Barclays shares ended the day 22% up as the bank confirmed it is in talks over a possible sale of its iShares fund management business. Whilst potential suitors have yet to confirm a deal, initial thoughts are that the sale could raise anything up to £5bn. (more…)

Shares in Barclays Bank led the charge south as shares fell sharply during the final hour of trading yesterday. The fall came amid fresh fears that the banking and financial sectors are going to hit new troubles. This despite Barclays cutting the wage bill by axing 4,000 jobs, ordinarily seen as a positive move by the city.

Share prices wern’t helped by the restriction on short selling being lifted. A practice seen by some as an immoral way of making a profit.

News that banks are looking to further tighten their lending criteria and the ever reducing number of new mortgage approvals raises hopes that the Bank of England will cut interest rates. (more…)

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received Government support yesterday and all seemed well with the banking world. What a difference a day makes….Lehman Brothers dipped 30% on the news that it may not be able to raise the required funding to cover its losses. The credit crunch has led the bank to raise $6bn to cover write-downs. Lehman’s shares are down more than 90% this year and is it’s the US’s fourth largest investment bank, it too cannot be allowed to fail.

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Icesave’s 200,000 strong customer base continues to grow not only thanks to its commitment to offering savers high interest rates, but also its straightforward online application process which means you can sign up for an account in under ten minutes.  (more…)

Alliance & Leicester posted pre-tax profits of just £2m. Operating profits increased by 2% to £301m, however they also recorded £279m of extra costs, losses and write-downs due to the continuing turbulence in the mortgage markets.

Alliance & Leicester is to be taken over by Banco Santander as the bank believes it would be hard pressed to weather future shocks and write-downs. Being part of a larger group with a much more solid balance sheet is a sensible route for A&L to take.

Existing shareholders of Bradford & Bingley - Insight Investment, Legal & General, M&G and Standard Life - will purchase £400m worth of new shares following the withdrawal of Texas Pacific Groups (TPG) offer to buy 23% of the British Bank.

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