News Tag: turmoil

May 7, 2009

Barclays announces strong results despite financial turmoil

by Kay Murchie
Barclays Bank has reported a 15% rise in pre-tax profits for the first three months of the year despite the financial maelstrom. The bank posted pre-tax profits £1.37 billion, primarily due to its Barclays Capital investment banking division. John Varley, Barclays chief executive, said the good performance "the continued benefit of diversification. We generated strong income growth across most business lines ...

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September 30, 2008

Belgian bank Dexia is latest to be rescued by Government

by Kay Murchie
Yesterday saw Belgian-Dutch financial group, Fortis, rescued after the Governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands invested a total €11.2 billion (£8.9 billion) in the respective Fortis bank institutions in each country. Each Government will take a 49% stake in Fortis. It has emerged today that Fortis’ rival, Dexia, has become the latest European bank to be ...

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September 26, 2008

$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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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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September 25, 2008

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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September 17, 2008

Bank of England extends special liquidity scheme until January 2009

by Kay Murchie
The Bank of England has announced its decision to extend its special liquidity scheme until 30 January 2009. The scheme was launched in April and was to run for six months until 21 October. Initially, the Bank and Treasury said that they expected the scheme to involve at least £50 billion in funding. However, amid the financial chaos of ...

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