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BANKS DoJ broadens evasion search The US Department of Justice has informed several HSBC customers that they are the subjects of a criminal investigation into potential tax evasion, people familiar [...]

US mortgage lenders are having so much trouble reaching troubled borrowers to arrange loan modifications that some are mailing customers free mobile phones in the hope of getting them to [...]

Retail banking Whether wrangling with a new consumer protection agency or being held to stricter underwriting standards for home loans, retail banks are preparing for broad changes due to the [...]

News analysis Wall Street is relaxed about a shake-up that is tough but could have been worse, write FT Reporters US bank stocks enjoyed a relief rally as uncertainty surrounding [...]

Morgan Stanley yesterday agreed to pay $102m to settle a suit brought by the state of Massachusetts charging that it had provided financing for predatory subprime loans, writes Suzanne Kapner [...]

banks Banks appear to be scoring an early victory against new rules designed to curb fees they charge customers who overdraw their accounts. Their success is a sign that not [...]

Experts had forecast 6% increase Purchases of previously owned homes in the US fell unexpectedly in May as the expiration of government support sapped sales, adding to fears that the [...]

Debit card fees charged to retailers could be cut under a deal on financial reform hatched by congressional negotiators that hits banks but protects Visa and MasterCard. A conference committee [...]

real estate US authorities said yesterday that they have charged 1,215 people with mortgage fraud in cases involving an estimated $2.3bn in losses. The sweep, which involved multiple agencies and [...]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are set to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, paving the way for a broad overhaul of the large government-controlled US mortgage finance [...]

Levy on bonuses could reduce earnings Goldman Sachs in line to pay $600m-plus US banks will foot a total bill of about $2bn ([pounds sterling]1.35bn) in their second-quarter results to [...]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are set to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, paving the way for a broad overhaul of the large government-controlled US mortgage finance [...]

Mortgage unit accused of unfair practices Litton receives high number of complaints Goldman Sachs is facing a wave of complaints from consumers over the business practices of its mortgage servicing [...]

Wall Street Goldman Sachs was not the only investment bank to dive into the business of collecting mortgage payments. Back when the housing market was booming, most large financial groups [...]

Mortgage servicers earn fees by collecting monthly payments from home owners, writes Suzanne Kapner in New York . They also supervise the payment of real estate taxes and property insurance [...]

Mortgage unit accused of unfair practices Litton receives high number of complaints Goldman Sachs is facing a wave of complaints from consumers over the business practices of its mortgage servicing [...]

Case study When Litton Loan offered Joleen Bailey and her husband Jesse a chance to enter into a 'trial' modification plan in May 2009, she thought that she had found [...]

News analysis Suzanne Kapner and Francesco Guerrera report on the bank's Litton loan business As ever-darker clouds have gathered over Goldman Sachs in recent months, its executives have relied on [...]

Wall Street Goldman Sachs was not the only investment bank to dive into the business of collecting mortgage payments. Back when the housing market was booming, most large financial groups [...]

real estate Bureau prepares for hundreds of arrests The Federal Bureau of Investigation is preparing a nationwide crackdown on mortgage fraud, the latest in a series of efforts to curb [...]

A congressional panel yesterday attacked the US government's rescue of AIG in 2008 and said the $180bn-plus bail-out of the stricken insurer continued to have a 'poisonous' effect on capital [...]

banks Move would help firm's expansion Merger possibility not ruled out Sandler O'Neill, the boutique investment bank that lost more than a third of its employees in the September 11 [...]

US consumers unexpectedly increased their borrowing in April, but the gains were driven mainly by auto loans, as car dealers continued to offer incentives to boost sales. Overall borrowing rose [...]

LIFE ASSURANCE UK group remains hopeful of new deal AIG 'considering alternative options' Prudential was last night still hoping to strike a new deal with US insurer AIG for its [...]

