Latest Banking News

September 29, 2008

Santander to acquire B&B‘s branches and £20bn savings business

by Kay Murchie
The BBC reported over the weekend that troubled buy-to-let lender Bradford & Bingley (B&B) was set to be nationalised. It has emerged this morning that Spanish bank, Santander, which recently agreed to buy Alliance & Leicester, is to acquire B&B’s £20 billion savings base and its network of 197 branches. According to sources, talks ran late into last night ...

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September 28, 2008

Fortis in rescue talks

by Kay Murchie
Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis has been in rescue talks over the weekend after concerns have been raised about its future. The Belgian government, regulators, and the Dutch central bank are all involved in the talks with a deal to be announced by tomorrow morning. Fortis, which is Britain’s third-largest private car insurer, based on volume, and the fourth-largest travel insurer, went out of its ...

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US $700bn bailout talks continue

by Kay Murchie
According to US Congress, America’s $700 billion (£380 billion) bailout plan is still in negotiations but considerable progress is being made. According to Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, there are 15 outstanding issues to be resolved in agreeing Treasury secretary Henry Paulson’s Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp). Meanwhile, The White House said the prospect of a deal is essential before financial markets ...

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Bradford & Bingley to be nationalised

by Kay Murchie
Troubled buy-to-let lender, Bradford & Bingley (B&B) is set to be nationalised, according to the BBC. Treasury officials and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) have been holding talks with the lender in an attempt to secure its future. The bank is to be nationalised using special legislation the Treasury implemented after it took Northern Rock into public ownership in February of this year. ...

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September 26, 2008

Bail-out plan will be passed says Bush

by Kay Murchie
It was announced earlier today that the $700 billion (£380 billion) US financial bailout plan had been blocked. However, following hours of negotiations today, President George W. Bush has insisted that an agreement would be reached. However, stockmarkets continue to fluctuate due to the uncertainty surrounding the deal. According to the President, there are disagreements over aspects of a rescue plan, but ...

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$700bn US financial bailout plan is blocked

by Kay Murchie
It has been announced that the $700 billion (£380 billion) US financial bailout plan has been blocked sending stockmarkets throughout the world into turmoil. After several hours of discussions with President George W Bush, a group of Republican members of Congress blocked the plan. It is understood that republicans balked at US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s plan to buy ...

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£55 billion pumped into the banking system

by Kay Murchie
The Bank of England has taken steps today in a bid to ease the worsening credit crisis after it injected an additional £55 billion into the banking system. The move follows the announcement that the $700 billion (£380 billion) US financial bailout plan has been blocked. As a result, central banks are taking action to lend extra cash to banks, these include ...

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Washington Mutual closed by regulators

by Kay Murchie
Washington Mutual (WaMu) has been closed making it the largest failure of a US bank. WaMu’s assets have been sold to banking giant, JPMorgan Chase, for $1.9bn (£1 billion). WaMu was closed by the Federal Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) has been appointed receiver. $16.7 billion of deposits had been withdrawn in the last 10 ...

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HSBC axes 1,100 jobs worldwide

by Kay Murchie
HSBC, the UK’s largest bank, is shedding around 1,100 jobs worldwide across its global banking and markets division, as it comes under pressure due to the current financial turmoil. The jobs represent around 4% of its total workforce with nearly half of the job cuts to go at the bank’s Canary Wharf office in London, where the division is headquartered. A spokesperson for HSBC ...

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Washington Mutual fails

by Brian Turner
Washtington Mutual, the largest "thrift" bank in the US, has failed, after a run on savings by its customers. Regulators from the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) stepped in last night and took over the company briefly, before selling it on to JP Morgan for just £1 billion. The move means that Washington Mutual, also known affectionately as WaMu, has been declared bust and its sale ...

