The US Government has agreed a $20 billion (£13.3 billion) injection of cash into Citigroup, after the banking group saw its share price fall 60% last week. The rescue plan, which has been described as radical and complex, also involves the US Treasury guaranteeing loans and securities. Around $306 billion of real estate loans (largely [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced that it will freeze overdraft charges for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) for one year, from 1st December. In addition, no demands for immediate repayment of loans will be made, through the withdrawal of existing facilities, during the period. The bank’s NatWest subsidiary will extend the same [...]
Chancellor Alistair Darling is bracing himself to battle with the banks after the £37 billion bailout package for three UK banks has failed to kick-start lending. Mr Darling is considering tough new laws to force banks to lend to small businesses, in particular those who are still feeling the effects of the banking crisis and [...]
US banking giant Citigroup, Citigroup, is rumoured to be in merger talks with after its shares plunged 26% yesterday amid fears about its financial viability. Shares in the bank were trading at $54 two years ago, however, the shares closed yesterday at $4.71. The bank, which is one of the largest banks in the US, [...]
Sir Tom McKillop, the departing chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has apologised for the bank’s difficulties. The apology came ahead of the shareholder vote for the £20 billion Government bailout, of which shareholders voted by 99% in favour. Earlier this month, the bank said it expected to report its first full-year loss [...]
Lloyds TSB shareholders voted on the proposed takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) with 95.98% voting in favour of the deal. Shareholders also approved proposals to raise £5.5 billion by issuing new shares and special preference shares. The takeover will create a new banking giant called Lloyds Banking Group, which will comprise almost 150,000 [...]
This month’s interest rate cut from 4.5% to 3% was a unanimous vote from the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), according to the minutes of the meeting, released yesterday. The 1.5 percentage point cut was the largest reduction since 1981, and took rates to the lowest level since 1955. The Bank of England is hinting [...]
The Bank of England has made aggressive cut in interest rates in the last two months but lenders have been slow to pass on the reduction to consumers, until the Government intervened and some lenders finally caved in to the pressure. However, according to a study by price comparison service, uSwitch.com, providers have cut their [...]
Thomas A. James, the chairman and chief executive officer of Raymond James Financial, Inc., enjoyed his night at the Ernst & Young awards, winning the prize for Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008 in the financial services. The awards have been going for over 20 years, and seek to recognise those responsible for innovative thinking, successful [...]
International financial services firm Baird has announced it is to open its first office dedicated to wealth management in California. In addition, the firm has bolstered its capabilities with an extra four financial advisers, three of which (Carlos Alcaine, Joseph Hoon and Seth Kaplan) are senior VPs, and Stephen Halterbeck. Halterbeck and Alcaine (Alcaine Group [...]
The UK’s largest private client investment manager, Brewin Dolphin, has announced the rebranding of its Scottish division, Bell Lawrie. Bell Lawrie will operate under the Brewin Dolphin name from March of next year. Bell Lawrie joined the Brewin Dolphin Group in 1993, and has a history stretching over a century and a half. Operating under [...]
Oceanic Bank International plc is to try and bolster the savings culture in Nigeria with the introduction of Oceanic Save More And Win Big Promo, which could enrich customers by up to N100m. The Central Bank of Nigeria has frequently complained of too much cash being outside the formal market, and as a result has [...]
Investment bank Houlihan Lokey has enjoyed success at the first M&A Awards Americas, (sponsored by the Financial Times and Mergermarket), winning the Mid Market Financial Advisor of the Year – United States award. The award winners were announced at a Gala Dinner in New York at the end of October. In winning the prize, Houlihan [...]
German bank WestLB has recorded pre-tax profits of €604m for the first nine months of the year. The full results will be published on 27 November of this year, with the bank issuing a more concise statement before this to help build confidence amid the continuing financial uncertainty both in Germany and the wider world. [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is poised to cut around 3,000 jobs from its Global Markets investment banking division, in the coming month. RBS has a presence in over 50 countries and employs around 170,000 people worldwide, approximately 100,000 of whom are located in the UK. Some redundancies are expected at its City of London [...]
Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest bank, has announced the appointment of Mike Gelhard as the firm’s new MD and global co-head of Emerging Markets Corporate Credit and Special Situations. He joins Deutsche Bank from investment bank UBS where he covered Latin America and Asia as head of High Yield and Distressed Credit Trading. Earlier in his [...]
Investment bank UBS has released a statement in relation to indicted executive Raoul Weil. Weil, a member of the Group Executive Board as well as chairman and chief executive officer of UBS Global Wealth Management and Business Banking, has been indicted by a Federal grand jury in Southern District of Florida. The indictment is part [...]
Collins Stewart has enjoyed success at the Shares Magazine Awards, garnering enough votes from the weekly investment publication to scoop the Best Advisory Stockbroker award. Other contenders aiming to achieve the prize included Brewin Dolphin, Killik & Co. and Barclays Stockbrokers. Those voting on the winner were told to consider the quality of service and [...]
