HSBC cuts 500 jobs in UK: Union Outraged

HSBC (LON:HSBA) announced today that 500 jobs will be going across the UK, although they did state that none of the job losses will be customer facing.

The bank had also said that the some employees that are affected by the job cuts may be offered alternative roles within HSBC, Europes largest bank by market (read more…)

Category: Business News, Europe | December 1st, 2008 | Comments (0)

HSBC eyeballs AIG Asian business

HSBC (LON:HSBA) could be set to purchase the Asian businesses of American International Group Inc (AIG) the troubled US insurer. The deal could be worth around $8.7 billion according to analyst James Hutson at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

HSBC posted pre-tax profits showing that 16 percent was contributed by the banks insurance business in the first half of 2008. While HSBC have said they have no plans to rush (read more…)

Category: Business News, Global Economy | December 1st, 2008 | Comments (0)

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Expects Further Rate Cuts

Economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Andrew McLauglhin, said that the Bank of England and the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) are expected to cut rates again this Thursday.

RBS Chief Economist also hinted that the reduction In VAT will not do anything to encourage spending and expects the BOE to cut interest rates again this week both in the Eurozone (read more…)

Category: Business News, Europe | December 1st, 2008 | Comments (0)

Cyber Monday 2008: Paying the mortgage and holiday spending

With the holiday shopping season well under way in America, with the start today of the huge Cyber Monday Sales, and last week’s Black Friday kicking off the shopping frenzy, you are still advised to watch your dollars, with the United States on the brink of recession and other countries around the world (read more…)

Category: Global Economy, US | December 1st, 2008 | Comments (0)

London Scottish Bank Sinks into Administration

London Scottish Bank sank into administration today after regulators put a stop to the bank taking customer deposits. Ernst & Young have been appointed as administrators for the lender which specialized in customers which had poor credit history.

LSB has around 700 employees (read more…)

Category: Business News, Europe | December 1st, 2008 | Comments (0)

Cyber Monday: Best Buys, Walmart & Amazon Huge On-Line Sales

Cyber Monday sales started today on December 1, shops like Walmart and Best Buys offering huge discounts on hundreds of products, only last week we had Black Friday kick-starting the American shopping season where millions of shoppers took to the streets in the hope to get in store bargains.

Cyber Monday is the same deal but the sales are (read more…)

Category: Business News, US | December 1st, 2008 | Comments (0)

Hometrack: Sellers Get Only 88.9 percent of Asking Price

According to property research company Hometrack in November sellers had to take off almost 11 percent from the asking prices before they got a buyer, highlighting the property crisis is still deepening.

Just 18 months ago the asking price was dropped to an average of 95.7 percent to attract buyers according to (read more…)

Category: Europe, Mortgage News | December 1st, 2008 | Comments (0)

Official: Poland Deficit Reaches 15 Billion Zlotys ($5.2 billion)

Poland’s deputy Finance Minister, Elzbieta Suchocka-Roguska, said that after November the deficit will reach 15 billion zlotys due to accelerating expenditure in a meeting with Reuters on Monday. In 2008 the Polish government expects a deficit of 22.9 billion zlotys according to their full-year plan targets.

Over the weekend the Polish (read more…)

Category: Business News, Global Economy | December 1st, 2008 | Comments (0)

Royal Bank of Scotland Will Wait 6 Months Before Repossession Proceedings

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive Stephen Hester has vowed that homeowners who have problems paying their mortgage repayments and fall behind will be given six months breathing space avoiding any repossession proceedings until then.

Reporting in the FT, RBS new Chief Executive Hester said that because they recognize their customer’s (read more…)

Category: Europe, Mortgage News | December 1st, 2008 | Comments (0)

Wells Fargo buyout Wachovia: Execs set to receive $98.1 million

The top ten executives of Wachovia Corp (NYSE: WB) will be eligible for huge severance pay amounting to $98.1 million after the troubled bank gets brought out by Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE: WFC) in December.

Wachovia shareholders will vote on the merger with Wells Fargo on December 23 according (read more…)

Category: Business News, US | November 28th, 2008 | Comments (4)