GLOBAL MARKETS: Cometh the taxman

No sooner had US President Joe Biden’s $1.9-trillion stimulus package passed than attention turned to his big spending bill for infrastructure — and the tax rises that are likely to pay for it. For equity markets, the tax increases proposed by Democrats to fund the $2-trillion package could get quite costly quickly. Goldman Sachs has calculated that Biden’s tax plan would knock 9% off EPS for companies in the S&P 500 next year.

Financial Times

Out on their ear

Credit Suisse’s chief risk and compliance officer and the head of its investment bank are leaving the bank, which this week announced $4.7bn of losses from the blow-up of Archegos Capital. The Archegos loss will push the bank to a first-quarter loss of about Sf900m ($960m).

As a result, Credit Suisse suspended its Sf1.5bn share buyback programme and cut its dividend by two-thirds to Sf0.10 per share. The group also announced investigations by external parties into the events leading up to the Archegos debacle.

Financial Times