Nationwide Building Society has released its financial results for the six months ending on 30 September. The firm achieved underlying profits of £117m, (down from £322m in 2008), coupled with a Core Tier 1 capital ratio of 12.0% and core liquidity ratio of 12.9%. Nationwide saw a reported pre-tax profit of £143m and is the [...]
Santander is launching a “Zero” current account at the beginning of next year, to coincide with its rebranding of Abbey, Bradford & Bingley and Alliance & Leicester to the group name. Customers going into the red, either authorised or unauthorised, will not be charged a fee and will pay interest at a market-leading rate of [...]
Standard Bank has sought to enhance its growth strategy through a pair of new appointments. The South African institution has named Kennedy Bungane as the new Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) South Africa chief executive. Bungane replaces David Munro, who vacates the role to become global head of Investment Banking. Bungane will assumes responsibility for [...]
The European Commission has formally approved plans for the break up of Lloyds Banking Group. Under a four-year plan, the 43% state-owned Lloyds will sell its TSB, Cheltenham & Gloucester and Intelligent Finance brands. The bank will also dispose of its Lloyds TSB branches in Scotland, plus certain outlets in England and Wales, totalling 600 [...]
Details of a major credit card fraud in Spain are beginning to emerge. According to a BBC report, Visa and Mastercard credit card holders who have used their cards in Spain may have had their card data compromised. They are therefore advised to check their statements thoroughly and are assured by Visa and Mastercard that [...]
Britons are feeling less vulnerable about their financial futures in a mood change “fuelled by increased consumer optimism”. According to the 2009 Genworth Index, which measures financial vulnerability, the UK scored 10, which apparently leaves the country “tipped towards financial vulnerability” but is an improvement on this time last year. Almost a quarter of respondents [...]
Lazard has announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Kenneth M. Jacobs to serve as chairman and chief executive officer with immediate effect. Jacobs was formerly chief executive officer of Lazard North America, and replaces Bruce Wasserstein, who passed away on 14 October. The Board has described Wasserstein as an industry icon, and an [...]
A new report on the extent of top European firms’ pension liabilities has placed Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) at the top of the list for underestimating obligations. According to AlphaValue, a French company that specialises in equity research, Lloyds has miscalculated by €14.2 billion and RBS by €13.3 billion. British [...]
Complinet has called on the US Government and Federal Reserve to curb the behaviour of bankers, rather than bonuses. The firm, which specialises regulatory compliance, argues that thousands of community banks across the US will have to change the way they do business, or face the threat of closure, because of new rules from the [...]
New legislation to be outlined in this week’s Queen’s Speech will include measures to restrain City bonuses. According to reports, a new Financial Services Bill will allow the Financial Services Authority to nullify bankers’ employment contracts that could promote the attitudes to risk that have been blamed for the credit crisis. The outlawing of guaranteed [...]
Britain’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are finding it increasingly difficult to access credit. According to a new report by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC): “Access to finance remains a serious problem for British businesses, despite the Bank of England pumping £200 billion into the economy to boost money supply and stimulate lending.” In [...]
HSBC has agreed the sale of its London headquarters at 8 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, to the National Pension Service of Korea (NPS) for £772.5 million in cash. The sale-and-leaseback agreement will provide the group with a gain of approximately £350 million. The transaction involves NPS’ wholly-owned subsidiary, NPS 8CS Holdings Sarl, purchasing HSBC’s 100% [...]
The chairman of the Building Societies Association (BSA) has spoken out about future capital requirements for the UK banking sector and the dangers these could pose for mutuals. Speaking at the BSA’s annual lunch last week, Graham Beale noted that regulators have made it clear they want “a greater quantity and a better quality” of [...]
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has begun a study of the UK’s corporate insolvency process that will consider the high fees charged by some insolvency advisers, and the impact of this on creditors. The watchdog also says it will be looking at the structure of the market and the appointment process for insolvency practitioners. [...]
Aozora Bank has published its financial results for the first six months of its fiscal year. The Japanese commercial bank recorded consolidated net income of 6.5bn yen, far exceeding the interim forecast for this period. Consolidated net revenue for the two quarters soared from 5.6bn yen in 2008 to 42.1bn yen in 2009. Expenses for [...]
The Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has released its financial results for the last six months. The firm recorded net income of 123.5bn yen, a rise of 48% on the same period in 2008 and equivalent to 126 yen per diluted share. In the first quarter (ending on 30 June 2009) the Group made 72.8bn yen [...]
Shinsei Bank has reported it made net income of 20.2bn yen during the last two quarters (on a consolidated cash basis). This marks a surge back into profitability after incurring 14.3bn yen of losses during the same period in 2008. It also marks an increase in quarterly profits, after recording 9.7bn yen of net income [...]
