An application by the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) to begin activities within Rwanda has been given the green light by Rwandan authorities. Martin Oduor-Otieno, group chief executive, has stated that the firm intends to begin operating in Rwanda in Q4 of this year. Oduor-Otieno thanked the Rwandan Central Bank for their approval, adding that activities [...]
Last week HBOS was at the centre of rumours that it has become a takeover target, and the group has been in the news again over the weekend. According to a report in the Sunday Times, HBOS is attempting to raise £300 million from the sale of its Hill Hire subsidiary. The business, which is [...]
Deutsche Securities Inc. (DSI) has named its new chairman as Norimichi Kanari. He joins DSI from The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd, where he spent almost four decades and recently held the position of deputy president. Kanari will assumes his post on 1 October, and succeeds Toru Hashimoto, who has held the role since 1 [...]
Wachovia’s chief financial officer, Thomas J. Wurtz, is to leave the post as soon as a replacement has been found. The search for Wurtz’s successor has already begun. He has held the position of chief financial officer for the last two and a half years, and has also served as treasurer for the last seven. [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) may be reconsidering plans to raise capital through the sale of its insurance business. Zurich Financial Services, the latest bidder to withdraw from the sale process, could have been put off by doubts about the future profitability of parts of the unit. According to reports by Reuters and Insurance Times, [...]
Fraud specialists, The 3rd Man and 192business.com, are claiming that losses from card-not-present (CNP) fraud are much higher than official figures suggest. The firms estimates that CNP fraud in the UK exceeded £500 million in 2007, almost double the estimate of £290.5 million from APACS, the body that represents payment service providers. 192business.com specialises in [...]
APACS, the body that represents UK payment service providers, has reported that the number of people making use of online banking has risen by 505% in seven years. In 2000, just 3.5 million account holders were managing their money online, rising to 21 million by the end of last year. Strong growth is expected to [...]
Piper Jaffray & Co has announced the appointment of Tina Neal as senior vice president, investment banker. Neal leaves behind Ferris, Baker Watts to join Piper Jaffray, bringing with her 17 years of industry experience. Earlier in her career she held the position of managing director for fixed income sales and trading with Carter Kaplan [...]
Today the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut 25 basis points from the Official Cash Rate (OCR), resulting in a fall from 8.25% to 8%. Since the release of the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Statement in June more bad news has emerged internationally, Governor Alan Bollard explained, leading to the possibility of further economic damage [...]
JPMorgan has opened a two new International Image Deposit Centres in Taipei and Bangkok. The openings bring its total centre number to 14, with the others sited in Bournemouth, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Madrid, Milan, Mumbai, Paris, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and Zurich. The new centres will allow clients to retain their cash letter operations whilst [...]
The supervisory board of DZ BANK AG has elected Rolf Hildner to serve as its chairman. Hildner, who was formerly the German firm’s deputy chairman, succeeds Christopher Pleister who resigned from the post on 15 July. Both the supervisory board and the board of directors have offered their thanks to Pleister for his time as [...]
In line with forecasts, Wachovia has reported a Q2 loss of $8.9bn, equating to $4.20 per share net loss. The loss includes a $6.1bn noncash goodwill impairment charge, corresponding to falling assets values and market valuations. The charge does not, however, have an affect upon the firm’s tangible capital levels, regulatory capital ratios or on [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) efforts to raise capital by selling off its non-core businesses have suffered yet another setback. National Australia Bank has announced that it is withdrawing its interest in the Australian and New Zealand operations of ABN Amro, which were acquired by RBS last year. The business employs around 750 staff and [...]
Bank of England Governor, Mervyn King, is proposing that UK banks should contribute to a fund that could be used to guarantee savers’ deposits. While giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee, Mr King suggested that lenders should make substantial contributions over 10 years to provide a fund of several billions of pounds. He stressed [...]
Deutsche Bank has strengthened its New York-based FX Trading with the appointment of Brian McConville as director and Foreign Exchange Forwards trader. He rejoins the German firm from HSBC, where he worked on the foreign exchange forwards trading desk as senior vice president. Before that he held the role of propriety trading director with Bank [...]
Financial consultancy, Capital Economics, is warning that UK banks could be forced to restrict lending by as much as £180 billion in order to bolster their balance sheets. The credit crisis has prompted a series of fundraisings as banks have been left exposed by writedowns. The cash calls have been central in improving Tier one [...]
Alliance & Leicester (A&L) is promoting its Premier Current Account with an offer of £100 to anyone who switches online. The bank’s current account manager, Andy Muddimer, is promising new customers a seamless transfer via the Premier Switching Service and is urging anyone interested to research the market and discover the benefits of A&L’s offering. [...]
