City rides to the £400m rescue of B&B July 4, 2008 Bradford & Bingley said last night its underwriters and other City institutions will back its £400m fundraising despite a dramatic decision by American private equity firm TPG to walk away from a deal after rating agency Moody’s cut the bank’s credit status. The move comes after Moody’s cut the cash-strapped bank’s rating to Baa1, giving [...]
Four top UBS directors quit July 2, 2008 Swiss banking giant UBS yesterday started the process of rebuilding its reputation and placating shareholders by announcing major board changes. UBS, which has written down more than $37bn during the credit crunch, said four of its senior boards members – Stephan Haeringer, Rolf Meyer, Peter Spuhler and Lawrence Weinbach – would step down on 2 [...]
No more US deals for RBS November 3, 2005 Sir Fred Goodwin has reiterated Royal Bank of Scotland’s stance on acquisitions in America, saying there are no plans for further deals following last year’s purchase of Charter One Financial. In an interview with news agency Bloomberg in New York, the Edinburgh bank’s chief executive said: “Organic growth is our number one priority (in America).” [...]
Boomtime for Credit Suisse November 3, 2005 Credit Suisse became the latest big bank to report soaring profits on the back of stronger financial markets. The Swiss bank reported a 42 per cent rise in third quarter profits to Sfr1.92bn (£846m) thanks to growth across its investment banking, private banking and asset management divisions. Oswald Grübel, chief executive, called the results “satisfactory”. [...]
BCCI £1bn case ended ‘month late’ November 3, 2005 Judge tells court of his surprise that the Deloitte action against BoE had been allowed to drag on for so long BCCI’S liquidator Deloitte was instructed by the collapsed bank’s creditor committee to immediately halt its action against the Bank of England on 26 September, but only managed to extricate itself from the £1bn litigation [...]
Standard unveils ambitious plans for consumer market October 31, 2005 Standard Chartered is aiming to double profits from consumer banking every three to five years, it said yesterday. The London-based bank, whose activities are focused in Asia, also said it was optimistic about its prospects, as it began a briefing trip for analysts in Dubai and Korea. Shares in Standard Chartered have been climbing steadily [...]
Do the banks have a Plan B? October 28, 2005 Now that consumer spending is slowing down, the banking sector needs to look for new sources of growth. British banks have investors worried. Not because of their current profitability, which is healthy, but because a slowdown in the economy may hit this industry harder than most. The banking sector still continues to make profits. In [...]
Interregnum on up October 28, 2005 AIM-quoted technology merchant bank Interregnum said that its group turnover soared 112 per cent on last year’s results to £7.98m. The company also said that pre-tax losses were down 34 per cent to £430,000 compared to £650,000 in its 2004 financial year. Interregnum is based in Britain and America and specialises in investment advice in [...]
Abbey makes moves on mortgages October 26, 2005 Abbey is to mount an assault on the British mortgage market by plugging into new business areas. The bank, which was taken over by Spanish group Santander for £8bn last year, wants to make up ground lost to its rivals in the areas of lending to buy-to-let investors, people wanting loans for new-build properties, and [...]
St James’s A-Day profits October 20, 2005 Looming changes to pension legislation have helped wealth management company St James’s Place Capital increase its pension business by 22 per cent. New laws, due to come in on April 6 on what has become known as A-Day, have prompted more people to seek advice on their best personal pension plan including the chance to [...]