Weekly Global News Wrap: Morgan Stanley shunned by Aramco for advisory role; JP Morgan, Barclays settle Mexico bond lawsuit

And Credit Suisse shrugs off oil & gas exposure.

From Reuters

Morgan Stanley has not been given an advisory role on the potential sale of a stake in Saudi Aramco’s pipeline business, a deal worth over $10b.

Morgan Stanley, which has previously advised the world’s largest oil company, was originally looking to be part of the advisory group on any deal. However, Aramco has mandated JPMorgan and Japan’s MUFG as advisers to the deal, which would provide the company with cash at a time of low oil prices, sources said.

Although Morgan Stanley was one of Aramco’s top advisers on its initial public offering last year, three local banks - NCB, Samba and HSBC Saudi Arabia - ended up controlling most of the process when the listing was scaled down.

From Reuters

JPMorgan and Barclays will pay $20.7m to resolve investors’ claims that they conspired to rig the Mexican government bond market, the first of nine banks in the proposed class-action litigation to settle.

JPMorgan is paying $15m whilst Barclays is paying $5.7m. However, both denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

In a Monday night filing with the US District Court in Manhattan, lawyers for the investors said the “ice breaker” settlements could be a catalyst for settlements with the other bank defendants, which include affiliates of Banco Santander, Bank of America, BBVA, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and UBS.

From Reuters

Credit Suisse will not take a significant hit from its exposure to the battered oil and gas sector, Chairman Urs Rohner told Swiss state broadcaster SRF on Saturday.

The bank, which in recent years has sought banking relationships with oil and gas entrepreneurs, may have somewhat more exposure to the sector than rivals, Rohner acknowledged, but he did not expect the turmoil to drag down its results.

Rohner also defended the bank’s decision not to jettison ex-chief executive Tidjane Thiam sooner following a spying scandal that emerged last year. Thiam finally left the bank in February.

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