Irish banks to be recapitalised

The Bank of Ireland
The move is designed to help protect struggling businesses

The Irish government is to provide a fund of £9bn (10bn euros) to recapitalise all its listed banks.

The money will be available to AIB, Anglo-Irish, Irish Nationwide, Irish Life & Permanent and Bank of Ireland, which owns the Bristol & West bank.

However before any money is paid out, the banks must await the outcome of the most recent rights issue.

If private investors choose not to step in, then the state will have to provide the money instead using the fund.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan told RTE News: "Some financial institutions are so embedded in our economy, in terms of their borrowing and in terms of their deposits, that they are of systemic importance to our economy.

"It's very important that our banking system is seen to sustain our economy and support our economy."

Bank of Ireland and AIB shares have fallen 92% and 88% respectively this year.

Banking fears

The Irish government said the objective of making the fund available was to ensure the long-term sustainability of the banking sector.

It pledged to secure the interests of the taxpayer through appropriate terms and return on the investment.

The Department of Finance said the state may use money from the National Pension Reserve Fund.

The move would help boost the flow of funds to the country's struggling economy, it added.

BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam said that, as a proportion of its economy and banking sector compared to the UK, the Irish bailout represents an even bigger capital injection than Britain's. (source : news.bbc.co.uk )

ICBA offers tips on bank-issued gift cards

Dec 1 - As the holiday gift-giving season arrives, the Independent Community Bankers of America offers consumers tips for using branded gift cards, which carry the MasterCard, Visa, American Express or Discover logo and are accepted by many merchants.

“Branded gift card purchases are expected to rise by up to 137 percent during the 2008 holiday season,” said Cynthia L. Blankenship, ICBA chairman and vice chairman and chief operating officer of Bank of the West, Grapevine, Texas. “During these tough economic times, branded gift cards are especially practical because they are accepted by many merchants.”

Community banks offer branded gift cards at their local branches and online. They differ from retail gift cards, which are issued by and accepted solely at the issuing retailer. A recent FDIC decision determined that bank-issued gift cards are covered by deposit insurance, whereas retailer-issued cards may not be honored if a retailer goes out of business. The value of branded prepaid gift card transactions is estimated to rise from $32 billion in 2007 to $79 billion by 2010.*

As branded gift cards increase in popularity, ICBA reminds consumers how important it is to know the facts about them. Branded gift cards look like a credit card, are limited by the dollar amount loaded on the card by the purchaser and should be treated as cash. Some tips:

* Know the card’s terms and conditions—they vary and generally are listed on the card, the card jacket or a separate sheet accompanying the card.
* Some cards have an expiration date that may appear on the card itself, on the card's sleeve or on the issuer's Web site.
* Keep the card's account number and customer service number in a safe place. You may need this information should your card become lost or stolen.
* Sign the card in the space provided.
* Before using the card, know your balance. Most issuers offer toll-free voice response systems where you can check your balance. Some banks allow you to check the balance by entering the card number on the bank’s Web site.
* Funds are immediately deducted from the available card balance when you make a purchase.
* Most major retailers accept split payments—you can pay with the bank issued gift card and pay the balance of a purchase with another form of payment. But you have to tell the merchant the exact amount you want deducted from your branded gift card.
* It's a good idea to keep gift cards after the card balance has been used. You may need to show the card should you make a return or an exchange.
* There may be fees for maintaining the account beyond a certain time period. Gift card inactivity fees are usually printed on the back of the card or in an attached terms and conditions document.
* Be sure you have the available balance to cover incidentals and tips of 15 percent to 20 percent when using a gift card at service locations such as restaurants, hotels and rental agencies.

Learn more about gift cards by visiting your local community bank.
( Source : banknews.com )

West Coast bank

West Coast Bank has built a solid community banking foundation by offering exceptional customer service, delivered by local employees who care about our customers and about our communities. By valuing service above all else, we have created a leading Pacific Northwest community bank, while maintaining the local focus that our customers rely on.

West Coast Bancorp™ has been recognized by Oregon Business Magazine - for the fifth consecutive year - as one of Oregon's 100 Best Companies to Work For.

