Banks Finances

Fixed-rate home mortgage in the U.S. fell to 5.17% this week

admin — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:15:38 -0800

The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate home mortgage in the U.S. fell to a national average of 5.17% this week, the lowest since Freddie Mac began its weekly rate survey in 1971.

With the Federal Reserve cutting its interest rates to near 0% and a continued decline in rates on the long-term Treasury notes that mortgages closely track, rates on other types of mortgages dropped again, though not as much as the 30-year.

"Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates fell for the seventh consecutive week, moving these rates to the lowest since the survey began in April 1971," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist. "The decline was supported by the Federal Reserve announcement on Dec. 16, when it cut the federal-funds target to a record low and stated it stood ready to expand its purchases of mortgage-related assets as conditions warrant."

Judge rejects fundraiser Rezko's bid for new trial

admin — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 08:47:20 -0800

A federal judge turned down a request for a new trial from convicted influence peddler Tony Rezko, the pivotal figure in a major Illinois political corruption scandal.

Rezko, 53, who made millions of dollars as a Chicago real estate developer and fast-food entrepreneur, was a major fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, President-elect Barack Obama and a number of other officials.

Rezko was convicted in June of using clout with the governor's office to launch a $7 million scheme to squeeze payoffs out of a construction contractor and seven money management firms seeking state business.

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, who presided over the three-month trial, said federal prosecutors proved their case and she refused to throw out any of the guilty verdicts.

UK is 650 jobs short

admin — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:16:28 -0800

Citigroup Inc. will close two of its British personal loan operations and could cut more than 650 jobs, the embattled banking giant said Monday.

Citi UK said that as of Wednesday, it will stop offering loans through its Future Mortgages and CitiFinancial arms, which deal mainly in subprime mortgage and unsecured personal loans, respectively.

"This business realignment reflects Citi's recently announced global focus of allocating capital to the best opportunities for growth," the company said in a statement.

Citigroup did not say how many jobs it would cut, but the bank wants to close its office at Doxford, about 325 miles north of London, and various CitiFinancial locations throughout the country that employ more than 650 people combined.

The company said the online bank Egg, which it bought from Prudential PLC last year, will not be affected.

Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) Chief Executive Vikram Pandit has launched a painful restructuring process in the hope of restoring profitability to the bank, which was badly bruised by the collapse of the

U.S.

subprime mortgage market.

E-Money Business in Philippines to Be Regulated by the Central Bank

admin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:13:58 -0700

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Republic of the Philippines, is the one to regulate the activities of non-bank institutions activating in Philippines that provide e-money services. Such decision was made in order to protect people from losses and deception.

According to Nestor A. Espenilla, who is the BSP Deputy Governor, the central bank looks forward to come up with legible instructions regarding the e-money business. Due to the fact that natural persons or agencies who obtain cash in order to convert them into electronic money possess public money, they are not different from banks and thus they should be regulated.

The bank will launch a series of regulations, including the rule on registration and adherence to the Anti-Money Laundering Law. It is worth mentioning that nowadays the e-money market is led by telecommunications companies, such as Smart Communications, Inc. that provides Smart Money service and Globe Telecom, with its G-Cash platforms.

Customers complaining Dell

vova — Fri, 30 May 2008 09:31:10 -0700

Dell Inc. deceived customers in a massive "bait and switch" scheme to increase sales of its computer and electronic products, a New York state judge ruled Tuesday.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued Dell in 2007 on behalf of hundreds of customers who claimed that the electronics company lured them into buying products with promises of attractive deals and promotions.

In reality, the lawsuit alleged, most customers were denied or misled into believing that they had been approved for low interest or financing rates.

The lawsuit also accused Dell of depriving customers of technical support that they were entitled to, in some instances, by pressuring them into performing repairs on their own or subjecting them to long wait times on the phone.

Banks attacked by non-bank lenders

vova — Mon, 26 May 2008 08:15:06 -0700

NON-bank lender Resi Mortgage Corporation says the banks have misrepresented the true impact of the global credit crisis after a third big lender increased rates on home loans.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd (CBA) yesterday followed the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) and the National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) to lift interest rates independent of any action by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Resi's head of consumer advocacy, Lisa Montgomery, said Australian banks had used the global credit crisis to disparage the reputation of non-bank lenders to claw back market share.

Barclays spent on credit crunch $2B

vova — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:22:44 -0700

Barclays has revealed that its investment banking unit lost £1 billion ($1.94 billion) in the first quarter of 2008 due to credit-market turbulence, but the British bank surprised some analysts by not announcing a rights issue as some of its peers have.

Barclays has surprisingly not yet offered a rights issue to regain its lost investment capital.

The Barclays Capital investment banking unit was nonetheless profitable during the quarter despite the losses, Barclays said.

The FBI is searching for the bank robbers

vova — Sat, 17 May 2008 07:06:21 -0700

The FBI is searching for a serial bank robber who investigators are calling "Prada Man," Darcy Spencer reported First On 4.

The man, who wears designer sunglasses, has robbed Navy Federal Credit Union locations in Maryland and Virginia six times since September, stealing $100,000 in cash.

In addition to designer sunglasses, the man has also worn a knit cap and latex gloves during the robberies, investigators said. Authorities said he typically wears the same type of clothing.

"He waits very patiently in line, then walks up to the teller, makes some threatening comments -- we have not witnessed a weapon -- demands money and then exits the bank," said the FBI's Joseph Persichini, Jr.

Banks had to pay $11b taxes in 2007

vova — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:11:34 -0700

A survey has found banks collected nearly $11 billion in fees in the last financial year.

The Reserve Bank found that in the 2007 financial year, the income the 19 participating banks earned from fees grew by 8 per cent to $10.5 billion.

Households accounted for $4.4 billion, with fees on deposit accounts making up 40 per cent of those earnings.

But the RBA says it does not appear that banks are charging higher fees, because the income they receive is growing more slowly than their balance sheets.

Royal Bank of Canada Writes Down

vova — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:29:46 -0700

The Royal Bank of Canada said it would take a write down of 855 million Canadian dollars ($846 million) on its second-quarter earnings, largely because of problems in the United States debt market.

The bank, which is Canada’s largest financial institution, said the single biggest devaluation, worth about 200 million Canadian dollars, came from its exposure to a subsidiary of MBIA, the troubled bond insurer based in Armonk, N.Y.

The size of the bank’s write down was at the high end of most analysts’ expectations.

Moody’s said in a statement that the write down would not significantly alter the bank’s capital level or its ability to pay dividends.