Top Interest Rate Headlines 12-27-10: ECB Weekly Bond Buys Rise To E1.121 Bln In Week Ending Dec 24

ECB Weekly Bond Buys Rise To E1.121 Bln In Week Ending Dec 24
MarketNews.com
The European Central Bank significantly increased its purchases of sovereign EMU debt last week, the ECB announced Monday. The bank purchased E1.121 billion bonds through last Friday, December 24, it said. The figure was nearly double the E603 million in purchases made the week prior, which was the lowest amount settled since October, during which time the central bank made only E9 million in bond buys.
http://jlne.ws/h3N7ru

Citadel Founder Offers Thanks and Apologies on Anniversary - NY Times.com
By Azam Ahmed, DealBook
Kenneth C. Griffin, founder of the Citadel Investment Group, offered investors some thanks, apologies and wisdom on the 20th anniversary of his firm. In his year-end letter to clients, obtained by DealBook, he took the opportunity to outline the four main lessons gleaned over that period
http://jlne.ws/fm2FGt

AIG Gets $4.3 Billion of Credit as Insurer Seeks to Exit Bailout
By Noah Buhayar and Hugh Son, Bloomberg
American International Group Inc., the insurer bailed out by the U.S., garnered $4.3 billion in bank credit lines in another step toward repaying taxpayers and gaining independence.
http://jlne.ws/dPvd5Y

ICE Trust Withdraws Credit Default Swaps-Clearing Application
By Katy Burne, Dow Jones Newswires
A unit of IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) dedicated to clearing credit derivatives has withdrawn an application it had filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to be a clearinghouse under the post Dodd-Frank financial regulatory regime.
http://jlne.ws/hEm5aJ

H&R Block Says '11th-Hour' U.S. Bar Ends HSBC Refund-Loan Deal
BusinessWeek
H&R Block Inc. said an "11th-hour" decision by U.S. regulators prevents a lending partner from offering tax-refund loans and that it'll be hard to fully roll out alternative products in time for the 2011 season.
http://jlne.ws/gKdKjB

Citigroup's alternative Christmas carols
eFinancial News
Citigroup has cut it finer than usual with the release of its 2010 Christmas carols. But here they are, just in time and worth the wait.
http://jlne.ws/hpOe0L

Bailed-Out Banks Slip Toward Failure
By MICHAEL RAPOPORT - WSJ
Nearly 100 U.S. banks that got bailout funds from the federal government show signs they are in jeopardy of failing. The total, based on an analysis of third-quarter financial results by The Wall Street Journal, is up from 86 in the second quarter, reflecting eroding capital levels, a pileup of bad loans and warnings from regulators. The 98 banks in shaky condition got more than $4.2 billion in infusions from the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
http://jlne.ws/fndOSi

House Republicans plan to target regulatory overhaul, but repeal is unlikely
Macomb Daily
WASHINGTON - As the GOP prepares to seize control of the House in January, its members on the Financial Services Committee are vowing to reexamine the wide-ranging financial regulatory legislation passed earlier this year.
http://jlne.ws/fx9XNX

GE sells mortgage business to Santander
By Alan Rappeport in New York - Financial Times
GE Capital, the finance arm of General Electric, will sell its $2bn Mexican mortgage business to Santander Mexico for $162m as it continues to shed non-core assets.
http://jlne.ws/hjFxY8

Goldman Sachs ties bonuses to long-term profits
The Oregonian
Goldman has been a lightning rod for public criticism of Wall Street since the financial crisis that peaked in late 2008.
http://jlne.ws/gNSZ3R

UBS To Lift Swiss Staff Salaries By 2% Up To Middle ManagementBy Katharina Bart, Dow Jones Newswires
UBS AG (UBS) said Thursday it will increase salaries of staff in Switzerland up to middle managers by 2%, effective March 1, compared with a 1.2% hike last year.
http://jlne.ws/eq6EFF

Russia Adds 13 Banks to Advise on $59 Billion Asset Sales Plan
BusinessWeek
Russia has expanded the list of investment banks that will advise it on its planned $59 billion state asset sale program over the next five years.
http://jlne.ws/enQUbc

HSBC Names Keir as Global Head of Commercial Banking
BusinessWeek
HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest bank, named Alan Keir as global head of commercial banking in a further management reshuffle following the appointment of Stuart Gulliver as chief executive officer.
http://jlne.ws/dXmEfa

Desjardins to Buy Western Financial for $439 Million
BusinessWeek
Desjardins Financial Group, Canada's largest credit union, agreed to acquire Western Financial Group Inc. for C$443 million ($439 million) to expand in British Columbia and Alberta.
http://jlne.ws/eAHmzb