Contact
At West Coast Bank, offering exceptional customer service is our top priority. So, whether you have a question about our company, products, Web site, or if you just need to find a nearby branch or ATM location, we're here to help:

* Call us at 1-800-895-3345
* E-mail us at webmaster@wcb.com
* For branch and ATM locations, click here

The West Coast Bancorp™ Banking Experience

For over 80 years, we've been delivering the financial services our customers depend on. Today, we continue to serve customers in the Pacific Northwest by providing a full range of traditional financial services, as well as expert investment, retirement, estate planning, Internet, and Telephone Banking services. We also offer our business customers innovative services to save time and money.
Corporate Headquarters

West Coast Bancorp
5335 Meadows Rd., Suite 201
Lake Oswego, OR 97035
Fax: 503-684-0781

Bank of Blue Valley

History
In 1989, Bob Regnier, President of Bank of Blue Valley, founded the Bank as a locally-owned, locally-managed community bank.

Today, Bank of Blue Valley is at the forefront of regional banking. We offer a unique brand of community banking, community partnership, and commercial banking for all types of businesses from start-ups to major regional businesses.

The Bank stresses convenience with strategic locations, with extended banking hours, relationship banking and with the latest in internet banking options.

As of November 2008, the Bank has six locations in Johnson County: Overland Park, Olathe, Shawnee, Leawood, Lenexa and a Mortgage Loan Center at 7900 College Boulevard in Overland Park.

The Bank is open for on-site banking 91½ hours a week and open seven days a week. The BlueWave, the Bank’s internet banking website, provides 24/7 banking options including bill payments service with no float on bills paid and cash management services for businesses.

The lending area is comprised of commercial, commercial real estate, construction, commercial equipment financing, residential mortgages and consumer loans.

As a full service financial provider, Bank of Blue Valley also offers complimentary financial planning, investment services, trust services, and private banking. Special added value services for our customers include the Little Ducks accounts for our junior customers and the Blue Valley Status Club for customers 50 years old and older.

Our call center, which we call the Help Line, is our customer care center staffed with banking professionals that are experienced and well-versed in all of the Bank’s services and products. They are available to answer your questions at 913-338-HELP.

As a community bank, Bank of Blue Valley has a history of donating time and resources to a variety of Kansas City organizations and non-profits. Our associates are committed to improving the communities we serve – Wayside Waifs, Blue Valley Schools, Community Blood Center, the Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead and countless other groups have benefited from the Bank’s community commitment.

Throughout the Bank’s history both growth of assets and parallel growth in profits have combined to propel Bank of Blue Valley into the forefront of Kansas City banks. Bank of Blue Valley remains true to its original mission of providing the communities we serve with local knowledge and local commitment and with the same name and the same local ownership.

We strive to live up to Bank of Blue Valley’s motto of “rising above your expectations” with our customers, our shareholders and our associates.


Mission
Rising Above Your Expectations

The Mission of the Bank of Blue Valley is focused on the following five areas:

People
The Bank will develop the best banking staff in the Johnson County marketplace.

Customers
The Bank will value and service its existing customers, while constantly prospecting for new customers.

Value
The Bank will provide an excellent value in financial services, consistently “exceeding our customers’ expectations”.

Community
The Bank will be a respected, contributing member of its community.

Profit
The Bank will consistently provide a fair and equitable profit to its shareholders.

Contact
You may call us at 913-338-HELP (-4357) between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm Monday through Friday and 8:00 am and 3:00 pm on Saturday, or send us an email message detailing your request 24 hours a day, 7 days a week using the online form below.

As a reminder, we promise to respond to your email request within one hour of receiving your request during regular HelpLine hours. Please do not send any personal information such as account numbers, social security numbers or other identifiable information.

Lost or Stolen Card?
Call 1-800-500-1044 to report your debit card lost or stolen.

Bank of Blue Valley launches Postilion retail Internet banking

Nov 26 - Postilion, a global provider of integrated solutions for self-service banking and payments and a division of S1 Corporation (NASDAQ: SONE), has announced that Bank of Blue Valley, a locally-owned community bank in Overland Park, Kan., implemented Postilion Retail Internet Banking to empower its customers and employees with integrated, self-service banking solutions.

A Postilion customer for more than 10 years, Bank of Blue Valley is at the forefront of regional banking with its unique brand of community banking, community partnership, and commercial banking for all types of businesses from start-ups to major regional businesses. The bank provides Internet banking services to more than 9,000 consumer and business banking users today and chose to implement the newest Postilion Retail Internet Banking solution in order to provide its customers with industry leading usability, increased security, and a more modern look and feel.

