Lloyds to close Irish retail banks

Bank of Scotland, which is now part of Lloyds Banking Group, is to close 44 Halifax outlets and a customer service centre in Dundalk, axing 750 jobs

• Lloyds chief sleeps easy as challenges loom
• Strong response to Lloyds cash call

Kheraj poised to quit JPMorgan Cazenove

Naguib Kheraj – seen as the favourite to succeed Eric Daniels at Lloyds Banking Group – is set to leave as the US bank continues its integration with the UK broker

UK banks face Basel pension pressure

Proposals to deduct defined benefit scheme deficits from capital assets are causing an outcry

Warning over Greek threat to recovery

The chief executive of one of Europe’s biggest banks warns that the continent’s nascent economic recovery could be thrown into crisis if the threat of a “heart attack” in Greece was not addressed

BofA and Citi warned over credit ratings

The planned overhaul of US financial rules prompted Standard & Poor’s to warn it might downgrade the credit ratings of Citigroup and Bank of America on concerns that the shake-up would make it less likely that the banks would be bailed out by US taxpayers if they ran into trouble again

BofA names global capital co-heads

Alastair Borthwick and Lisa Carnoy were named co-heads of Bank of America’s global capital markets arm, inheriting a business whose performance was a bright spot in an otherwise tumultuous year for the US bank

UBS reels as private bank hit by exodus

Swiss bank’s return to profit in the fourth quarter overshadowed by net outflows from its private banking business doubling to SFr33bn

UBS faces long wait for tide to turn

After the client exodus, the focus is turning to other Swiss banks