No magic wand for small business from Merlin
Banks blamed declining demand for credit from companies – a sign of the faltering economy
UK banks
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Banks miss Merlin SME lending target
Net business lending by UK’s five main banks contracted in the final quarter confirming they failed to hit government goal on corporate credit
Fears grow that demand for credit remains depressed
A common complaint is that the lack of competition keeps loan rates high, discouraging smaller businesses from borrowing
Bankers arrested in UK tax fraud probe
Authorities arrested several bankers, including four RBS employees, on allegations that they used investments in film productions to evade taxes
Let me run RBS, demands Hester
Chief called on politicians to let him run state-controlled bank commercially in order to generate a return for taxpayers
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Misguided Merlin
Banks (and other private businesses) should not be leant on through political deals. Properly regulated, they must be left to use their commercial judgment
Diamond vows to try harder as Barclays disappoints
Barclays chief executive has said he is not satisfied after announcing results showing return on equity was lower than in 2010
A pestered Hester
After forgoing his bonus, the RBS chief is hitting back at political interference in the bank he was hired to revive. By Sharlene Goff and George Parker
Our burn-a-banker frenzy is tempting – but wrong
Mr Goodwin may have been an egregious example of bad banking but he was hardly alone in causing the credit crunch, writes Martin Dickson
Facing up to the failings of finance
It will take more than Fred Goodwin’s knighthood to bring about reconciliation. More must come out about what went wrong in the City
Restraint pays off for UK’s small lenders
Deleveraging by big banks benefits smaller financial institutions such as Close Brothers who have not substantially changed their business models
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Bank Street
Take a walk down Bank Street and follow the fortunes of some of the world’s largest banks as they navigate the global financial crisis
Are European banks too big to fail?
Examines relative size of business and government
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Barclays
Bob Diamond must prove BarCap’s fourth-quarter slowdown is a one-off and that a higher dividend of 6p a share is not a confidence trick
RBS / Sumitomo Mitsui
The UK bank has sold its profitable aircraft leasing unit to a Japanese bank in a clean deal with minimal execution risk
RBS: reality cheque
Common sense has triumphed over ambition at the state-controlled UK bank as it scales back its wholesale arm
UK banks: concessions may be too little
The government has conceded ground. But that may not remove the threat that HSBC could decide that having its headquarters in London is no longer worth it
Lloyds Banking Group: horses for courses
António Horta-Osório will need to quickly demonstrate to investors that he is fighting fit and is indeed the man to turn this knackered steeplechaser into a Derby winner
Royal Bank of Scotland
Regulators need deterrents and sanctions beyond those available to investors
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