News Tag: credit crisis

July 29, 2009

Mortgage lenders profit from low base rate

by David Masters
Banks are pocketing extra cash rather than passing on lower interest rates to mortgage customers, a Daily Mail investigation revealed this week. Homeowners are paying an average of £1,788 per year more than they should be as banks use the historically low base rate of 0.5% to shore up their ailing coffers. Twelve months ago mortgage rates were just 0.5% above the ...

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March 1, 2009

HSBC expected to announce £12bn rights issue

by Kay Murchie
HSBC, which is set to announce full-year profits this week, is expected to reveal plans for a £12 billion rights issue - the largest ever held in Britain. The bank, which is Europe's largest, is expected to disclose a 22% fall in 2008 profits. Last August, it revealed a 28% fall in half-year profits despite it being relatively unscathed by the ...

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September 21, 2008

Morgan Stanley holds talks with Wachovia and CIC

by Kay Murchie
According to Reuters, US investment bank Morgan Stanley is in talks with Wachovia and China Investment Corp (CIC) about a possible takeover or an investment opportunity. Last week, shares in Morgan Stanley plummeted after the collapse of Wall Street giant, Lehman Brothers, the rescue of US insurance giant AIG and Bank of America’s takeover of Merrill Lynch. Investors panicked ...

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August 4, 2008

Fortis announces profits fall of 40%

by Kay Murchie
Fortis bank has today warned it is facing a tough time after it posted a 41% fall in first-half profits. The Belgian-Dutch bank, which last year joined with the Royal Bank of Scotland to buy ABN Amro, said credit market turbulence and rising bad loan charges was responsible for the fall in profits. Profits for the first half of the year fell ...

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HSBC adds to banking sector woes with profits fall of 28%

by Kay Murchie
HSBC, Britain’s largest bank, has reported a 28% decline in first-half pre-tax profits to £5.1 billion ($10.2 billion). The news from HSBC follows that from other banks including Alliance & Leicester, who last week announced that half-year profits have nearly been wiped out after taking a £209 million hit on risky assets and higher funding costs. ...

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July 9, 2008

Emergency cash available to US investment banks

by Kay Murchie
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 ...

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June 17, 2008

Goldman Sachs reports 11% fall in profits

by Kay Murchie
US investment banking giant, Goldman Sachs, has announced an 11% fall in quarterly profit. However, the results were below analysts' expectations and the company's share price saw a boost after the news. In the quarter to the end of May, Goldman reported net income of $2.09 billion (£1.1 billion), compared with $2.33 billion a year ago. While its business has ...

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April 10, 2008

IMF: credit crisis is largest financial shock since Great Depression

by Kay Murchie
Yesterday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that as a result of the credit squeeze, the global economy will grow much more slowly in the next 2 years. The IMF warned that the US will slump into recession following the largest financial shock since the Great Depression. It is the first major international institution to state that ...

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