Banks borrow less, investment firms borrow more
WASHINGTON -- Commercial banks borrowed slightly less from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program over the past week, while investment firms stepped up their loans.

Kashkari Says TARP Working, Banks Obligated to Lend (Update1)
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury?s $700 billion financial-rescue plan will benefit consumers and businesses because banks have an obligation to lend money they receive from the government, the head of the program said.

Treasury?s Kashkari Says TARP Working, Banks Obligated to Lend
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury?s $700 billion financial rescue plan will benefit consumers and businesses because banks are obligated to lend money they receive from the government, the head of the program said.

Brown Urges U.K. Banks to Pass on Rate Cuts as Three Hold Out
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Gordon Brown stepped up pressure on British banks to give consumers the full benefit of a reduction in interest rates as three lenders resisted growing demands from politicians to do so.

Banks' emergency Fed borrowing falls
Commercial banks have borrowed less from the Fed in the past week, but the central bank is lending more to investment firms.

Banks face pressure on rate cut
Banks come under pressure from MPs to cut interest rates for mortgage customers, but savers may suffer.

U.S. to Speed Investment From China Banks, State Fund (Update2)
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. agreed to speed up approvals for Chinese financial institutions seeking to invest in the country, as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tries to find ways to unlock frozen credit markets and stabilize banks.

Banks face pressure on rate cut
MPs pressure banks to pass on 1% cut in interest rates to customers as HBOS offers only 0.25%.

Lithuanian Banks to See Increase in Bad Loans, Moody?s Says
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Lithuanian banks are likely to suffer from an increase in bad loans, lower profitability and worsening asset quality over the next year as economic growth declines, Moody?s said.

Asian Funding Costs Rise as Banks Hoard Cash Before Year-End
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Asian financing costs advanced this week, with Japanese loan rates rising to the highest in a decade and South Korean lenders paying close to a record to borrow U.S. dollars as banks hold onto cash to meet end-of-year funding needs.

Brown will force banks to pass on full rate cut
Gordon Brown issued a stark warning to banks today, demanding that lenders must pass on yesterday's full 1 per cent interest rate cut to their customers.

Banks told 'to save construction jobs'
Banks must pass on the rate cut in full, with thousands of jobs threatened by an accelerating slowdown in the construction industry, the opposition says.

Pol rips banks over holiday foreclosures
Shame on you, Subprime Scrooges. Ten banks that threaten to take away New Yorkers' homes during the holidays - after receiving $122 billion in taxpayers' bailout dough - got a dressing-down Thursday from state Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx).

British banks tentative on mortgage plan
LONDON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Several British banks Thursday contradicted the government's claim that they had endorsed Prime Minister Gordon Brown's mortgage rescue plan.

Australian Funding Costs Rise as Banks Hoard Cash at Year-End
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Australian funding costs rose for a third day to the highest in a week as banks held on to cash to meet year-end funding needs. The difference between the rate Australian banks charge each other for three-month loans and the overnight swap rate, a measure of funding scarcity, jumped 12 basis points to 77.3 basis points in Sydney.

ASIA G3 BOND OUTLOOK: Asian Banks Hostage To Waiting Game
SINGAPORE -(Dow Jones)- The waiting continues. Cash-challenged Asian banks (outside of Japan and Australia) are on the verge of benefiting from the opening of the U.S. and European markets for guaranteed debts.

Hong Kong Home Prices May Fall More as Banks Tighten Lending
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong home prices, already down almost a quarter from their five-year high in March, may drop further as banks tighten mortgage lending on concern rising unemployment may hurt buyers' ability to repay.

Spanish banks take over property firm
Six Spanish banks have taken control of the country's biggest property developer Metrovacesa. Swapping debt for shares, the owners of the company are giving 55% of their stock to the banks. Each bank is also buying 1.8% of the company's shares at ?57 per share.

Banks under pressure to cut borrowing costs after rate cut
Banks under intense pressure after Bank of England cut rates to two per cent as low as at any time in 300year history.

China Urges Big Banks To Set Up Units For Loans To Small Cos
BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- China's banking regulator said Friday it is encouraging the country's largest banks to set up separate units that would lend to small enterprises.