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State bank regulators closed two more banks on , the 15th and 16th banks to fail this year, as the worsening recession pulled more regional banks underwater.

The announcement marks the seventh consecutive week of bank failures being announced on a Friday evening.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said that Security Savings Bank of Henderson, Nevada, had $238.3 million in assets and $175.2 million in deposits as of December 31, 2008. Heritage Community Bank of Glenwood, Illinois, had assets totaling $232.9 and deposits totaling $218.6 million as of December 5, 2008.

Combined, the two bank failures will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund approximately $100.7 million.

Bank of Nevada agreed to assume all of Security Savings Bank's deposits, and purchase approximately $111.3 million of the failed bank's assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets, and estimates that the cost to its fund will be $59.1 million.

With the former communist nations of Eastern and Central Europe  reeling from the global economic crisis, three major lenders said on Friday that they would inject some 24.5 billion euros, or $31 billion, over two years into the region’s banks to try to rescue its businesses.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the economies of Eastern and Central Europe have largely boomed, propelled by borrowing from those same Western banks, which are now wrestling with toxic debt and a tight credit market.

The heads of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank and the World Bank said in a statement that the plan to “deploy rapid, large-scale and coordinated financial assistance” was intended to support lending “in particular to small and medium-sized enterprises.”

Thomas Mirow, the head of the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, said: “For many years the growing integration of Europe  has been a source of prosperity and mutual benefit and we must not allow this process to be reversed.”

Before the worst of the global financial and credit crisis hit, policy makers vowed to avoid doling out money and running deficits. Most have departed from their views.

Back in September, fiscal prudence was the mantra for many elected or hoping-to-be-elected politicians. It was then President-elect Obama who said that, when in a hole, the most prudent course of action is to stop digging. In Canada, too, politicians on both sides of the floor were promising never to run a deficit. That tune has changed radically during the last few months of 2008. Now it's all about economic stimulus and running justified budget deficits.

Justifying Budget Deficits

It appears that if and when the new U.S. president pushes through his economic stimulus, it will be the first budget deficit measured in trillions of dollars. How can a thousand billion of dollars in the red be justified? Does anyone get scared of these numbers anymore?

Bank discounts are an example of a bank charge that is made for payment of a note at some point prior to maturation. In some cases, the bank discount is applied at the time that the note or loan is extended, and is automatically deducted from the loan amount that is used to calculate the schedule of payments on the loan. This in effect means that the receiver of the loan simply repays the face value of the loan, and little or no interest.

Generally, banking institutions require compliance with a rigid set of qualifications in order for an individual or business to obtain a bank discount. One of the more common requirements for a bank discount is a solid record of previous financing with the institution. Prior repayment of loans that took place within the terms of the loan certainly influence consideration for the extension of a bank discount. If the past loan history shows no late payments and no complications with the loans, then the chances for receiving a bank discount are greatly improved.

Bank credit has to do with the amount of funds that an individual or a business may be able to borrow from one or more lending institutions. In effect, bank credit is a measure of how much in the way of cash loans may be issued, based on the credit history and the assets of the company or person. Here is some information about how bank credit works, and why knowing your bank credit rating may be very important.

A credit rating is a simple number which many lenders use to determine whether or not they will give a loan or line of credit to an individual. One's credit rating is impacted by a number of factors, some of which are controllable, others of which are not.

There are three main agencies lenders go to in order to acquire an individual's credit rating: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. Many lenders get two or more reports, as details may differ among the agencies. Opinions differ as to which of the agencies is the best or most accurate, with factions holding strong opinions on both sides for all three of the major agencies.

As interest rates head toward zero, the options open to central banks and governments rapidly diminish. There are just two major options open to policymakers—one fiscal, the other monetary. Both are controversial and potentially risky, and both are already being employed by the US and other major economies on a scale never before seen.

The fiscal option—essentially, spending huge sums of taxpayers’ money on infrastructure and other schemes—is broadly reminiscent of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, which is credited by some with pulling the US out of the Great Depression. President Barack Obama’s new administration has embraced the fiscal option with gusto: In early January, before taking office, he announced a $775 billion investment and tax-cutting plan over two years, and as Global Finance went to press, he was expected to increase this to more than $1 trillion.

When you don’t have a credit history, it can be difficult and frustrating when trying to obtain a credit card or other type of loan. Establishing your initial credit history can be a Catch-22. If you don’t have credit, not many places are willing to give you credit, yet how can you ever establish credit if nobody is willing to give you any?

Understand What Lenders Are Looking For

Since you are looking to establish credit for the first time, lenders can’t look to your FICO score to determine whether or not to lend you money. In these situations they have to examine other factors that can help them decide if you are a credit risk or not.

Bank accounts. You don’t need a credit score in order to open a checking account at your local branch. Since it doesn’t require credit to open, it also doesn’t get reported to the credit bureaus to establish any credit. Even so, your account history can be a vital component when lenders consider giving you a credit card or loan for the first time.

National Savings and Investments (NS&I), formerly called the National Savings Bank, is a state-owned savings bank in the United Kingdom. It is an executive agency of HM Treasury. The aim of NS&I is to attract funds from individual savers in the UK for the purposes of funding the government’s public sector borrowing requirement (i.e., the funds in excess of taxation that the government requires to fund its activities). NS&I's head office is in Kensington, London, with operational sites in Blackpool, Glasgow and Durham.

