Latest Banking News
The latest news from the banking sector:
July 22, 2008
The Bank of England’s Governor, Mervyn King, has said today that banks should put billions of pounds into a fund over the next 10 years to compensate customers in the event of another Northern Rock collapse.
Mr King was speaking members of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee on the issue of banking reform, and said that he believed the ...
BoE Governor calls for savers’ guarantees
by Kay Murchie
July 21, 2008
Consumers who are looking to reclaim unfair overdraft charges will now have to wait a further six months after the Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced today that it is extending the waiver that allows banks not to pay out on claims.
The FSA explained that it was extending the suspension of its normal rules, which require banks to deal with complaints ...
Further delay in bank charges case
by Kay Murchie
Just 8% take up rights issue at HBOS
by Kay Murchie
July 20, 2008
Reports in the Sunday newspapers have suggested that as few as 10% of shareholders have signed up to HBOS' £4 billion rights issue.
The reports said the low take up would mean its underwriters Dresdner Kleinwort and Morgan Stanley would be left with £3.5 billion of unsold stock.
Furthermore, according to the Sunday Times, the low take up would represent one of ...
HBOS fundraising take-up expected to be low
by Kay Murchie
Second quarter results at Citigroup better than expected
by Kay Murchie
July 18, 2008
Britain’s third biggest bank, Barclays, has announced it has secured £4.5 billion from investors to shore up its balance sheet but ordinary shareholders only took 19% of new shares offered at 282p each.
Shares in Barclays fell a little over 2% to 284p in early trading this morning.
The majority of the shares were sold to overseas investors including a Qatari sovereign wealth fund and institutional ...
Barclays secures £4.5bn
by Kay Murchie
July 17, 2008
Investment banking giant, JP Morgan Chase, revealed that second-quarter profits fell 52% as it suffered a £550 million ($1.1 billion) loss on mortgage-related write-downs.
Net income at the third-largest US bank fell to $2 billion compared with $4.23 billion a year earlier.
Revenue fell by 3% to $18.4 billion, above analysts expectations of $16.6 billion in turnover for the second quarter.
So ...
JP Morgan Chase hit by write-downs
by Kay Murchie
HBOS announces job losses
by Kay Murchie
B&B shareholders back £400m cash call
by Kay Murchie
July 14, 2008
According to Dave Rove, analyst with Ladenburg Thalmann, at least 150 US banks could collapse over the next two years.
At present, there are over 7500 regional and national banks based within the United States.
However, Mr Rove is at pains to suggest that this figure is far smaller than the 1000 or so banks that went bust during ...
150 US banks to collapse: Dave Rove at Ladenburg Thalmann
by Brian Turner
Santander to boost UK presence with Alliance & Leicester takeover
by Kay Murchie
July 13, 2008
California-based IndyMac Bank, which is one of the largest US mortgage lenders, has collapsed as fears over a credit crisis intensify.
IndyMac has had its assets seized by Federal regulators after concerns that it might not be able to meet withdrawals by depositors.
The bank has been struggling to raise cash and continue to trade after the US housing market slump continues with the ...
US IndyMac Bank collapses
by Kay Murchie
July 9, 2008
Investment banks in the US are being given access to emergency funds from the Federal Reserve if the current financial turmoil continues.
The Fed’s chairman, Ben Bernanke, announced the decision yesterday and hopes it will allay the banking giant's fears on Wall Street who are facing a challenging time currently due to the credit crisis.
Mr Bernanke added that the central ...
Emergency cash available to US investment banks
by Kay Murchie
Bradford & Bingley rescued by British banks
by Kay Murchie
July 8, 2008
Barclays’ unit Firstplus is to axe 300 jobs at its home loans division in the Pentwyn area of Cardiff.
Firstplus, which became part of Barclaycard in 2004 following Barclays’ acquisition of Woolwich eight years ago, said from 9 August it will no longer take on new customers due to slowing demand. It employs over 400 staff.
The announcement will not ...
Barclays cuts jobs at its home loans division
by Kay Murchie
July 7, 2008
Bradford & Bingley (B&B) saw its shares plunge to an all-time low of 42p today, well below the bank’s rights issue price of 55p, heightening fears about its fund-raising plans.
This is just another blow to the lender after credit agency, Moody’s, cut its rating from A3 to Baa1, which resulted in US private equity firm Texas ...
B&B rescue plan under pressure as shares fall to all-time low
by Kay Murchie
Bradford & Bingley hit with fees for failed TPG deal
by Kay Murchie
Financial recruitment grinds to a halt
by Kay Murchie
July 4, 2008
Struggling lender Bradford & Bingley (B&B) has been rescued by a group of UK investors after US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG) pulled out of a deal, after credit rating agency, Moody's, downgraded the lender's debt.
This now means that B&B has the lowest credit rating out of all the major British banks which means raising funding ...
B&B rescued by investors after TPG walk away
by Kay Murchie
July 1, 2008
Swiss investment bank, UBS, has announced the resignation of 4 of its 12 board members as it attempts to recover from losses linked to the credit crunch.
The overhaul sees directors Stephan Haeringer, Rolf Meyer, Peter Spuhler and Lawrence Weinbach step down in October. The banking giant said nominations for their replacements will be announced well before the shareholder meeting on October 2nd.
The bank, ...
Management overhaul at UBS
by Kay Murchie