Inside Business News

The Coffer of England today pumped an added £5bn into money markets in the deathwatch of the crisis at US investment coffer Lehman Brothers.

The funds were about 5 times oversubscribed by banks, which put in bids totalling £24.1bn - a assurance of the beginning burden on the banking arrangement afterward the news.

It is the Bank's aboriginal such move back March, if markets were rocked by the bail-out of adolescent investment coffer Bear Stearns.

The Coffer added: "This activity is getting taken in acknowledgment to altitude in the concise money markets this morning."

The three-day bargain comes alongside the Bank's approved account operation on Thursdays.

The European Central Coffer aswell fabricated bearding funds accessible to banking institutions.

It said: "The ECB continues to carefully adviser the altitude in the euro breadth money market. The ECB stands accessible to accord to alike altitude in the euro money market."

The Zurich-based Swiss National Coffer meanwhile said it was accouterment clamminess to markets in "a acceptable and adjustable manner".

The accommodating move by the banks is an attack to action th ... Read more »

Oil prices confused beneath $100 today for the aboriginal time in about six months as investors digested the latest banking crisis.

Light, candied awkward traded on the New York Mercantile Barter - the world's criterion awkward bulk - fell added than $4 to $97 a butt afore ascent aback beneath than a dollar. The endure time the bulk was beneath $100 was 2 April.

In London, October Brent awkward aswell fell about $2 to $95.73 a butt on the ICE Futures exchange.

The avalanche appear in the deathwatch of the collapse of US investment coffer Lehman Brothers, which has rocked markets about the world, and letters that put accident from Hurricane Ike as beneath than feared.

Victor Shum, an activity analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore, said: "Now that Ike has appear and gone, antecedent letters announce no absolute accident to the oil basement in the Gulf bank area."

Federal admiral said bygone that the storm destroyed at atomic 10 oil and gas platforms and damaged pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico - alone a baby bulk of the 3,800 assembly platforms in the Gulf. Three years ago, back-to-back hurricanes agape out added than 100 platf ... Read more »

The Coffer of America today began abacus addition allotment to its growing cyberbanking casework empire, affairs Merrill Lynch in a $50 billion accord that would actualize a coffer alms aggregate from fixed-income trading to acclaim agenda lending.

It will battling Citigroup Inc., the better US coffer in acceding of assets.

Bank of America Corp. said aboriginal today that it would access Merrill Lynch in an all-stock transaction account about $50 billion that should lift the ambiguity shrouding Merrill back the alpha of the acclaim crisis over a year ago.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Coffer of America has the a lot of deposits of any US bank, while Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. is the world's better and a lot of broadly accustomed brokerage.

"Acquiring one of the arch abundance management, basic markets, and advising companies is a abundant befalling for our shareholders," Coffer of America Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ken Lewis said in a statement. "Together, our companies are added admired because of the synergies in our businesses."

Under acceding of the transaction, Coffer of America would barter 0.8595 shares of Coffer of Americ ... Read more »

Wall Street banks were advancing for one of the a lot of affecting shake-ups in the accounts industry's history endure night as it emerged that Lehman Brothers, an investment coffer with a 158-year history, was alive on a plan to acknowledge bankruptcy.

As a chase affair of weekend talks went into its final hours, an even bigger rival, Merrill Lynch, aswell accumulated its lath to vote on a takeover offer. With the aperture of Asian markets as a deadline, the signs were that two of the a lot of able corporations in all-around accounts could disappear. Insiders said added banking institutions were analytical the conception of a massive fund, conceivably as ample as $50bn (£28bn), which would be acclimated to prop up added firms that get into difficulty.

Whatever the exact appearance of the deal, it was bright that it would acquire abstruse – and capricious – after-effects for the apple economy. The contest represent a acme for the year-long acclaim crisis, which has wiped out half-a-trillion dollars in investments captivated by Wall Street's better firms, affected governments to nationalise once-proud banking institutions and has fabricated it anytime harder for acc ... Read more »

UK shares connected to tumble this afternoon afterwards the acclaim crisis claimed one of the world's better investment banks - with Britain's better mortgage lender the affliction affected.

Lehman Brothers, which has been hit by billions of dollars-worth of sub-prime mortgage losses, appear brief that it was planning to book for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Rival Merrill Lynch - addition blow of the sub-prime crisis during the accomplished year - aswell took apartment in a takeover by the Coffer of America.

Some analysts were forecasting that today would go down as 'Black Monday' in the banking account - with the acclaim crisis entering a new appearance one year on from its start.

In London, the FTSE 100 Basis was down about 5 per cent by 2pm amidst the beginning turmoil, although it recovered a little as the afternoon progressed. Shares in HBOS, Britain's better mortgage lender and buyer of the Halifax, fell 25 per cent. Royal Coffer of Scotland was down 14 per cent and Barclays 12 per cent.

Insurance and accumulation behemothic Prudential was down 11 per cent and Norwich Union buyer Aviva was down 8 per cent, with retailers like Sainsbury's and B&Q b ... Read more »

American International Group, the allowance behemothic bigger accepted as AIG, was acquisitive that a cobbled-together amalgamation of asset sales and an bang of banknote from clandestine disinterestedness can stop the aggregation traveling into a afterlife circling like Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns afore it.

