Bank of America is shrinking July 28, 2009 BANK of America plans to shrink its 6,109-branch United States network after years of expansion. America’s largest bank has denied claims it will shed 10 per cent of its branches – a move that would cost thousands of jobs – but admits there will have to be cuts because more of its customers are using [...]
Rock investors to fight on despite courtroom defeat July 28, 2009 FORMER shareholders in Northern Rock have vowed to continue their fight to be awarded compensation from the government for the loss of their holdings, after losing a legal battle yesterday. The group of 200,000 small investors, backed by major hedge fund investors SRM Global and RAB Capital, had launched an appeal disputing the High Court’s [...]
Hypocrisy at the heart of banking policy July 27, 2009 PATHETIC. That is the only way to describe Alistair Darling’s ridiculous, stage-managed, utterly fake “row” with Britain’s top banks yesterday. It is the mark of a desperate, dying government that it feels obliged to resort to such a ridiculous piece of make-believe, rather than engaging in proper policy-making. To demand of the banks that they [...]
Record profit can’t ease Wells Fargo bad loan fear July 22, 2009 WELLS Fargo, the largest mortgage lender in the US, reported record second-quarter net income yesterday but gave a bleak assessment of its rising bad loans problem. Net income for the three months to the end of June rocketed 81 per cent to a record quarterly profit of $2.58bn (£1.57bn), or $0.57 a share, compared to [...]
CIT warns of bankruptcy risk July 21, 2009 CIT GROUP yesterday warned it could still file for bankruptcy if a cash tender offer for its outstanding notes fails, one day after securing $3bn (£1.8bn) in emergency financing from its bondholders. The 101-year-old company, which lends to nearly a million small and mid-sized businesses, also forecast a second-quarter loss of more than $1.5bn. In [...]
THE FSA’S SHORT HISTORY July 20, 2009 The Financial Services Authority was born when former chancellor Gordon Brown overhauled the financial regulatory system following Labour’s landslide election victory in 1997. Brown’s revamp saw responsibility for banking supervision transferred to the FSA from the Bank of England, which had historically performed that function. The City watchdog later took on responsibility for regulating mortgages, [...]
CIT gets stay of execution July 20, 2009 THE board of stricken US lender CIT yesterday agreed a $3bn (£1.82bn) rescue loan from key bondholders, saving it from the jaws of bankruptcy. With the US government making it clear that CIT is not systemically important enough to warrant a bailout, the financing package is aimed at buying the bank time to restructure its [...]
Home loans hit six-month high in June July 20, 2009 GROSS mortgage lending hit a six-month high in June according to data released yesterday by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Figures from the CML showed that gross mortgage lending rose 17 per cent in June to £12.3bn from £10.5bn in May, but was still 48.4 per cent lower than in June 2008. Gross lending [...]
CIT cuts $3bn salvation deal July 19, 2009 US lending giant CIT Group last night cut an eleventh-hour deal with its key bondholders for $3bn(£1.8bn) in financing that will save the 101-year-old from the jaws of bankruptcy. CIT, which suffered a liquidity crunch and is straining under its multi-billion dollar debt load, now aims to restructure outside of court. The firm, which lends [...]
House prices boosted by fall in stock July 13, 2009 THERE were more definitive signs yesterday that the UK housing market is beginning to recover, according to June data from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The seasonally-adjusted balance of surveyors reporting falling rather than rising prices improved to -18.1 in June from -43.8 in May, the highest reading since September 2007. Housing market [...]