"Our bank is known for providing convenient, comprehensive financial services coupled with state-of-the-art technology," said Bob Regnier, president, Bank of Blue Valley. "The Postilion Retail Internet Banking solution has generated tremendous excitement among our employees and customers with new features like the Web-based administrative portal and a number of convenient, email banking alerts. We look forward to working with Postilion to deliver even more innovative solutions to our consumer and business customers in the future."

"Bank of Blue Valley is a community bank with a vision toward innovation and we are committed to helping them deliver the mission critical self-service banking applications that enable superior service and support," said Pierre Naudé, president, Postilion Banking. "We are excited about the positive response they have already received from the launch of the Postilion Retail Internet Banking solution and look forward to a continued successful relationship as they move forward with implementing additional Postilion solutions."

The Postilion Retail Internet Banking solution takes advantage of twelve years of market-leading Internet banking usability. A simple, uniform screen layout ensures that customers can easily navigate to the features and content they need. Postilion Retail Internet Banking can be delivered as a service in Postilion’s word-class data center or can be installed on-premise. Plus, the multi-channel-ready platform ensures a consistent customer experience across all of Postilion self-service channels, including ATMs, Internet Banking, Voice, and Mobile.

About Bank of Blue Valley
Blue Valley Ban Corporation (OTC: BVBC.OB) is a financial holding company organized in 1989. Through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Bank of Blue Valley, we provide financial services to closely-held businesses, their owners, professionals, and individuals in Johnson County, Kansas, a high growth, demographically attractive area within the Kansas City, Missouri – Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area. In addition, we originate residential mortgages nationwide through our InternetMortgage.com website.

About Postilion
Postilion, a division of S1 Corporation (NASDAQ: SONE), is a leading provider of integrated solutions for self-service banking and payment processing. Our offices, on five continents, serve over 1,500 customers in more than 50 countries. Postilion solutions drive self-service financial transactions and payments, including advanced transactions such as prepay, through Internet access points, ATMs, POS terminals, and phones.

More than 100,000 ATMs and 500,000 POS terminals worldwide run on Postilion solutions. In the United States, over 1,250 credit unions and community financial institutions use Postilion solutions. Built on open systems, Postilion solutions provide consolidated management information, card management, 3DES and EMV enablement, and loyalty management. At the forefront of compliance with new regulations and security enhancements, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and Visa’s Payment Application Best Practices, Postilion can help customers achieve compliance with the latest data security standards developed by the payment card industry. More information is available at www.postilion.com.

West Coast Bank is Named one of Oregon's Top Ten Most Admired Financial Companies for the Third Consecutive Year

PR Newswire
December 15, 2008 Monday 7:56 PM GMT
LENGTH: 190 words
DATELINE: LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. Dec. 15
BODY:

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- West Coast Bank was recognized as one of Oregon's Top Ten Most Admired Financial Service Companies at a recent Portland Business Journal luncheon. This is the third consecutive year that West Coast Bank has received the award.

The results were based upon surveys from more than 2,000 Oregon CEO's who were asked to rank the companies they most admire. Companies were rated by attributes including innovation, quality of product or service, community service, branding and quality of management.

West Coast Bancorp,(NASDAQ:WCBO), one of Oregon Business Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For, is a Northwest bank holding company with $2.5 billion in assets, operating 64 locations in Oregon and Washington. The company combines the sophisticated products and expertise of larger banks with the local decision making, market knowledge and customer service of a community bank. For more information, visit the Company's web site at http://www.wcb.com/ .

CONTACT: Robert D. Sznewajs, President & CEO of West Coast Bancorp,
+1-503-598-3243

Web site: http://www.wcb.com/

SOURCE West Coast Bancorp http://www.prnewswire.com

Copyright 2008 PR Newswire Association LLC.
All Rights Reserved.

Banks hit worldwide by US 'fraud'

Bernard Madoff in 1999 - AP Photo/The New York Times, Ruby Washington
Mr Madoff is the former chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange

Some of the world's biggest banks have revealed they are victims of an alleged fraud which has lost $50bn (£33bn).

Bernard Madoff, who was arrested on Thursday, has been charged with fraud in what is being described as one of the biggest-ever such cases.

