Wednesday Papers: Japanese set to acquire RBS asset finance portfolio - money news

Financial Times

* Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi is poised to buy a £4 billion portfolio of project finance loans from Royal Bank of Scotland in the latest move by the part-nationalised UK bank to offload legacy assets.

* BBVA has become the latest international lender to seek to strengthen its capital base, launching a €5 billion rights issue following a deal to buy joint control of Turkey’s Garanti Bank.

* Lloyds Banking Group toned down its previously upbeat rhetoric on growth and gave a cautious summary of its performance in the third quarter of the year; the bank said on Tuesday the two drivers of its recovery – an expanding interest margin and a falling level of impairments – had been only “modest” in the quarter.

* Aviva has signalled a big strategic overhaul, focusing on its life and general insurance businesses in 12 core markets out of the current 30; it also hinted that it would sell smaller businesses in Asia and eastern Europe.

* The new regime of financial regulation will hit annual profits at the US’s eight biggest banks by between $19.5bn and $22bn, says S&P.

* Hopu Investment Management, a pioneering private equity fund started by Chinese investors, says two of its three founding partners will be retiring as it exits its remaining investments.

* Enel, the Italian energy company, has re-weighted the initial public offering of its renewables business towards retail investors ahead of the stock’s debut on Thursday.

* General Motors will have little difficulty raising the $10 billion it seeks – largely because its shares will be priced to sell, early market reactions show.

Daily Mail

* Around 9,000 people have received letters from Help Loan, a payday loans firm run by Finnish-based MCO Capital, after fraudsters made fake loan applications in other people’s names.