Now companies that finance themselves through equity and retained earnings, including giants like Apple and Google, will have the edge as interest rates rise.
Another way in which regulators have tried to keep banks' heads above water is to force them to match a proportion of their risky assets (ie, loans) with capital, in the form of equity or retained earnings.
Through 2010, the French company had retained only a 25% shareholding in the team that bears its name, and it has now sold its remaining equity so the outfit is now wholly owned by the Genii Capital private equity group that is running it.