Barclays said yesterday it had agreed to sell HomEq Servicing, which collects mortgage payments from homeowners in the US, to HomEq's rival Ocwen Financial Corp for $1.3bn in cash, becoming [...]

banks The US government made a profit of about $1.3bn on the sale of the first tranche of its 27 per cent investment in Citigroup and intends to sell more [...]

banks $18bn profit for 8,000 banks Pace of troubled banks start to slow US banks recorded their best quarterly profit in two years during the first three months of 2010 [...]

banks Strong profit rise for financials FDIC says 'many problems' remain US banks had their best quarterly profit in two years during the first three months of 2010, driven by [...]

Clash over control of enlarged unit Santander, the Spanish financial group, is stepping up its efforts to expand in the US and has held talks about merging its operations there [...]

BANKS Angry homeowners protested outside JPMorgan Chase's annual meeting in New York yesterday as Jamie Dimon, the bank's chief executive, defended its record in modifying mortgages for hard-pressed borrowers. At [...]

CAN WE CHANGE THE STANDFIRST TO AVOID THE WORD 'CLASH' PLEASE ? Santander, the Spanish financial group, is stepping up its efforts to expand in the US and has held [...]

Banks Thomas Weisel Partners, the San Francisco investment bank, and one of its former executives have been accused of 'stuffing' the accounts of three corporate customers with auction rate securities [...]

banks Goldman chief helps ShoreBank Rescue package of $125m needed Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs chief executive, is playing a personal role in helping to arrange a $125m rescue for a [...]

Immigrant workers in the US have started sending more money back to their home countries after cutting back sharply last year, yet another sign that the global economy is showing [...]

Non-life insurance Benmosche vows to pay back bail-outs Robert Benmosche, AIG chief executive, told shareholders at yesterday's annual meeting that the beleaguered insurer would continue to earn a profit and [...]

general financial Fannie Mae said yesterday it would need an additional $8.4bn in aid, as the US government-controlled mortgage finance company continued to suffer heavy losses on its bad loans. [...]

Payday lenders are ramping up their lobbying in a last-ditch attempt to scuttle new financial restrictions, writes Suzanne Kapner in New York. The industry, which makes short-term, high-cost loans to [...]

GENERAL FINANCIAL Lender to settle with pension funds Countrywide Financial, one of the subprime lenders at the heart of the US housing meltdown, agreed yesterday to pay almost $624m to [...]

AIG yesterday reported a $1.45bn first-quarter profit, as core property and life assurance operations stabilised and it continued to sell ancillary businesses, writes Suzanne Kapner in New York. The insurance [...]

general financial MasterCard's global purchase volume up More spending on discretionary items MasterCard yesterday said it had benefited from a rebound in consumer spending, particularly in Asia and Latin America [...]

Banks GMAC, the troubled car and home lender that received a taxpayer bail-out, yesterday reported its first profit since the financial crisis and said it would change its name to [...]

Owners 'walk away' as home values fall Researchers point to 'contagion effect' A growing number of people are walking away from their homes because they owe more on their mortgages [...]

Sign of financial system improving Banking confidence increasing overall The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is lowering its estimate for bank failures, an important sign that the financial system, while still [...]

Boards Bank of America yesterday named Charles Holliday, former chief executive of DuPont, as its new chairman, replacing Walter Massey, who is to retire this year. The board appointment followed [...]

A former Goldman Sachs executive told a Senate hearing yesterday that he did not remember whether he knew of the 'bad reputation' of a subprime lender that supplied more than [...]

banks Small business borrowers return Rise in demand for corporate financing CIT Group, the large commercial lender that became a casualty of the credit crisis, returned to profit yesterday following [...]

US community bankers are adding to a chorus of industry opposition against proposed legislation to tighten financial regulations, claiming that the new rules could put them out of the mortgage [...]

banks Wells Fargo's first-quarter earnings fell 16 per cent as the bank continued to struggle with souring loans to home owners and real estate developers, but provisions to cover future [...]

News analysis Critics say the proposals will hit profits without cutting risk, write Sharlene Goff and Brooke Masters The banking sector strongly criticised Inter-national Monetary Fund proposals to impose new [...]

Bank of New York Mellon reported strong first- quarter earnings, continuing the upbeat news from the financial sector. It reported first-quarter earnings of $601m, or 49 cents a share, compared [...]