RE: RBC cuts Close Brothers price target to 540 (620) pence - 'outperform23 Sep 2024 10:44
CBG was a private merchant bank, founded in 1878, which had some associated lending as part of its broader offering.
Part of this offering (the asset management business) has now been sold as a direct result of the FCA ongoing enquiry, to improve liquidity. Pulling up the drawbridge if you like and preserving what you have ahead of the storm arriving.
The FCA enquiry will take a long time. CBG will have an internal team and an external team currently working through each individual case to establish whether there is likely to be any wrongdoing, and likely cost of remediation. The cost of the review and enquiry will run into £millions. There is no quick fix, either to the ongoing review or the share price. A once august, city loved, FTSE250 company is fighting for its continued existence. It would not be surprising to see other parts of the bank sold off (eg Winterfloods?!). Sadly, it has become a gamblers bet on whether it can persuade the FCA of its innocence.
Abbey National went exactly the same way after overweighting its loan book away from its core residential mortgages (ie Porterbrook train leasing).