Among the banks that have been hit are Britain's HSBC and RBS, Spain's Santander and France's BNP Paribas.

Other victims include film director Stephen Spielberg's Wunderkinder Foundation charity.

One of the City's best-known fund managers has criticised US regulators for not detecting the alleged fraud.


FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME

More from Today programme

Nicola Horlick, boss of Bramdean investments, told the BBC: "I think now it is very difficult for people to invest in things that are meant to be regulated in America, because they have fallen down on the job."

"This is the biggest financial scandal, probably in the history of the markets - $50bn is a huge amount of money," she said.

Counting the cost

Banks and financial institutions across the world had investments with Bernard Madoff, but not all have yet confirmed what their potential losses might be.

Among the potential losers is Spain's largest bank, Santander, which owns the UK High Street banks Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley.

The bank had a direct exposure of 17m euros ($23m; £15m), but clients of its Optimal fund management unit have another 2.3bn euros invested in the firm run by Bernard Madoff

Britain's HSBC said it had investments of about $1bn, which could be affected.


WHAT IS A PONZI SCHEME?
A fraudulent investment scheme paying investors from money paid in by other investors rather than real profits
Named after Charles Ponzi who notoriously used the technique in the United States in 1903
Differs from pyramid selling in that individuals all tend to invest with the same person

Madoff millions vanish

Royal Bank of Scotland said it could potentially lose about £400m ($601m) if all its investments had to be written off.

The French bank, Natixis, a subsidiary of Caisse d'Epargne and Banque Populaire, said it could potentially lose up to 450m euros (£402m; $605m).

One of the world's biggest investment groups, Man, said it had invested about $360m through its RMF institutional fund of funds business, representing 0.5% of its total funds.

Banking shares fell around the world, with Royal Bank of Scotland dropping 3.7%, HSBC losing 1.2% and banks making up the top four losers on New York's Dow Jones Industrial Average.

'Systemic failure'

Meanwhile, some of the biggest private losers seem to have been members of the Palm Beach country club, where many of Mr Madoff's wealthy clients were recruited.

According to some reports, the list of prominent victims include a New Jersey Senator, the owners of the New York Mets and the charities run by film director Stephen Spielberg and Nobel Prize winning writer Elie Wiesel.


MAJOR POTENTIAL LOSSES

Clients of Santander, Spain - $3.1bn
HSBC, UK - $1bn
Natixis, France - $605m
Royal Bank of Scotland, UK - $601m
BNP Paribas, France - $460m
BBVA, Spain - $400m
Man Group, UK - $360m
Reichmuth & Co, Switzerland - $325m
Nomura, Japan - $303m

Mrs Horlick said 9% of Bramdean's own funds were invested with Mr Madoff, but that even if the money was written off, the fund involved would be down just 4%.

"I just want to make it clear to investors that even after this, they would have done extremely well, relative to anything else they could have invested in," she said.

In a statement, Bramdean said: "The allegations made appear to point to a systemic failure of the regulatory and securities markets regime in the US."

However, some argued that the fund managers should themselves have done more.

"City figures cannot call for light touch regulation yet at the same time complain that regulators missed risks that the industry failed to spot," said Simon Morris, a partner with City law firm CMS Cameron McKenna.

"It's the unequivocal job of the fund manager to check out the bona fides of whoever they chose to pass their customers' money onto," he said.


"The collapse of Madoff is likely to accelerate the disappearance of hedge funds"
Robert Peston


Antonio Borges, chairman of the Hedge Fund Standards Board, said the scandal highlighted the need for "robust governance practices and oversight via independent boards, which will challenge management procedures and behaviour".

Meanwhile one of the City's watchdogs, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) called on whistleblowers to come forward with evidence of corporate wrongdoing in the wake of the credit crunch.

The Serious Fraud Office said it wanted workers, former staff and shareholders to step up with information over suspected fraud in the current financial turmoil.

Director Richard Alderman said: "Our objective is to ensure that we can bring offenders to justice as quickly as possible."

High returns promised

US prosecutors say Mr Madoff, a former head of the Nasdaq stock market, masterminded a fraud of massive proportions through his hedge fund and investment advisory business.

Mr Madoff is alleged to have used money from new investors to pay off existing investors in the fund.

