UK Darling:To Monitor What Each Bank Is Doing On Lending

Mon, Jul 27 2009, 17:07 GMT
http://www.djnewswires.com/eu

UPDATE:UK Darling:To Monitor What Each Bank Is Doing On Lending (Adds more quotes, details throughout.) By Laurence Norman Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling warned banks Monday that they must pass on interest rate cuts and said the government will comb through the lending activities of individual institutions in coming weeks. Following a meeting with senior bank executives, Darling told the British Broadcasting Corp. the "advantage of low interest rates needs to be passed on." He said "we need to go through individual lending from each bank in this country and find out what the problems are" that prevents them lending more. He said the government must ensure that "banks don't charge any more than absolutely necessary." Darling said the treasury would meet with senior executives from each bank in coming weeks to do that. The Bank of England slashed the interest rate to a historic low of 0.5% in March, reducing the benchmark rate from 5.0% in October 2008. It has also launched a GBP125 billion quantitative easing program which it hopes will ease access to credit. Darling rejected the argument made by the banking sector that the government is asking them both to increase lending and repair their balance sheets, saying both can be done thanks to government support for the sector.

He acknowledged the banks have made progress in some areas, such as lending to larger businesses. However, for small and medium-sized firms, Darling said the government will need to ensure that "loans are properly priced" and that there is enough funding available. Darling said that maintaining competition in the banking sector was "absolutely imperative." He said the government will keep a close eye on competition concerns as it monitors lending levels. Monday's meeting, the latest in a series over recent months examining bank lending, included senior executives from most leading U.K. banks and building societies. It was also attended by U.K. Business Secretary Peter Mandelson and top officials from the BoE and the Financial Services Authority. Darling met with the lending panel for just over an hour and a half, treasury spokesman said, and he also said the next lending panel meeting will be in September. The government, the BoE and international institutions, like the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have all named the slow pickup in bank lending as a key impediment to the recovery. The U.K. economy has been in a recession since April 2008, the worst downturn in decades.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said U.K. banks have promised to increase lending by around GBP70 billion this year, helping to offset a steep decline in loans from foreign institutions. That GBP70 billion includes some GBP39 billion in extra lending agreed by Lloyds Banking Group (LYG) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), both of whom have received large injections of taxpayer money. Other U.K. lenders, including HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBA.LN) and Barclays PLC (BARC.LN)) have also said they would increase mortgage and small business loans. Darling said the government will make sure that RBS and Lloyds Group "stick to the agreements" they signed up to. A spokesman for RBS declined to comment. There was no-one immediately available for comment at HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds. Sunday, Darling said he was extremely concerned about lending to small and medium-sized companies. "It seems that while the cost of borrowing has gone down charges to smaller companies has gone up," he said. The British Bankers Association said Monday that various forms of lending to small businesses from U.K. high street banks increased by GBP391 million on the month in June, a sign of easing credit conditions. While the government has criticized the banks, the opposition Conservative party blamed Darling and Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the slow pick up in lending.

Philip Hammond, the number two person on the Conservatives treasury team, told the BBC "the banks are getting conflicting and frankly contradictory signals from the government," with officials stressing the need for increased lending one week and the necessity of rebuilding balance sheets the next. Figures published by the European Central Bank earlier showed companies in the 16 countries that use the euro also face financing constraints which could hamper the recovery from recession. The ECB said the annual growth rate of private-sector loans in the euro zone slowed to a record low of 1.5% in June from 1.8% in May. -By Laurence Norman, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-207-842-9270; laurence.norman@dowjones.com (Nicholas Winning and Margot Patrick contributed to this story) Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=LYcVE3ap0hNO2rEQUuy7Bw%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 27, 2009 13:07 ET (17:07 GMT)
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

EU Gives Latvia EUR1.2 Billion For 2nd Aid Installment

Mon, Jul 27 2009, 17:12 GMT
http://www.djnewswires.com/eu

UPDATE: EU Gives Latvia EUR1.2 Billion For 2nd Aid Installment (Adds Romania data.) BRUSSELS -(Dow Jones)-
The European Commission Monday gave Latvia EUR1.2 billion, the second installment of a EUR7.5 billion financial aid package created with the International Monetary Fund. The second installment of this aid came with conditions. Latvia was required to take steps to curb public spending, aiming to bring its budget deficit below 3% of gross domestic product by 2012.

