'Onshoring' IT services and bringing jobs back home

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-manager/onshoring-it-services-and-bringing-jobs-back-home/7485?tag=nl.e101

Temenos 33% drop in new license sales for Q4

Reporting its fourth quarter and full year 2011 results, Temenos emphasised that discussions are ongoing with Misys, despite the interest shown by private equity suitor Vista Equity Partners in scuppering the deal.
Commenting on the results, Temenos CEO Guy Dubois says: "The sovereign debt crisis in Europe and its impact on funding markets put the banking sector back into a state of uncertainty. As a consequence, we saw decision cycles lengthen substantially with a corresponding impact on licence sales."
Fourth quarter license sales fell by nearly a third, while full year sales slipped by nine percent, despite the group signing 40 new banks, including two coveted tier one institutions.
The impact of the sovereign debt crisis severely impaired performance in the final quarter, with revenue down 15% and adjusted Ebit falling by 35% to $35m. Over the year, revenue was up by six percent, boosted by a strong rise in maintenance sales and services from the vendor's captive customer base.
The results keenly demonstrate Temenos' eagerness to seal the deal with Misys, effectively removing a potent competitor from the market and opening the opportunity for cross-sales.
Temenos says it is unable to give an outlook for 2012 as discussions with Misys continue. An announcement fleshing out the full terms of the proposed deal is expected within the next few days.

http://www.finextra.com/news

End of Stamp Duty holiday is close by

Scheme that exempts first time buyers from the tax on properties worth up to £250,000 - comes to an end on 24 March. Quick, buy that house.

Mortgage lending increases

Gross mortgage lending declined to an estimated £10.5 billion in January. Lending fell 14% from £12.2 billion in December but was 10% up on the £9.5 billion in January 2011, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). While a seasonal decline is expected, January was the sixth month in a row of higher year-on-year lending, with first time buyers boosting numbers. "The increase in lending compared to January last year helps support our view that housing and mortgage market activity may be boosted by first-time buyers seeking to complete deals before the stamp duty concession ends in March," commented Bob Pannell, chief economist at the CML.

AAA Ratings

Moody's Investors Service has warned it may cut the credit ratings of 17 global banks and 114 European financial institutions in response to Europe's debt crisis. HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds are amongst the banks whose existing credit ratings Moody's said did not reflect the challenges that they were facing in the market. Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and UBS have been warned they could see their credit ratings cut by up to three notches, while Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC Holdings, JPMorgan Chase, Macquarie and Royal Bank of Canada face a possible two notch cut. Bank of America, Nomura, Royal Bank of Scotland and Societe Generale may be downgraded by one notch. "Capital markets firms are confronting evolving challenges, such as more fragile funding conditions, wider credit spreads, increased regulatory burdens and more difficult operating conditions," said Moody's. "These difficulties, together with inherent vulnerabilities such as confidence-sensitivity, interconnectedness, and opacity of risk, have diminished the longer term profitability and growth prospects of these firms." Earlier in the week the agency downgraded six European nations and warned Britain, France and Austria they could lose their AAA rating.

Source: Moneyfacts

Misys merger with Temenos?

UK core banking vendor Misys has confirmed that it has begun talks with Swiss rival Temenos about a possible all share merger.