http://www.ft.com/companies/financialhttp://www.ft.com/rss/companies/financialFT.com - Financial Servicesen© Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2008. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times.support@ft.comThu, 15 May 2008 23:28 BSTThu, 15 May 2008 23:49:12 BSTNewspapers15http://news.ft.com/cms/d1f3ce1a-6bbe-11da-bb53-0000779e2340.gifhttp://www.ft.com/companies/financial(PICS-1.1 "http://www.classify.org/safesurf/" L gen true for "http://www.ft.com/" r (SS~~000 1))http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/720c5a80-22b4-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/720c5a80-22b4-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlThe European Central Bank voiced its "high concern" at growing evidence that banks are exploiting its efforts to unblock the funding markets by using its liquidity scheme to offload more risky assets than it envisagedThu, 15 May 2008 23:28 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bdd2a2ce-22b1-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bdd2a2ce-22b1-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlJohn Varley has made a big contrarian bet on the future of banking. As rivals raise capital to repair balance sheets and prepare for a difficult economy, the Barclays chief executive insists things are not as bad as they seemThu, 15 May 2008 23:19 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1b424856-22a8-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1b424856-22a8-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlBlackstone, which made big profits last year by flipping commercial properties at the height of the market, is considering buying back into some of those assets at distressed prices as part of an effort to cash in on the credit crisisThu, 15 May 2008 23:11 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7bcfbccc-22ca-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7bcfbccc-22ca-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlRoyal Bank of Scotland's £7bn ($13.6bn) auction for its UK insurance business has received a lukewarm response from potential buyers, with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway pulling out of the bidding and there are doubts over the level of interest from Germany's AllianzThu, 15 May 2008 23:05 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/00c5de82-2250-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/00c5de82-2250-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlBank stands by previous target of a 5.25 per cent core Tier 1 ratio, even though analysts and investors view this as low compared with rivals such Royal Bank of ScotlandThu, 15 May 2008 22:55 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/61b5526e-229f-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/61b5526e-229f-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlStrong performances in South Africa and in asset management compensated for a marked slowdown in the UK and in investment banking for Investec, the dual-listed specialist bank.Thu, 15 May 2008 22:53 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0215c194-22a5-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0215c194-22a5-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlKohlberg Kravis Roberts will on Friday unveil plans to diversify into infrastructure, hiring a top Lazard executive to lead an expected $10bn fundraising, as the US private equity group reacts to recent credit market turmoilThu, 15 May 2008 22:17 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7abead16-22b1-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7abead16-22b1-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlBank stands by previous target of a 5.25% core Tier 1 ratio, even though analysts and investors view this as low compared with rivals such Royal Bank of ScotlandThu, 15 May 2008 22:15 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7d82fea6-229f-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7d82fea6-229f-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlThe Federal Reserve should have acted faster to stabilise financial markets and lessen the damage of the credit crisis, according to Chip Mason, chairman of Legg Mason, one of the world's largest money managersThu, 15 May 2008 21:36 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/880fc558-2253-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/880fc558-2253-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlThe listed UK private equity group said it was well-placed to cope with tougher economic and financial conditions, as annual profits came in ahead of market expectations Thu, 15 May 2008 20:06 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86891696-224c-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86891696-224c-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlGeorges Pauget, chief executive of Crédit Agricole, warned that the worst of the credit crisis was not yet over and unveiled plans to raise €5bn ($7.7bn) in disposalsThu, 15 May 2008 20:02 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c87987c4-22a2-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c87987c4-22a2-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlThinc, an independent financial advice company owned by Axa, has been fined £900,000 by the Financial Services Authority for not taking reasonable care when advising on subprime mortgagesThu, 15 May 2008 19:12 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cd5ecb9a-229e-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cd5ecb9a-229e-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlUK fund manager, Hermes was considering legal action against a poison pill-style defence deployed by an independent foundation linked to ASM International, the Dutch semiconductor equipment companyThu, 15 May 2008 18:27 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e9e88db4-2299-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e9e88db4-2299-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlThe Intercontinental Exchange, the electronic commodities exchange, was forced to completely shut its trading platform on Thursday morning due to a power failureThu, 15 May 2008 17:32 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/70150ef2-2278-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/70150ef2-2278-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlSubprime losses at Mizuho Financial Group were Y80bn more than its estimate about a month ago but it provided some cheer for investors by forecasting an 80 per cent rise in annual profitThu, 15 May 2008 13:57 BST