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September 25, 2008

US Congress approves bail-out plan

by Kay Murchie
US Congress have approved the $700 billion (£380 billion) financial rescue plan after a week of talks. The announcement comes after US billionaire investor, Warren Buffett, described the current financial turmoil as 'an economic Pearl Harbour'. Buffett, who is one of the world’s richest men, along with Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, and US Federal Reserve chief, Ben Bernanke, have been urging US Congress to ...

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Congress urged to act quickly to approve $700bn financial rescue plan

by Kay Murchie
US billionaire investor, Warren Buffett, has described the current financial turmoil as 'an economic Pearl Harbour'. Buffett, who is one of the world’s richest men, and US Federal Reserve chief, Ben Bernanke, are urging US Congress to quickly approve the $700 billion (£380 billion) financial rescue plan or risk serious consequences to the US economy. Meanwhile, President George ...

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Slump in mortgage demand forces B&B to cut jobs

by Kay Murchie
Troubled buy-to-let mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley (B&B) has announced its mortgage processing centre in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, is be closed with the loss of 370 jobs. The processing centre is to close in the first quarter of 2009. B&B, which is the UK’s biggest buy-to-let lender, blamed the continuing downturn in the market for mortgages. The news come just ...

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September 24, 2008

Goldman Sachs receives cash injection from US billionaire Warren Buffett

by Kay Murchie
Berkshire Hathaway has bought a stake in American bank, Goldman Sachs, as part of an injection of cash which will see the group raise $7.5 billion (£4 billion). The investment vehicle, which is run by US billionaire investor Warren Buffett, came to an agreement to buy $5 billion of preferred stock in a private offering. The stock will ...

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Customers queue to withdraw savings from Bank of East Asia

by Kay Murchie
Thousands of customers have been lining up to withdraw their savings from the Bank of East Asia after rumours spread that the bank is facing financial collapse, an allegation which the bank has fiercely denied. The police have been informed and are investigating after the bank said the rumours were malicious and untruthful and were believed to have ...

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B&B heavily downgraded by credit ratings agencies

by Kay Murchie
Credit ratings agencies have added to Bradford & Bingley’s (B&B) woes after the lender has been downgraded by Fitch Ratings from BBB+ status to BBB-, only one notch above ‘speculative grade‘, or informally known as ‘junk’. Meanwhile, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the lender from A-2 to A-3. Earlier this week, there were reports that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) had been holding ...

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September 23, 2008

Jobs saved as Nomura acquires Lehman European operations

by Kay Murchie
Japan’s largest brokerage house, Nomura Holdings, is to buy some of Lehman Brothers’ European operations. Nomura is to acquire Lehman’s investment banking and equities unit in Europe and said it will pay a ‘nominal’ amount for the operations. The deal, which subject to regulatory approval, comes just 24 hours after Nomura announced it was to buy the Asian operations ...

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Shares fall amid concerns over $700bn financial rescue plan

by Kay Murchie
Shares in London, Europe and Asia have fallen amid doubts over the $700 billion (£378 billion) US Government’s financial rescue plan. While the rescue plan has been welcomed, there are fears about how it will come into effect in practice. In London, the FTSE 100 index lost over 100 points in morning trading to 5,143.05 after losing 75 points ...

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September 22, 2008

Nomura to acquire Asian operations of Lehman Brothers

by Kay Murchie
Japan’s largest brokerage house, Nomura Holdings, is to buy the Asian operations of Lehman Brothers. Standard Chartered and Barclays had also been interested in Lehman’s Asian assets, according to sources close to the matter. Banking giant Lehman Brothers went bankrupt last week and British bank Barclays has already acquired its US investment banking and capital markets businesses. Nomura is to pay ...

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Mitsubishi acquires stake in Morgan Stanley

by Kay Murchie
Shares in Morgan Stanley increased today after the news that Japan’s largest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, is to pay $9 billion (£4.8 billion) for a stake of up to 20% in the bank. The news follows the announcement earlier today that Morgan Stanley, along with Goldman Sachs, have changed status and have received regulatory approval to convert themselves into traditional bank ...

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