Financial Business Review: Facebook Anecdotes from Hell, TD Bank and RBC Fall

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (NYSE:BBVA) is mulling a divestiture of its pension unit in Latin America, which it says is ‘attractive, but non-core’. No rush, however, as the bank indicates that the strategic review will take more than one quarter, with a decision not likely in the current year.

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Thursday brings more on the underwriter/client background notes leading up to Facebook’s (NASDAQ:FB) IPO. The Wall Street Journal reports that institutional investor Capital Research & Management was warned off taking a position in FB as an underwriter informed it of cuts to the shares’ estimates. However it’s also noted that such ‘selective disclosures’ are not illegal in the case of IPOs. In another aspect of the now famous Facebook Big Day, Stephen Gandel of Fortune writes that the $100 million trading profit that underwriters are said to have obtained with “greenshoe” short positions might seem “…like a giant conflict of interest, but no rules were broken and the potential trades were even disclosed in Facebook’s prospectus.”.

Toronto Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) enjoyed record profits from its U.S. business, but the Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY), having exited the U.S. consumer market, saw its earnings (+ 5 percent) miss consensus. Even so, shares of both banks are down Thursday, but those of RY are far lower.

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