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

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.

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.

Europe?s central banks slash rates
Interest rates were slashed on a historic scale across Europe on Thursday as central banks reacted aggressively to the sudden and brutal deterioration in the economic outlook since the autumn.

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.

Brown urges banks to pass on rate cut
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged banks to pass on in full the Bank of England's latest rate cut as speculation mounted about what steps the Bank could take once its conventional ammunition was exhausted.

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).

Early Glance: Commercial Banks companies
(AP:NEW YORK) Shares of some top commercial banks companies are mixed at 10 a.m.: First Horizon fell $.34 or 3.4 percent, to $9.71. National City rose $.03 or 1.7 percent, to $1.83.

Early Glance: Investment Banks companies
(AP:NEW YORK) Shares of some top investment banks companies are mixed at 10 a.m.: Goldman Sachs fell $.20 or .3 percent, to $67.33. Merrill Lynch fell $.08 or .7 percent, to $11.83.

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.