The ubiquitous credit card industry is getting squeezed by the country’s economic pinch. Purveyors of plastic are tightening lending standards by lowering borrowing limits, raising interest rates, discouraging rolling over balances and boosting fee penalties on late payments. They’re also diligently monitoring customer credit ratings, while trimming efforts to lure new accounts via...
Financial Services Industry Archive
October 2008
US hedge funds have called on the Bank of England to free up some £38bn in Lehman Brothers Holdings assets — or face disaster for UK plc. But can they reasonably complain of regulatory scapegoating? Or are their current difficulties simply proof that the market’s working as it should — even if it’s going against them? Here are some varying views on whether financial sector...
Citadel Investment Group, one of the world’s largest hedge fund managers, is under heavy attack. And that’s making Ken Griffin, the company’s founder, fighting mad. Chicago-based Citadel, with nearly $20 billion under management, is reeling from what Griffin is labeling the “single-worse month, by far, in the history of Citadel.” He’s referring to the 16...
The Find: What’s to blame for the financial meltdown? Imbalances, says one expert. Flawed metrics, says another. The Source: A lengthy interview with Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit and a blog post from Partha Mohanram, Associate Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. The Takeaway: There’s been no shortage of speculation on who or what is responsible for the financial...
Community banks and credit unions are finding themselves in a strange situation these days. They stand to benefit greatly from the financial meltdown of their much bigger brothers as customers look for safer harbors for their money. Yet they don’t necessarily want to participate in the $250 billion federal infusion of funds and are miffed that the bailout exists at all. Across the...
Wells Fargo’s now-on, $12.2 billion takeover of Wachovia is a positive for the San Francisco-based bank since it doubles its balance sheet, its branches and makes it a coast-to-coast entity, bank analysts say. Taking over the North Carolina bank gives Wells Fargo first-time access to 13 eastern states in addition to the six Western and Midwestern states where both banks have a presence,...
Would you invest in a bank that’s partially owned by the Bush Administration? That’s the question private investors worldwide will be exploring as they evaluate the impact of the federal government’s decision to directly invest in the nation’s largest banking concerns. In return for nearly $125 billion, the U.S. Treasury is getting preferred stock in at least nine large...
Under the U.S. government’s economic rescue plan, the nation’s biggest banks get richer. And the smaller banks? Well, they get to wait in line. The U.S. Treasury will quickly invest about $125 billion to purchase ownership stakes in nine of the nation’s largest banks, including JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo. Also in that group: Goldman Sachs and...
U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson couldn’t stomach the possibility of Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group walking away from its announced investment in wobbly Morgan Stanley. So Paulson made Mitsubishi an offer it couldn’t refuse: The U.S. will back your play. Despite the mass infusion of taxpayer-backed funds into the U.S. banking system, the Bush Administration is...
With Wall Street in tatters, will foreign banking concerns swoop in and cherry pick the leftovers? There is some evidence that is happening. Japan’s huge Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is picking up 20 percent of Morgan Stanley in a deal valued at $8.5 billion. MUFG will also likely get a seat on Morgan Stanley’s board, pending approval by regulators. The move came just after...
- Ailing AIG Gets Good News: Benmosche to Stay
- Banks Failing at Fastest Rate Since S&L Crisis
- Sun Life Doing Robust Business in Variable Annuities
- Zions Bancorporation: Shareholder Confidence Runs High, But The Worst Is Not Over Yet
- Will Sun Life President Boscia Pay a Call on His Former Company?
- Midsize Banks Have Worst Credit
- Is Manulife Stock 'Depressed?' Ask the Lady in the Bikini
- AIG: Help Wanted, But Will Anyone Apply?
- State Farm Is Warming Up to Florida
- Underrated: S&P, Moody's, Fitch ... and PIMCO
- Geithner's Not Going
- Barney Frank Aide Blasts Media Report Alleging Lack of Progress on Financial Reform
- Goldman Sachs, Shareholders Just Can't Get Along
- Geithner: Guilty Until Proven Innocent in AIG Debacle
- ECB President Cautions Interest Rate Hike, But Banks Are Ill-Prepared
- As Income Mobility Falls, American Dream Fades
- Lawmakers Push Bill to Monitor Fed Lending Programs
- Eugene Fama Drinks His Own Brand of Kool-Aid
- Roubini Warns of New Financial Crisis
- Ex-Wells Fargo Loan Officer Details Shady Practices
- Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase are too Late in Moving to Curb Overdraft Fees
- Civil Rights Group Teams With Wells Fargo Despite Charges of Predatory Lending
- State Farm CEO Rust: Effective But Not Greedy
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- As Income Mobility Falls, American Dream Fades
- Creative Destruction and the new Money Trust
- Geithner Deal With Wall Street Over AIG Swaps Cost Taxpayers $13 Billion
- Civil Rights Group Teams With Wells Fargo Despite Charges of Predatory Lending
- Senator Dodd Is Saving Lenders From Themselves
- Citigroup Hit With Huge Credit Loss
- Private Equity Firms About To Gear Up The Small Banking Sector
- Analyst: Banking Industry Risks "Implosion"
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The financial industry meltdown has been the worst since the great depression. BNET Financial provides daily industry trends and news coverage with insights for managers and executives about the major financial services companies in the banking and finance sector. In addition to detailed company profiles, we bring you industry analysis on new mergers, partnerships, financial products, rates, investments, capital, and a host of other critical factors of success in the finance business.