 billion) in the middle of July. BNP Paribas Investment Partners said that fluctuations on the market, and not defaults by individual companies, led to the reduction in the funds’ value. All three funds held securities of American companies that provided low-quality mortgage loans, but all of those companies have AAA or AA credit ratings.
BNP Paribas cited the impossibility of adequately estimating the value of several assets in its portfolio due to market instability, as well as “sudden evaporation from 6 August of any trading activity on certain sectors of the US market” as the reason for its freezing the funds. The bank’s experts estimate that the funds lost between 2% and 5% of their value while frozen. The announcement of the renewal of the funds did not hearten the bank’s investors. The bank’s stock lost 1.2%, falling to €77.84, on the Paris stock exchange. Dresdner Kleinwort analyst Milan Gudka commented that “It’s a positive step. The likelihood of BNP providing liquidity for those funds, or a sort of bail-out, is limited,” adding that its situation differs from Germany’s IKB and Sachsen LB. (kommersant.com)
Â
ADVERTISEMENT
CIG PannĂłnia Board Proposes HUF 18-per-share Dividend
Hungarian Lawmakers Ratify Finland's NATO Accession
SUPPORT THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For 27 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.
Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