A federal judge has appointed a receiver to oversee Mr Madoff firm's assets and customer accounts, while the 70-year-old banker has been released on $10m bail.

Mr Madoff founded Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities in 1960, but also ran a separate hedge fund business.

According to the US Attorney's criminal complaint filed in court, Mr Madoff told at least three employees on Wednesday that the hedge fund business - which served up to 25 clients and had $17.1bn under management - was a fraud and had been insolvent for years.

He said he was "finished", that he had "absolutely nothing" and "it's all just one big lie", and that it was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme", the complaint said.

If found guilty, US prosecutors say he could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $5m.

Dollar falls on auto bailout stall

CNNMoney.com
December 15, 2008 Monday 2:58 PM EST
SECTION: ECONOMY
LENGTH: 442 words
BYLINE: By Julianne Pepitone, CNNMoney.com contributing writer

BODY:

The dollar weakened against major currencies Monday - hitting a two-month low against the euro - amid strained auto bailout talk and as a two-day Federal Reserve meeting got underway.

At 1:34 p.m. ET, the 15-nation euro was trading at $1.3671, up 2.27% and the highest since Oct. 15. The British pound rose 2.29% to $1.5298.

Meanwhile, Japan's yen slid to ¥90.73, down 0.67%.

"Once again, we're seeing some fairly widespread pressure on the U.S. dollar," said Stephen Malyon, currency strategist at Scotia Capital in Toronto. "It's a carryover from the trend that began last week, and it looks to be driven primarily by the euro. It's one of the strongest currencies today and it's got momentum."

Speculation that the Federal Reserve will cut key interest rates to the lowest on record on Tuesday, plus the pressure of "a lame-duck president, increasingly at odds with his own party" also pressured the greenback, Malyon said.

Stalled bailout discussions cause uncertainty

The greenback's retreat comes after stalled auto bailout discussions late last week left investors in a state of uncertainty. On Monday, a Treasury Department spokeswoman said that officials were still reviewing information and that no decisions had been made.

President George Bush said last week he would consider using part of the Treasury's $700 billion bailout package for financial institutions to keep automakers afloat in the short term. The U.S. Senate refused to pass a $14 billion rescue package for Detroit's Big Three last week, leaving the Treasury with the decision.

"There's a concern about what will happen if the automakers are not bailed out, but there's also concern about how a bailout would be engineered," Malyon said.

A series of economic reports released Monday also painted a grim picture. Homebuilders' confidence remained at an all-time low in December, and a New York state survey of manufacturers showed a sharp growth in unfilled orders.

Dollar no longer a safe haven?

Currency traders usually view the dollar as a safe haven when the stock market is volatile. But despite relatively subdued trading, the dollar has remained under pressure.

"Given the lateness of the year, I don't see anything coming along to significantly alter trends," Malyon said. "In 2009, we could see a bit of pull-back on the euro. Right now, the story is focused on the U.S., but there's bad news in Europe too. The market shifts its attention to wherever the most interesting story is."

The uncertainty of the auto bailout hit the U.S. "at an inopportune time," Malyon said. "There's a vulnerability in power, and this indecisiveness unfortunately highlighted a lot of our problems."
LOAD-DATE: December 15, 2008

Copyright 2008 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved

Banks urged to pass on rates cut

Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson will meet the bosses of NI's four banks

The First and Deputy First Ministers are to lead an Executive meeting with the bosses of the four main banks in NI to discuss the economic downturn.

Peter Robinson, Martin McGuinness and Finance Minister Nigel Dodds are expected to urge the banks to pass on interest rates cuts to customers.

Mr Robinson said the banks have a role to play in easing the credit crunch on households.

He said both he and Mr McGuinness want to "get our economy moving."

"We have influence with the prime minister and he has power in this area, so we want to see what the banks are going to do," said Mr Robinson.

"There are some indications that the reduction is being passed on by at least one of those banks.

"I'd like to see them all passing it on, that's what customers expect."

Earlier this month, the Bank of England cut interest rates by one percentage point, from 3% to 2% - the lowest level since 1951.

It followed a dramatic cut in November.

Bank cuts jobs in outsource move

Unite understands Barclays is going to outsource the jobs

More than 100 banking jobs are to be axed from offices in Cardiff.

Barclays is to outsource its department which deals with deceased customers' accounts leading to 109 job losses to a third-party supplier in Warwickshire.

