All articles by Verdict Staff

News Digest

HSBC in Hong Kong customer drive…Russias VTB retains outlook on strong retail banking performance…ICICI launches Indias first online-only bank…UK watchdog criticises current account charges…Banque Populaire completes purchase of French regional banks…

News Digest

Fortis shocks with surprise 8bn cash call…BCA acquires 1 percent of Bank DBS Indonesia…BofA gets approval to buy Countrywide…Japans Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi gets licence for m-banking venture…And the winners are Fortis has become the latest casualty of the global financial malaise, outlining details of a capital-raising package to shore up its finances by 8 billion ($12.5 billion) despite being viewed by many industry analysts, so far, as one of the more resilient players

News Digest

Bullish Barclays launches in Pakistan, ups branches in Italy… Canadas RBC goes multimedia mad… Intesa Sanpaolo offers free financial check-up…

News Digest

HSBC ups insurance push with Allianz deal… SocGen looks to China for banking expansion… CIBC launches first free student banking…

News Digest

Commonwealth Bank of Australia refines home loan offering…Crdit Agricole looks to raise $9.1bn in capital…Alpha Banks sports tour extends to Bulgaria, Romania…WaMu thinks big on MasterCard PayPass…RBC offers free computer with packaged account…STRATEGYChase has invested $338bn in low-income US families since 2004JPMorgan Chase has reported that four years into a 10-year, $800 billion commitment to offer beneficial lending rates to low- and moderate-income families and community businesses, it has so far channeled $338 billion into the initiative.Chase says it has invested 42 percent of that in three crucial areas: $258 billion in mortgages to low and moderate-income neighbourhoods and to lower-income and minority borrowers; $63 billion in small business lending, and $17 billion in community development lending and investment.Helping families buy a home they can afford over the long term remains a crucial part of our commitment to communities, said Charlie Scharf, CEO of Chases Retail Financial Services unit.In 2003, Citi established a seven-year, $200 billion affordable mortgage programme; it says it has already surpassed the goal, having lent approximately $222 billion

News Digest

Power to the people

Caja Navarra, one of Spains biggest savings banks, runs one of the countrys most successful social responsibility programmes Pablo Armendariz, the banks head of innovation, spoke at RBIs recent Innovations event in Singapore about why Caja Navarra has gone further than its rivals.Caja Navarra (CAN), the Pamplona-based savings bank, began to upgrade its social investment programme back in 2005 It now operates one of Spains most advanced, tech-savvy social responsibility initiatives, a scheme that will probably invest around 60 million ($76 million) in both Spanish and, increasingly, international projects in 2008.

UniCredit says ‘retail is detail’

Italy’s UniCredit kick-started a campaign to refresh its branch network in 2004 after the success of specialist competitors started eating into its profits Its Branch Revolution project has cut costs and reduced the break-even time of new-builds, significant in Italy’s evolving market

News Digest

Losses escalate at Countrywide Financial… Contrite Credit Suisse apologises quickly for child labour link… Australias NAB unveils Customer Promise…

News Digest

Embattled Citi rolls out new corporate structure and team… ICICI launches the Global Indian Account… Crdit Agricole, Banco Popolare in credit talks…