Banking Times: Daily Banking News
 
 
Daily Banking Industry News
Saturday 05th of July 2008
June 14, 2008

RBS sells Angel Trains for £3.6bn

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS sells Angel Trains for £3.6bn

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has confirmed that it has sold its Angel Trains rolling-stock leasing business to a consortium headed by Babcock & Brown, for £3.6 billion.
Other members of the consortium include Deutsche Bank and AMP Capital Investors.
The sale forms part of a major fundraising programme that includes a successfully completed £12 billion rights […]



June 11, 2008

HBOS rights issue in jeopardy

by Gill Montia

Story link: HBOS rights issue in jeopardy

HBOS’s £4 billion rights issue looked in jeopardy today as the bank’s share price fell below the proposed offer price of 275p.
Shares in the UK’s largest mortgage lender fell almost 12%, to 258p, as the markets took up the strain of mounting concerns over the UK housing market.
This week’s news on the property sector has […]



RBS head forecasts difficult year ahead

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS head forecasts difficult year ahead

Fresh from his successful fundraising in the form of a £12 billion rights issue, the head of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Sir Fred Goodwin, has warned of a difficult year ahead.
The bank’s chief executive said that trading in the first six months of 2008 will be in line with expectations but given that no […]



June 10, 2008

High Street five support B&B fundraising

by Gill Montia

Story link: High Street five support B&B fundraising

Bradford & Bingley (B&B) will receive the support of the UK’s five largest High Street banks in its troubled fundraising event.
The buy-to-let lender originally planned to raise £330 million from shareholders in a rights issue but had to redraw its plans when a profit warning left its share price plummeting close to the issue price.
The […]



June 9, 2008

RBS £12bn rights issue 95% subscribed

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS £12bn rights issue 95% subscribed

The UK banking sector has today breathed a sigh of relief on the news that Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) £12 billion rights issue has proceeded to plan, having been 95.11% subscribed.
Last week’s banking news was dominated by the difficulties experienced by Bradford & Bingley in its attempts to raise only a few hundred million […]



June 2, 2008

RBS anxious to reassure over buy-to-let lending

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS anxious to reassure over buy-to-let lending

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has acted promptly to distance itself from the circumstances surrounding buy-to-let lender, Bradford & Bingley (B&B).
The bank has issued a statement in which it says that buy-to-let mortgages form only 1% of its UK loan book and that the trading guidance provided in the interim management statement of 22nd April […]



RBS and Barclays named in OFT investigation

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS and Barclays named in OFT investigation

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has confirmed that it raided offices of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Barclays two weeks ago and has since been investigating allegations of anti-competitive practices at both banks.
The extent of the investigation is apparently narrow, focusing on commercial loans made to the professional services sector, which includes law […]



May 30, 2008

Moody’s issues negative credit rating for UK banks

by Gill Montia

Story link: Moody’s issues negative credit rating for UK banks

Moody’s Investors’ Service has reported that its outlook for the direction of credit conditions in the UK banking system is negative.
The credit rating agency has based this view on the likelihood of an economic downturn, which combined with high levels of consumer debt in the UK, could lead to a rise in bad debts and […]



May 5, 2008

RBS ends free business banking

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS ends free business banking

A Royal Bank of Scotland spokesperson has confirmed a report that has appeared in the Guardian newspaper, stating that the bank is to end free banking for its business customers.
Speaking on behalf of RBS, Carolyn McAdam said that the move would affect only a few thousand of the group’s one million business customers.
It […]



April 28, 2008

RBS makes 7,000 redundant in ABN integration

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS makes 7,000 redundant in ABN integration

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has confirmed that up to 7,000 jobs will go as it continues the integration of Dutch bank, ABN Amro, which was acquired last year.
The bank is merging its investment and global banking divisions and a pre-redundancy consultation process is expected to begin this week.
Job cuts are expected to be […]



April 23, 2008

RBS launches £12bn rights issue

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS launches £12bn rights issue

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has launched the biggest rights issue in UK corporate history.
The bank is raising £12 billion to underpin its balance sheet following writedowns of £5.9 billion from investments in mortgaged-backed securities and other debt related to the US sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Existing shareholders will be offered 11 new shares for every […]



April 21, 2008

RBS considers sale of Direct Line and Churchill

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS considers sale of Direct Line and Churchill

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is rumoured to be considering the sale of its Direct Line and Churchill insurance businesses.
The bank, which is the second largest in the UK, is also reported to be planning a rights issue of up to £13 billion and the disposals, which could raise £5 billion, might provide a means […]



April 18, 2008

RBS considers rights issue

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS considers rights issue

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is drawing up plans to shore-up its balance sheet with a rights issue.
The move has been widely predicted because on the eve of the credit crisis, RBS stretched its reserves by heading a consortium that acquired ABN Amro, the Dutch bank.
In addition, it has written down £2.6 billion in […]



April 10, 2008

RBS to cut 200 jobs

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS to cut 200 jobs

Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to announce up to 200 job cuts in the next few days.
The bank’s leveraged finance department will be affected, together with its real estate lending and securitisation divisions.
All three areas of business have been severely affected by the credit crisis and in addition, the bank’s acquisition last year of […]



March 25, 2008

Banks face losses as commercial property stocks fall

by Gill Montia

Story link: Banks face losses as commercial property stocks fall

Capital Economics is warning that UK banks could face large losses as a result a sharp fall in the value of the UK’s commercial property.
The economic forecasting consultancy is warning that £7 billion could be wiped off commercial property stocks in the next two years and that the figure could rise to £18 billion should […]



February 29, 2008

RBS positive on rewards of ABN acquisition

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS positive on rewards of ABN acquisition

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has confirmed that it will not be facing unexpected exposure to sub-prime related losses as a result of its joint acquisition of Dutch bank, ABN Amro, last year.
RBS chief executive, Sir Fred Goodwin, said: “We are happy we bought what we thought we bought”.
He has also indicated that, following the […]



February 28, 2008

RBS profits over £10bn

by Richard Kilner

Story link: RBS profits over £10bn

Subprime-related losses have not prevented the Royal Bank of Scotland recording profits of £10.3bn.
Year-on-year profits rose by 9%, as was widely expected.
However, the bank, Britain’s second largest, has revealed that its combined writedowns relating to the recent financial crisis has hit £2.5bn.
RBS itself lost £1.6bn in writedowns, with the remainder lost by the Dutch Bank […]



February 25, 2008

RBS results could spark disposals

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS results could spark disposals

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is expected to write down over £1 billion in US sub-prime-related losses, when it reports its full-year results on Thursday of this week.
At the same time, the bank is expected to increase its dividend in an attempt to calm fears about its capital ratio, that is its ratio of […]



February 18, 2008

Dividends to rise for Barclays and Lloyds TSB

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Dividends to rise for Barclays and Lloyds TSB

This week Barclays and Lloyds TSB are predicted to increase their dividend payouts.
The move would be seen as a ray of sunshine in a distinctly overcast banking sector.
It would also been seen as a sign that both banks, amongst the largest in the UK, believe they suffered the worst of the fallout from the […]



January 22, 2008

Banks submit that unreasonable charges pay for a service

by Gill Montia

Story link: Banks submit that unreasonable charges pay for a service

The High Court case brought by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), over unreasonable bank charges, has heard from defence counsel that unauthorised borrowing is a central feature of any current account.
Laurence Rabinowitz QC, who is acting for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), described overdraft facilities as “core” features of accounts, which could mean that […]