The bank said it had reviewed how its deceased case management unit operates and said the move would be better for its customers and save it money.

The union Unite said it was deeply concerned at the plans as the work requires highly-trained staff.

The affected department is based in Windsor Place in Cardiff with the job losses set to start in Easter 2009.

It is understood the jobs are being transferred to an outsource centre in Stratford-upon-Avon with all the positions expected to have been moved from the Welsh capital by September 2009.


We have grave concerns about this decision to outsource such a sensitive function

Steve Pantak - Unite

A further 56 jobs will be lost from offices in north London.

The plan follows Barclays' announcement to close its First Plus division in Cardiff with the loss of 300 jobs.

In a statement Barclays said "The unit would require significant technological investment to continue to operate efficiently and it has therefore been decided that the work of this unit is best continued by a specialist third-party supplier.

"This will result in a better service for customers and will save significant investment costs.

"The small existing team won't be transferring to the third-party supplier as the new supplier will be based in Stratford-upon-Avon.

"However, all staff will be given extensive support in exploring the opportunities available to them and will receive competitive displacement packages where other options are not available or they chose not to take them."

'Bitter blow'

The union said this latest decision was a "bitter blow" to the local workforce and met the affected staff on Monday after the move was announced by their employers.

Unite officer Steve Pantak said: "We have grave concerns about this decision to outsource such a sensitive function.

"The work of the highly-trained staff which deal with the accounts of deceased customers should not be outsourced.

"We are calling on Barclays to think again about this decision, for both the good of their customers and their staff in Cardiff."

(news.bbc.co.uk)

Atlasmont Bank

ATLASMONT BANK is a leading commercial bank in Montenegro. It started commercial operations in April 2002 and very soon gained the reputation of a reliable business partner.

ATLASMONT BANK confirms its reputation of being a modern banking institution, which provides quality support to all its clients and shareholders.

Atlasmont bank has succeeded in becoming competitive in the market by reducing operating costs, gaining clients` trust, and offering top quality banking services.
The main development directions of the bank include the promotion of retail and corporate banking, domestic and international payment operations, as well as the promotion of credit cards.
As a technologically equipped financial institution with highly qualified staff, the bank is able to perform swift and efficient domestic and international payment operations.

By respecting the safety principles of investments, liquidity, solvency, and discretion, Atlasmont bank has earned the reference of a strategic financial partner.

Atlasmont Bank has established most of its activities and positive results with its young and energetic professionals. The experience has proved that the credentials and innovativeness of young people, together with the know-how and knowledge of the experienced mentors have become crucial in the development process of institutions and our societiy. That’s why Atlasmont Bank wants to help the students that have achieved exceptional results during their studies.

By ongoing support to young people in the form of scholarships, Atlasmont Bank contributes to the future of Montenegro.

The confidence that the bank has earned from the greatest financial institutions like Europay International, Visa International and Western Union, enabled the introduction of credit cards valid all over the world. Atlasmont Bank is the first and the only financial institution in Montenegro that issues VISA and MASTER CARD credit cards as a package.

Contact
Address: Vaka Djurovića bb, 81000 Podgorica
Telephone: +382 20 407 200
Fax: +382 20 665 451
E-mail: office@atlasmont.cg.yu

Atlasmont bank- Entrance to the business world!

source www.atlasmontbanka.com

Bank Central Asia (Indonesia)

Bank Central Asia (BCA) is an Indonesian bank founded on August 10, 1955.

The Asian monetary crisis in 1997 had a tremendous impact on Indonesia’s entire banking system. In particular, it affected BCA’s cash flow and even threatened its survival. Panic rush forced the bank to seek assistance from the Indonesian government. The Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency (IBRA) took over control of the bank in 1998.

Thanks to its management’s business sagacity and shrewd decision making, full recovery was accomplished later in the same year. In December 1998, third-party funds were back at the pre-crisis level. BCA’s assets stood at Rp 67.93 trillion, as opposed to Rp 53.36 trillion in December 1997. Public confidence in BCA was fully restored, and BCA was released by IBRA to BI in 2000.

Subsequently, BCA took a major step by going public. The IPO took place in 2000, selling 22.55% of BCA’s shares that were being divested by IBRA. After the IPO, the agency still controlled 70.3% of BCA’s total shares. The second Public Offering took place in June and July of 2001, with IBRA divesting an additional 10% of its interest in BCA.

