Banks’ small business lending to be monitored

Business Secretary Peter Mandelson has announced the creation of a new panel to monitor how banks are lending to small businesses.
The five major high street banks reached an agreement with the government to provide data on the availability, risk and overall cost of lending to small and medium sized businesses at the first meeting of [...]

Darling commits to action on economy

Alistair Darling has pledged to take action to address weaknesses in the financial system.
In an interview this morning with the BBC the chancellor said he would take action to promote long-term economic stability but has refused to elaborate on the specifics of his plan.
During the chat on Breakfast this morning, which was screened live from [...]

HBOS taken over by Lloyds TSB

Lloyds TSB has agreed to take over HBOS in a move both parties believe will strengthen the new bank’s ability to survive the extraordinary turmoil that the markets have seen over the past weeks.
HBOS shareholders will receive 0.83 Lloyds TSB shares for every 1 HBOS share. The offer values HBOS at £12.2 billion, based on [...]

HBOS confirms it is in talks with Lloyds TSB

The board of HBOS says that it is in advanced talks with Lloyds TSB which may or may not lead to an offer being made for HBOS.
It says a further announcement will be made when appropriate. Sources close to HBOS say the deal would be unlikely to involve an exchange of money and most likely [...]

Barclays reaches $1.75bn deal for Lehman assets

Barclays has reached a $1.75bn (£1bn) deal with Lehman Brothers to acquire the bankrupt bank’s core North American assets.
Lehman’s investment banking and capital markets businesses will be moved over to Barclays in a $250m deal, while the UK giant has also agreed a $1.5bn purchase of the stricken investment bank’s New York head office and [...]

Lehman failure marks ‘tail end’ of bank turmoil

The worst of the global banking crisis engulfing stock markets has come to an end following Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy, prominent financials sector fund manager Ken Murray explains.
Murray – the Blue Planet Worldwide Financials, European Financials and Financials Growth and Income investment trusts manager – says the weekend’s events on Wall Street mark the tail end [...]

LIBOR at seven-year high

London Interbank Offered Rates reached a seven-year high this morning in the wake of market turmoil over the last 36 hours.
The overnight Libor rate in U.S. dollars soared 3.33 percentage points to 6.44 per cent today, its biggest jump in at least seven years, according to the British Bankers’ Association.
The British Bankers Association says: “The [...]

HBOS and Lloyds rumoured to be in merger talks

The BBC has reported that HBOS and Lloyds TSB are in merger talks.
Shares in HBOS have dropped by as much as 200p since markets closed on Friday but have rallied this morning rising to 190p at time of writing.
Shares in Lloyds have fluctuated wildly this morning rising as high as 297p before falling to 261p. [...]

FSA backs HBOS

The FSA has made an official statement concerning its view of HBOS, which has been severely hit on the stock exchange over the past few days.
The statement reads: “Since the beginning of the current extreme difficulties in the financial markets, the Financial Services Authority has worked intensively with all major UK banks to ensure they [...]

First analysis of Lehmans and Merrill

After a weekend of bad news stateside during which Lehman Brothers finally fell, UK mortgage giants have already began feeling the crushing impact of the collapse.
Just hours after the news broke, which signals another nail in the coffin of the US economy, early trading saw HBOS’ share price fall a staggering 32% to just 180p.
Royal [...]