The Telegraph explains that it is important for you to keep an eye on the finer details of your mortgage – so using a broker could save you in the long run. Yes there is often a fee to pay, but a few hundred pounds it better than a few thousand.

However, a broker will also be able to advise you that it is not always a bad thing to pay a higher fee, as The Telegraph says that in some cases you can get a lower rate mortgage. Things get a little complicated to explain in detail, so a visit to the UK newspaper website will be able to explain the mortgage fees and interest rate maze in more detail.

As the government deliberate ways to make sure banks start lending again, data has been releases via the Forum of Private Business (FPB) that 43 percent of companies said that conditions attached to business loans are a lot worse than they thought and 47 percent of companies said that they have seen a rise in their banking fees since September. The data will be used for a meeting with government officials and bankers on December 8.

Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England has said that the most important thing to aid in the recovery of the ailing economy is for banks to resume lending at 2007 levels. King also suggested that a bigger bail-out may be needed, the government has already agreed on a £37 billion bailout package as well as £450 billion in liquidity support and guarantees.

Alistair Darling announced that the government will also be underwriting £1 billion in export lending and £1 billion in small-business loan guarantees, the Chancellor added that if these measures are not enough to help Britain out of recession, he would consider nationalization.

Source: economist

November 11. Many US businesses will be closed on Veterans Day, all Federal Offices will be closed, State offices will also be closed, US courts will be closed, the Stock Market will be open although most traditional banks will be closed on Veteran Day, it’s been noted Wells Fargo, Bremer and TLF will be open, Bank of America, KeyBank, Frontier Bank and Columbia bank will all be closed on Veteran Day. Most City and County Offices will be open as usual.

We advise to check with your local branch before traveling to your bank on Veterans Day. Most Public liabaries will be closed and there will be no regular mail on Veteran Day although Express mail should be delivered to most areas, post office branches will be closed.

Veterans Day is a very special day, an American holiday where we all honor our military veterans who served in our World Wars. Around the world we honor the soldiers who fought for our liberty, although they are celebrated under different names such as Remembrance Day, Memorial Day and Armistice Day. it is an important day for all to reflect on the soldiers that risked their lives for us all. There will be a Veterans Day Parade in NYC today to celebrate all the men and women who served in the US military.

Source: Tezz2

As Ireland gained traction yesterday across Europe when the Irish government said they would guarantee all national bank deposits it’s likely that France will follow suit according to some press reports.

Christine Lagarde France’s Economy Minister made it clear that savers money was safe in the French Banking system. The European regulators have started to investigate Ireland for anti-competitive behaviour after the state guaranteed the €400bn (£315bn) of savings and loans held by six of its largest financial institutions in what bankers said was a de facto nationalisation of the industry.

As customers take full advantage of the two-year guarantee of Ireland’s banks, and reports that some people have been withdrawing money from other bank and moving into the Irish banks to secure the safety of their savings with the banks guarantee.

If the French do follow the Irish with their two-year guarantee then its highly possible that it will then force other European governments to follow suit.

Read the full article: Telegraph

Robert K. Steel, President and CEO of Wachovia said “I want to personally thank Tom for his many contributions to Wachovia.” He also added “Tom has been a professional partner and colleague and we are grateful for all he has done for the company.”

Wurtz said “I’m honored that I had the privilege to serve Wachovia as CFO for the past two and half years and as Treasurer for seven years. Wachovia is an excellent company with a very bright future. In the past few weeks, I have enjoyed working with Bob. His strong leadership will help the company build on its core strengths and emerge successfully from the current environment.”

Wachovia have assets of 812.4 billion and market capitalization of $33.5 billion, as of June 30 2008. Read more news on Wachovia.

Source

Ron Sandler, Northern Rock Executive Chairman decided to appoint Hoffman as chief executive, he will take on the role from October 1. He comes straight from Barclays; he was their vice-chairman as well as a former chairman of Barclaycard.

Hoffman has been with Barclays since 1982, he also went for the role of chief executive in 2003, but lost out to John Varley.

Mr. Hoffman hopes that he will be able to lead Northern Rock through these troubled times and to help them gain back their strength.

The troubles over at Northern Rock began back in September 2007, as a result of their exposure to capital markets. As a result they were unable to raise funds in the wake of the credit crunch.

Source

Trade has been subdued, the day is very quiet in terms of economic data, this is to be expected as the quiet summer period is now in full swing.

Investors are now looking to equity and commodity markets for a better direction. Wachovia Corp earnings seems to have hit the US markets hard.

As of 11:20 a.m. GMT, the euro was trading at $1.5938, at 9:25 a.m. GMT. The euro was at $1.5907.

The rebound in oil prices and disappointing American Express earnings were also a contributing factor in to the poor dollar.

Source

Citigroup has said that Klein is leaving to pursue other opportunities. 44-year old Klein was the banks co-chief of trading and investment banking division for 10-months.

Chief executive, Mr. Pandit has been restructuring the bank after almost $55 billion of write-downs and losses linked to the collapse of the subprime mortgage market.

On Friday Citigroup posted a smaller than expected loss of $2.5 billion, this lead to a rise in shares of 20 percent.

On Monday Citigroup’s shares rose by 1.8 percent or 34 cents, shares are now at $19.69.

Source

Just 8.3 per cent of HBOS shareholders took up the rights to buy new shares, which had closed on Friday. Underwriters Morgan Stanley and Dresdner Kleinwort who fully underwrote the capital rising, they sold another 29.5 per cent at the rights price of 275p on Monday.

Both investment banks will now take at least 40 per cent of the stock; they will now have 932 million shares.

The reason that the take-up for the rights issue was so low was because HBOS shares traded under the offer price just days before the lead up to the closing offer.

HBOS shares along with a number of other UK banks had been battered as a result of the current economy and the constant threat of a recession.

Source

Freddie Mac who are sponsored by the US government are also thinking about selling securities and reducing its dividend, while they prepare to issue $5.5 billion of stock. Matthew Jozoff, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst has said in a report last week that the growth in mortgage holdings for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be “weak.”

He also added “This just means much less credit availability for mortgage borrowers, they were teed up to be saviors of the mortgage crisis, but now they’ve got their own capital issues.”

Both the Bush administration and Congress are hoping that both companies will be able to pull the U.S. out of the housing slump, as they purchase mortgage from banks, providing money to make new loans.

Both these companies will have a tough job on their hands as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson had to try and get Congressional approval last week to extend the credit for both banks.

Read more