banks

Fortis, the nationalised Belgo-Dutch bank and largest private employer in Belgium. This is a good thing as I have a distinct preference for mergers over bankruptcy or long-term nationalisation as a way to hep consolidate and rationalize…

I have been a bit on edge of late because of the credit crisis that is making headlines. Recently, a lot of people have been duped into believing that the economic crisis we are experiencing is not critical and have their eyes focused…

Facing a potential breakdown in its banking system, the German government has decided to offer a blanket guarantee to private savings deposits (see comments below from German blogger egghat about this distinction), much as Ireland and…

According to the Times of London, that's what Lehman's creditors seem to suggest in Lehman's bankruptcy filings. Apparently, JP Morgan cut Lehman off the night before it filed for bankruptcy and creditors are blaming this action for Lehman…

The Europeans have no idea what is about to hit them. Their banking system is collapsing and European politicians are fighting amongst themselves. At French President Nicolas Sarkozy's crisis summit, the politicians were unable to craft a…

A week into the European leg of the meltdown of the global financial system, Germany has hit major turbulence. Hypo Real Estate, a member of the DAX-30, Germany's equivalent of the Dow Jones Industrial Average looks to be on the verge of…

The deal everyone first expected to happen is now likely to proceed. Wells Fargo is set to buy Wachovia. Earlier this week, we heard that Wachovia was to be acquired by Citigroup, the beleaguered corporate behemoth that has written down…

Below is an article I wrote that appears in this morning's Guardian Newspaper in the UK. The crux of the article is that European politicians need to realise that their banks are not immune from the crisis that has hit the United States and…

Hansruedi Ramsauer is one of the foremost German-language finance bloggers, writing over at the Swiss site Zeitenwende. In a recent post, he draws attention to the dire state of Swiss banking and calls on Swiss politicians to act now to…

Warren Buffett is all over the place these days. He was busy investing at Constellation Energy and Goldman Sachs. Now, he's investing at GE -- $3 billion at that. Judging by his market timing approach, it does seem assets are cheap…