Bank of England

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UK Hacks Rates by 1.5% as Markets Fall; EU Trims .5%

Grimmer-than-expected economic news pummels the global economy

(Newser) - The Bank of England—under massive pressure to stem the red ink drowning the continent's economy—slashed its key lending rate by an unprecedented 150 basis points today, reports Reuters. The move, which set the rate at 3%, dwarfed the 75-point cut market watchers had anticipated. Moments later the European...

Dow Down 74 After Volatile Day
 Dow Down 74 After Volatile Day 
MARKETS
Oct 29, 2008 3:19 PM CDT

Dow Down 74 After Volatile Day

Late rally evaporates after Fed confirms cut, but most of Tuesday's gains are preserved

(Newser) - Volatility ruled Wall Street today as investors waffled in their response to the expected Fed rate cut, MarketWatch reports. Though the session’s final hour saw the Dow rocket to a 250-point gain in light trading, that evaporated and the Dow closed down 74.16 at 8,990.96. The...

Global Stocks Pounded, Dollar Hits Record Highs

Greenback soars to 5-year high against the pound

(Newser) - Stocks in Asia and Europe dove once again today, with banks leading losses as the continuing economic downturn hit corporate profits. The Nikkei in Tokyo closed down 6.8%, and London's FTSE opened down 2.3% after the Bank of England said that the country is in a recession. Meanwhile...

Fed Joins 5 Central Banks in Shock Rate Cut

US, EU, UK, others offer 50-point reduction to reverse diving markets

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve and five other central banks cut interest rates by 50 basis points in an emergency attempt to stem the economic effects of the credit crisis, reports Bloomberg. The move brings the American benchmark rate to just 1.5%, while the European Central Bank and the monetary authorities...

Central Banks Scramble to Feed Cash Into Markets

Biz slows as bailout talks stall

(Newser) - The world's central banks are frantically spraying money into the economy to prevent it from seizing up as the US bailout package stalls and confidence plummets, Reuters reports. The holdup in Washington has made edgy commercial banks even more inclined to hoard cash and not lend to each other—leaving...

Europe's Markets Dive Despite Intervention

Central banks pump cash, but bourses tumble

(Newser) - Europe's central banks pumped huge amounts of cash into markets today as stock exchanges dove and interbank lending slowed to a trickle. Just after midday in London, the FTSE 100 was down by nearly 2%, with investment banks and insurers leading declines. The Bank of England injected $35.8 billion...

European Banks Loosen Purse Strings
European
Banks Loosen Purse Strings
Sep 15, 2008 10:02 AM CDT

European Banks Loosen Purse Strings

Inject billions into markets; offer more to keep crisis at bay

(Newser) - The weekend’s storm on Wall Street has prompted Europe’s central bankers to make billions of dollars available on the cheap to global money markets as a levee against a rising flood of fresh turmoil, the New York Times reports. The European Central Bank has pledged $43 billion and...

Bank of England Pressed to Rein in Inflation

Food, energy prices soar, push inflation to highest rate in 16 years

(Newser) - Great Britain’s inflation rate—driven by energy and food prices rising at the fastest pace in more than 20 years—is on track to hit 5% by autumn, reports the Guardian. The cost of living jumped 0.6% to a 16-year high of 4.4% last month, the largest...

Bank of England Launches Mortgage Swap Plan

Central bank would take on $100B in mortgages

(Newser) - Commercial banks will be allowed to temporarily swap some $100 billion in troublesome mortgages for securities backed by Britain's central bank under a plan announced today, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move by the Bank of England, aimed at boosting  liquidity and confidence in the banking system, follows similar...

Bank of England Cuts Interest Rate

Bank votes quarter-point cut to 5% as downward pressure mounts

(Newser) - The Bank of England today cut its benchmark interest rate 25 basis points to 5%, reports Bloomberg, hoping to keep the nation’s economy out of recession. Despite the third cut since December, BoE’s rate remains the highest among the Group of Seven industrialized nations; policymakers have drawn fire...

Mortgage Crisis Spreads Across the Atlantic

UK housing prices plunge; chancellor acts to shore up market

(Newser) - UK home prices tumbled 2.5% in February—the largest fall since the 1990s—as the International Monetary Fund warned that Britain could face a housing crisis similar to the US. British PM Gordon Brown insisted yesterday the decline was containable, but the Bank of England is now under serious...

London Bankers Drown Sorrows at Easter

As Bank of England mulls a bailout, bankers of England swill pints

(Newser) - As the Bank of England mulled injecting billions more into the nation's shaky financial system, bankers in the city of London swilled pints and reflected on their state of affairs, reports the Independent. "We are meant to be at work but we've come here for some solace," said...

Northern Rock: Post Mortem of a Spectacular Fall

Reckless play on global stage brought 'Northern Wreck' to its knees

(Newser) - The collapse of Northern Rock, Britains third-largest lender, was "the messiest banking crisis in the Western world resulting from the global credit crunch,'' a UK lawmaker tells Bloomberg in a post mortem of the disaster. “They really screwed it up,” said one analyst of the bank’...

Rogue Traders Bag $200M in Credit Hysteria

False emails drive down stock of UK mortgage lender

(Newser) - The UK's financial regulator is probing whether malicious traders attacked the share price of the country's largest mortgage lender yesterday by spreading rumors it faced a major liquidity crisis. The Telegraph reports that HBOS saw its shares plunge 20% as an email circulated suggesting the firm was facing trouble. The...

Fed Pours $200B Into Global Credit Relief Push

Central banks around the world try to ease liquidity problem

(Newser) - The Fed will inject huge quantities of cash into financial markets as part of a coordinated global attack on the credit crisis, Ben Bernanke announced today. The central bank will loan out another $200 billion, this time on a 28-day basis rather than overnight, the AP reports. The effort will...

UK Nationalizes Northern Rock
UK Nationalizes Northern Rock
Feb 17, 2008 12:52 PM CST

UK Nationalizes Northern Rock

Bank takeover marks desperate move for British ministers

(Newser) - British ministers plan to nationalize Northern Rock as part of a bold, desperate move to rescue the struggling bank, the BBC reports. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said two private bids to take over Northern Rock failed to offer “sufficient value for money to the taxpayer,” adding...

Bank of England Governor Gets 2nd Term

King reappointed despite criticism over Northern Rock

(Newser) - Mervyn King has won a second term as governor of the Bank of England, the Fed's British counterpart, ending months of speculation about his future. Reuters reports that King will serve at the head of the UK central bank for another five years despite the City's fury at his handling...

UK Cuts Interest Rates, But EU Holds Steady

Subprime woes force first rate cut in Britain in over two years

(Newser) - The Bank of England cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in over two years today, reducing the bank rate by a quarter-point to 5.5%. The cut drove the pound down to about $2.02, its lowest in 2 1/2 months. The European Central Bank in Frankfurt,...

UK Bank Chief Takes Heat After U-Turn

Rescue of Northern Rock leads to calls for resignation

(Newser) - The leader of the Bank of England, the Fed's counterpart in the UK, is facing substantial pressure to resign. Only last week Mervyn King had declined to offer loans for inter-bank trading to ease credit markets, vowing to discourage the "moral hazard" of risk-taking that led to Northern Rock's...

British Bank Rebounds as Panic Wears Off

Financial stocks see gains on Northern Rock guarantees

(Newser) - As the lines of people waiting to make withdrawals from Northern Rock bank dwindled today, the British lender’s stock rose, bringing with it other hard-hit British financials. Northern Rock's huge losses in the mortgage market sparked a sell-off, drawing emergency funds from the Bank of England. But the government's...

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