 However, its entire back office operation is contracted out to a German company, Siemens Business Services . Some work is outsourced to Chennai, India .It offers many of its services through post offices, and was founded in 1861 as a postal savings system.

NS&I attracts savers through offering saving products with tax free elements on some products, and a 100% guarantee from HM Treasury over any deposits. However, its rates are often low, e.g. its cash ISA (which is tax-free with any institution) is at a mere 3.90% AER as of 1st November 2008 .

Once again, investors are losing confidence in the nation’s beleaguered banks — and, this time, experts say, in Washington’s ever-changing plans to rescue the banks as well.

Despite somber assurances from the White House that the industry is sound, shares of bank companies plunged to new lows Friday on fears that some of the nation’s largest banks, including Citigroup and Bank of America, eventually could be nationalized.

Though both companies said that was not the case, investors pointed to a seemingly offhand remark by Senator Christopher J. Dodd — to the effect that the administration might assume ownership of certain banks for a short time — as cause for concern.

The decline, which had been building for days, underscored the growing anxiety on Wall Street about what the government would do next. The Obama administration has provided few details about its plans to shore up troubled lenders, sowing confusion in the markets and inside the banks about its intentions.

Bank of America and Citigroup shares plummeted for a sixth straight session , hammered by fears the U.S.  government could nationalize the banks, wiping out shareholders.

Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) shares fell 3.6% to $3.79 by the end of trading, touching their lowest close since 1984, while Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) shares fell more than 22% to $1.95, reaching their lowest close since 1990. Both stocks have lost more than 90% of their value in the past year.

Citigroup's market capitalization shrank to $10.6 billion, making it worth less than asset administrator Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS, Fortune 500) Bank of America is now worth $24 billion, less than it paid for Merrill Lynch (MER, Fortune 500) less than two months ago.

"Right now, people are looking at the worst-case scenario, which is either a complete nationalization, or Bank of America and Citi having to raise so much common equity that they dilute shareholders. It seems to me either one is a possibility," said Keith Davis, a research analyst at Farr, Miller & Washington.

When asked about the possibility of bank nationalization in a television interview Friday, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said, "I'm concerned that we may end up having to do that, at least for a short time."

For six consecutive weeks, industry regulators have seized control of a bank after the market closed on , bringing the total number of failed banks so far this year to 14.

To put that into perspective, 25 banks failed in 2008, suggesting that the rate of failures is quickening as the economic crisis deepens.

"We'll have a banner year [of failures] this year," said Stuart Greenbaum, retired dean and professor emeritus at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

At the current rate, nearly 100 institutions -- with a combined $50 billion in assets -- will collapse by year's end.

The latest is Oregon's Silver Falls Bank, which was closed by U.S.  regulators Friday.

With more consumers and businesses likely to default on loans as the recession drags on, some industry observers think the pace of bank failures could accelerate further.

Gerard Cassidy, managing director of bank equity research at RBC Capital Markets, upped his expectations for bank failures earlier this month, warning that he anticipates 1000 institutions could fail over the next three to five years.

"The sooner the bank regulators can shut down the troubled banks, the faster the industry will get back on its feet, in our view," he wrote.

Everyone has a unique situation, and there are no concrete financial numbers that define success, but there are some rules of thumb that can help you gauge your progress. While following these rules won’t guarantee success, they will put you on the right track.

How Much Debt Should You Have?

Ideally, no debt would be the best answer, but you have to realize that for some assets it is almost required you borrow money, such as buying a house. Most experts agree that your total monthly debt payments shouldn’t exceed 36% of your gross monthly income. This is a good starting point, and over time if you can reduce that number you’ll be in pretty good shape.

How Much Home Should You Buy?

You should start by calculating your debt-to-income ratio using the 36% guideline for the sum of your monthly debts. After subtracting your other debt, you are left with a monthly payment that should be appropriate.

Over the last few years there have been significant changes in the financial/banking sector in Saudi Arabia - for example the introduction of new products/services and distribution channels, more banks offering Islamic Banking services, and the opening up of the banking and insurance sector to foreign investors.

Customers are therefore faced with an increasing choice of products/services and are becoming more demanding as they see banks competing to offer a higher level of service. If banks do not have good mechanisms for understanding customer needs, targeting customers with a segmented approach (the one size fits all principle will not work any longer), and offering superior service they are likely to face decreasing customer loyalties resulting in increasing cost of customer acquisition and retention.

TNS/NFO, the largest custom marketing research company in the Middle East, conducted the TargetMoney Survey, a large-scale syndicated banking study in Saudi Arabia in late 2000 and again in early 2004.

We all really appreciate a lot the word called free. In fact we all also like to get items, which are "free" for instance free trips, free reports, free quotes of insurance and many more. But a number of times things, which are absolutely free of cost does not mean the best bargains always. There are present a very large number of people all over the world who do have the mind set of free are really very much good no matter what the service or product might be.

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A loan that take not even a single minute in taking the decision after applying for it is know as Quick decision loans it offer Quick decision loans same dayto meeting the emergency cash crisis in at the very same day in a matter of hours. It is a short term loan and suitable for the mid month’s small emergency expanses with ease. Infact such loan is specifically configured for the certain circumstances without delay. Your entire financial crisis will disappear automatically with the help of this loan.

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