In 2002, IBRA divested 51% of its BCA shares through a strategic private placement tender. The Mauritius-based Farindo Investment won the tender.

HSBC makes £1bn credit available

HSBC announced worldwide job cuts earlier this year

Banking group HSBC says it is making £1bn ($1.4bn) in extra credit available to support small British businesses.

The government has been demanding for weeks that banks resume lending to firms struggling as credit dries up.

The bank said the money would help "fundamentally sound businesses" with cash-flow problems to "weather short-term shocks caused by the downturn".

Meanwhile, the bank said on Monday that it would increase its funding in the mortgage market by a fifth.

HSBC said it had lent £7.8bn for UK mortgages in 2007 and £12.8bn this year. The bank said this figure would rise to £15bn in 2009.

"By some estimates, net mortgage lending in the UK will fall next year, but HSBC has no intention of closing its doors to customers, nor will we compromise our reputation for responsible lending," said Paul Thurston, HSBC's UK managing director.

The pledge comes after former banker Sir James Crosby warned in a report to the government that net new mortgage lending in the UK could fall below zero next year.

'Economies' lifeblood'

HSBC, which did not take any of the government's bail-out funding, said on Sunday that the money for businesses was part of a £3.3bn global working capital fund for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

It said lending would be decided on a "case-by-case basis" using HSBC's normal lending criteria.

Alan Keir, co-head of HSBC's commercial banking, said:"This is new money, new money to support struggling small businesses that bank with us."

"We've heard that their critical need is for working capital, so we're responding to that," he said.

Michael Geoghegan, HSBC's group chief executive, said: "This is a difficult time for business in many economies. Customers are rightly looking to see how banks can help.

"SMEs are the lifeblood of most economies and it is their success that will create economic growth."

Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said: "We welcome this support providing additional funds for SMEs, and would also urge all banks to maintain charges and rates alongside offering good communications with their small business customers."

(Source : news.bbc.co.uk)

HSBC aims to lend more mortgages

The bank aims to scoop up a large slice of new mortgage lending in 2009

The bank HSBC is aiming to grab a much larger share of the UK mortgage market in 2009.

It has set aside £15bn ($22.3bn) to lend to home owners next year, roughly double the amount it lent in 2007.

New mortgage lending by all banks is predicted to come to a halt next year because the credit crunch means most do not have fresh funds to lend.

"We will be surprised if we do not have a bigger slice of a smaller market," said an HSBC spokesman.

Falling prices

HSBC is one of the world's largest international banks and has not been as badly affected by the financial crisis as many of its rivals in the UK.

As such, the spokesman explained, it would be able to draw on its own internal resources to finance greater mortgage lending, as it does not have to rely on wholesale financial markets, nor UK domestic savers, to provide it with the necessary funds.

"We believe we are the only UK bank that can do this," he said.

If the bank lends all of the £15bn at an average of £100,000 per borrower, then that would amount to 150,000 home loans.


It appears house prices will fall again next year
HSBC spokesman

But HSBC said it was not trying to stimulate the property market by bringing in first-time buyers who would otherwise continue to be frozen out.

Much of its lending is likely to be to existing borrowers who are either moving house, or simply staying put but moving their mortgage deals.

And it will continue to charge much higher fees and interest rates for borrowers, such as first-time borrowers, who put down smaller deposits.

"It appears house prices will fall again next year," said the spokesman.

"But the quality of our mortgage book will not fall," he stressed.

Small businesses

On Sunday HSBC said it would also make £1bn in extra credit available to support small British businesses.

The government has been demanding for weeks that banks resume lending to firms struggling as credit dries up.

The bank said the money would help "fundamentally sound businesses" with cash-flow problems to "weather short-term shocks caused by the downturn".

HSBC, which did not take any of the government's recent bail-out funding, said that the money for businesses was part of a £3.3bn global working capital fund for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

It said lending would be decided on a "case-by-case basis" using HSBC's normal lending criteria.

Alan Keir, co-head of HSBC's commercial banking, said: "This is new money, new money to support struggling small businesses that bank with us."

"We've heard that their critical need is for working capital, so we're responding to that," he said.

(Source : ews.bbc.co.uk)