The commission separately gave Romania EUR1.5 billion, the first installment of a EUR5 bullion aid package arranged in May. The commission said a further EUR1 billion payment will be made later in the year, subject to conditions that weren't specified. -By Adam Cohen, Dow Jones Newswires; +322 741 1486; adam.cohen@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=LYcVE3ap0hNO2rEQUuy7Bw%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

Brazil's Foreign Reserves Reach New Record At $209.6B

Fri, Jul 17 2009, 18:31 GMT
http://www.djnewswires.com/eu


Brazil's Foreign Reserves Reach New Record At $209.6B SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazil's foreign currency reserves reached a new record on July 16 of $209.6 billion on persistent government purchases of U.S. dollars in recent months, the Brazilian Central Bank said Friday. The previous record was set on Oct. 6, 2008, when the country's reserves totaled $209.4 billion. Reserves declined beginning in October of 2008 as the central bank loaned dollars to Brazilian businesses in the face of a global credit crunch. The central bank also sold dollars directly from reserves to the foreign exchange market via spot auctions.

Earlier this year, however, the government reversed course, buying dollars from the market at spot auctions. So far this year, reserves are up $2.8 billion. Reserves ended last year at $206.8 billion. Reserves grew sharply from 2005 through mid-2009 after the central bank started purchasing dollars from the spot market in October 2005. Reserves stood at only $53.779 billion at the end of 2005.

-By Rogerio Jelmayer, Dow Jones Newswires; 5511-2847-4521; rogerio.jelmayer@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=OgBNNDYHfkY7HuExqLXI%2FA%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 17, 2009 14:31 ET (18:31 GMT)
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Pound Declines as Terrorist Attack Drives Traders to Safety

July 17th, 2009

The pound posted its first day of losses versus the U.S. dollar this week as explosions in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, attracted investors to the safety of the greenback, stopping a five-day rally that brought the pound up on renewed economic hopes.

U.S. Dollar Rallies Against All Majors on Risk Aversion Wave

July 11th, 2009

The greenback, as the dollar is often referred to, climbed versus virtually all of the 16 most traded currencies, as unfavorable economic reports worldwide brought risk aversion up among traders this week, favoring the low-yielding safety profile of the North American currency.

Forex: USD/CHF finds support at 1.0850

Mon, Jul 6 2009, 19:26 GMT

http://www.fxstreet.com

FXstreet.com (Córdoba) – The Dollar is falling today against the Swiss Franc. USD/CHF reached earlier a one-week high at 1.0955 but later, fell more than 70 pips during the American session. The pair found support at 1.0850. So far today USD/CHF has lost 0.25% from the opening price. On the downside, the next support lies at 1.0825 (July 3 low). Resistance, on the other way, is located at 1.0865 and 1.0900.

The Swissy also rose today against the Euro. EUR/CHF fell below 1.5200 during the American session. The pair reached at 1.5150 the lowest price of the day and also the lowest since the Swiss National Bank intervened in the currency market on June 24.

USD/CHF

USD/CHF (Jul 06 at 19:38 GMT)

1.0861/66 (-0.17%) H 1.096 L 1.0842

EUR/CHF

EUR/CHF (Jul 06 at 19:42 GMT)

1.5164/65 (-0.11%) H 1.521 L 1.5147

Forex: USD/CHF falls further to 1.0700

Wed, Jul 1 2009, 17:36 GMT
http://www.fxstreet.com



FXstreet.com (Córdoba) – Dollar weakened today against EUR, JPY and CHF. USD/CHF fell strong during the American session. The pair broke below 1.0745 and dropped to 1.0700. Current price is 1.0720/25 which is 1,25% below today’s opening price. The Swiss Franc reached today the highest price in more than a week and is also rising against the Euro and Cable.


FXstreet.com (Córdoba) – Dollar weakened today against EUR, JPY and CHF. USD/CHF fell strong during the American session. The pair broke below 1.0745 and dropped to 1.0700. Current price is 1.0720/25 which is 1,25% below today’s opening price. The Swiss Franc reached today the highest price in more than a week and is also rising against the Euro and Cable.

GBP/CHF
GBP/CHF (Jul 01 at 18:01 GMT)
1.7707/14 (-0.95%) H 1.7889 L 1.7679


USD/CHF
USD/CHF (Jul 01 at 18:02 GMT)
1.0733/35 (-1.16%) H 1.0887 L 1.0703

ERU/CHF
EUR/CHF (Jul 01 at 18:02 GMT)
1.5202/06 (-0.24%) H 1.5256 L 1.5192