Company admiral were awash with admiral endure night planning a accomplishment deal, afterward a blackmail on Friday by Standard & Poor's, the acclaim appraisement agency, to decline the company's debt. AIG shares burst by 31 per cent in the hours afterwards that blackmail was made, and Robert Willumstad, afresh installed as arch executive, fabricated affairs to accompany advanced a analysis of the business that was ahead appointed for 25 September.

The emergency restructuring plan, which AIG was aiming to advertise afore the alpha of trading this morning, is acceptable to cover the auctioning of above assets including its aircraft leasing business, International Lease Finance Corp. It is aswell believed to be because disposals of assets accompanying to its acreage and blow allowance businesses.

The New York-based insurer has already aloft $20bn ... Read more »

From the Bear Stearns animation in mid-March to the Freddie and Fannie abatement endure week, the accomplished six months accept accepted to be one of the a lot of airy periods in contempo banal bazaar history.

America's S&P 500 basis has gone from 1,273 on 10 March, if markets were absorbed by abhorrence that Bear Stearns was set to go under, to 1,426 in May, afterward the Federal Reserve bailout of the coffer and the activity that the US authorities were in aftereffect underwriting the markets to stop the domino aftereffect that the collapse of a above academy was acceptable to cause.

Since the May rally, America's key bazaar has collapsed into decline, dent aback to just 1,214 in July and spending the summer bouncing about at the bottom, closing at 1,251 on Friday – a 15 per cent abatement from the alpha of the year. Just beneath a year ago the bazaar stood at 1,565.

When the assemblage was in abounding flow, Mike Lenhoff, arch architect at the agent Brewin Dolphin, declared the Bear animation as an "astonishing about-face in affect ... a absolute axis point". So what does he anticipate now?

"It's harder to acquaint how able the US Treasury's b ... Read more »

Two of the UK's better acclaim insurers, Euler Hermes and Atradius, accept chock-full accouterment new awning for firms bartering Woolworths and annulled some absolute behavior affiliated to the company.

Ahead of the store's advertisement of half-year balance on Wednesday, accepted to appearance abundant losses, aplomb in its abiding activity seems to accept hit a new low.

"There are no new curve aperture on Woolworths and some behavior accept been annulled or adjusted," said a source. "It absolutely doesn't attending acceptable for them."

Trade acclaim allowance covers businesses adjoin the accident of bad debt due to the defalcation or abiding absence of their buyers. Earlier in the summer acclaim insurers bargain awning for suppliers ambidextrous with the Woolworths Entertainment subsidiary. In contempo weeks they accept added cut their exposure.

The account comes as Woolworths is accepted to acknowledge half-year losses of about £10m, although some estimates advance it could be as top as £30m. Last anniversary administrator Richard North and new arch controlling Steve Johnson met with Malcolm Walker, the Iceland founder, to altercate the £50m acti ... Read more »

The Treasury will accessible the chase to accomplish Sir John Gieve as a agent governor of the Bank of England, with albatross for cyberbanking stability, if it advertises the job this week.

Paul Tucker, the controlling administrator of markets and a affiliate of the Monetary Policy Committee, is the favourite centralized applicant to yield over from Sir John, who will footfall down aboriginal next year. But Mr Tucker, who was angled for the column of additional agent governor which became abandoned beforehand this year afterward the abandonment of Rachel Lomax, may accept to attempt adjoin alien candidates. Traditionally, chief Crown accessories accept been anchored through breezy soundings amid the Treasury and the Bank of England, but contempo changes accept adapted the jobs to be advertised.

Banking sources say it is extraordinary that Mr Tucker, mentioned as a abeyant almsman to Mr King if he retires in three years, would not succeed. One Treasury antecedent added: "It's acutely absurd Paul Tucker would not get the job. If he didn't, he would leave, and I don't anticipate anybody wants that."

Mr Tucker absent out to Charles Bean for the antecedent agent ... Read more »

Banks scuppered a proposed three-way airlines amalgamation that could accept salvaged the burst XL Leisure endure month, while belief is ascent that the bootless accumulation ability already accept a new owner.

It is accepted that administering proposed the accord with two added declining firms which would accept created a new entity, but abeyant backers absolved the move as unworkable. "They approved to get something adapted up abaft bankrupt doors but it wasn't absolutely anytime acceptable to get off the arena if Zoom collapsed," said a source.

Phil Wyatt, arch controlling of XL, the UK's third better bout operator, which runs its own airline, appear that the aggregation had gone into administering on Friday, abrogation an estimated 90,000 holidaymakers abandoned abroad. The accumulation was still accepting bookings as backward as Thursday night. Zoom, a Canadian airline, accomplished aerial endure month.

However, a arch agent has told The Independent on Sunday that he believed a affair had already finer taken ascendancy of XL by "trading debt before, during and after" contest on Friday. It is rumoured that this affair has bought up a all-inclusive bulk o ... Read more »