Forestry funds leave others in the shade

Money may not grow on trees but investors who placed funds in British forests last year have seen returns far outstrip those from any of the traditional asset classes

• Stagflation fears drive investors from equities
• More on fund management from FTfm

Commerzbank ends pursuit of Citi’s retail arm

The contest for Citigroup’s German retail banking arm narrowed when Commerzbank dropped out of the running, leaving Deutsche Bank as the only potential domestic buyer for an asset that has also attracted foreign interest

Nine jailed over Bawag bank fraud

A Vienna court sentenced nine people to prison for their role in causing €1.7bn ($2.6bn) losses at Austrian bank Bawag PSK

Fed values Bear Stearns assets at $29bn

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York confirmed the estimated fair value of assets that were formerly held by Bear Stearns at about $29bn, about $1bn less than they were worth when the investment bank was sold to JPMorgan in March

Consumers seek ways to tighten credit

More people are taking interest in their personal credit rating score and how they can improve it as lenders clamp down on access to mortgages, loans and credit cards

FSA orchestrates old-fashioned rescue for B&B

As the credit storm has swept through the City, older bankers have fondly recalled the days when financial crises were resolved behind closed doors at the Bank of England with troubled lenders rescued on the strength of a handshake

Moody’s resists lobbying on B&B rating

Moody’s has downgraded Bradford & Bingley’s credit rating from A3 to Baa1 – the lowest rating of a UK bank and among the lowest in Europe

TPG faces cool reception in future

The decision by TPG Capital to scrap its £179m capital injection into Bradford & Bingley could make life harder for the US buy-out group the next time it comes to the UK fishing for a deal