July 18, 2008
Ben Bernanke, the current Federal Reserve Chairman commented in Congress that the troubled duo of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not in any danger of failing. His statement has been interpreted by many that the federal bank will come to the resuce of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, just in case they were in the verge of failure. This statement by Ben Bernake has instilled a lot of confidence into the minds of US investors which tranlated into the stock market moving up smartly in early trading session. However, it is not a given that the stockmarkets will end the day in the green. More updates on the same will follow shortly.
Posted in US Banks 
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June 12, 2008
Maurice Thompson has been named as Citigroup’s new head of its German Banking Unit. Citigroup which is the biggest US Banks in terms of assets made this announcement early this week. A few days back in a surprising move Citigroup had announced that it would be selling its German consumer unit to Credit Mutuel Group which is leading banking congolmorate based out of France. Hopefully Citigroup’s German Banking unit will reach newer heights under the able leadership of Maurice Thompson.
Posted in German Banks No Comments »
May 28, 2008
As per media reports, UBS which is the world’s leading wealth manager has made a press release stating that it will no longer help high networth individuals base in the US to put their money in swiss bank accounts which are beyond the reach of US regulators. This announcement by UBS assumes significance in the midst of reports that the committe investigating the effect of offshore transacation on the US economy. It has been estimated that the US treasury had lost about $100bn due to offshore tax abuses. Now that the Swiss bank account route is likely to be plugged for tax evaders to exploit, what new modus operandi will the tax invaders now resort to?
Posted in Banking Frauds, US Banks No Comments »
April 12, 2008
IndyMac Bank is being investigated for mortgage fraud by the FBI, as per media reports published by some leading US newspapers. The reports state that the FBI is focusing on accounting fraud over the documentation of mortgage backed securities. The FBI, as per the report is also considering the possibility of insider trading. The FBI is reported to be investigating 21 banks which includes Countrywide Financial, the parent company of IndyMac Bank. Hopefully the FBI will come out with something which prevents fraud in the future in the US banking sector making it as healthy as it once used to be.
Posted in Banking Frauds No Comments »
March 18, 2008
Bank of India has announced that it is planning to issue bonds worth Rs. 7360 crores at an appropriate time in order to meet credit growth and capital requirements of the bank. The board of directors of the bank has given its approval for the tier I and tier II capital through the issue of bonds and through other means as deemed fit by the management of the bank from time to time based on the capital requirements of the bank as stipulated by the reserve bank of India and the credit growth requirements of the bank.
Posted in Indian Banks No Comments »
February 16, 2008
If the market grapevine is to be believed, Canadian Banks are likely to stop rate cuts with immediate effect. This has had a very negative image on the Candian bond prices which have tanked based on the rumours of Canadian Banks planning to stop any further rate cuts. A leading fixed income strategist with a leading Candian brokerage house, said that the Bank of Canada wwill not cut rates any further when the next scheduled review on interest rates comes up next week. The ten year Government bond yield was pegged at 61 basis points above the short term 2 year bond yield. This caused Government securities to fall today which is the sixth day in succession.
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January 11, 2008
BAWAG bank, which is one of the leading banks in Austria has informed the shareholders of the company that the bank is planning to go public by the year 2010 by means of an Initial Public Offer (IPO). Cerberus, a leading private equity group bought the BAWAG bank for 3.2 billion euros ($5 billion), just about a year back. Before Cerberus bought the bank, the entire shareholding of the bank was with the trade union. The bank made little progress because of this fact and was nearing bankruptcy. Finally common sense prevailed and the trade union decided to sell off its stake to Cerebrus. With the bank going public in 2010, the fortunes of this multi billion dollar financial giant are likely to change for the better.
Posted in Bank IPO No Comments »
December 1, 2007
Citigroup Inc, in an announcement said that it has completed the Acquisition of Bank of Overseas Chinese. Citigroup Inc is the most profitable bank in Taiwan and is on an acquisition spree in order to boost the number of branches. With the acquisition of Bank of Overseas Chinese, Citi’s number of branches in Taiwan increased by six times. Other overseas rivals which have a presence in Taiwan, which is a very fast growing asian economy are JP Morgan Chase and Standard Chartered.
Posted in Acquisitions No Comments »
November 8, 2007
The much awaited follow-on public offer (FPO) of State Bank of India (SBI) is likely to open for subscription in December this year. SBI which is the largest Bank in India in terms of deposits and advances had earlier stated its intentions to go for a Rs. 15,000 crore FPO. SBI is waiting for ammendments to the SBI act, to go in for a FPO issue. Next year SBI plans to enter the General insurance bussiness and also start 7 other businesses.
Posted in Bank IPO No Comments »
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