All articles by Hugh Fasken
Hugh Fasken
HSBC’s annual Singapore sale goes green
In introducing the green element to our bank-wide sale this year, we seek to go beyond the conventional value weve delivered to them by helping them to invest in the future of our environment, which has the potential to impact our lives in a huge way, said HSBC Singapores chief executive officer, Guy Harvey-Samuel.It is in the interest of our customers and businesses like ourselves to do everything we can to help protect and conserve our environment, and we hope to raise, with the support of our customers, at least S$50,000 $33,000 for environmental research from the HSBC Green Sale.In addition to product discounts and give-aways, the bank donated to nature conservation programmes in Singapore for every product sold between 28 June and 28 July, the bank donated S$2.80 towards a National Parks Board (NParks) study of the rainforests of Singapore
Promise buys rival to form Japan’s biggest consumer finance firm
Promise, which boasts a market share of around 13 percent, is looking to acquire all the shares of Sanyo Shinpan, which has around 4 percent of the market (see below) On 31 July, Promise acquired Asahi Enterprise, the largest shareholder in Sanyo Shinpan with a 25.2 percent stake; the president of Sanyo Shinpan, who holds 19 percent of the company, has already agreed to tender his shares.
GE Money in Spanish joint venture
Unicaja and GE Money will each hold 50 percent in the joint venture, which will have a share capital of 25 million ($33.7 million) and a loan portfolio of 200 million, and inherit 500,000 cards from Unicajas current credit card business Unicaja is the eighth-largest financial services group in Spain; it operates in 15 provinces via 870 branches and has more than 2 million customers.This further enhances our presence in the Spanish market, said William Cary, president and CEO of GE Money EMEA Our growth strategy of partnering with best-of-breed partners in this and other markets is a key pillar in our organic growth strategy for the EMEA region.GE Money has been in Spain since 1963, but has recently begun to step up its efforts in the market through strategic alliances
Another good year for bank brands
HSBC and ING have again benefited from strong rises in their brand value, according to 2007s global ranking of brand strength from consultancy Interbrand and BusinessWeek magazine.HSBC was one of the highest overall performers, both in the rise of its brand value (up 17 percent) and its rank (up five places to 23rd)
The Caisses d’Epargne starts ethical labelling of retail banking products
Frances Groupe Caisse dEpargne, the countrys fourth-largest banking group by assets, has announced a raft of ethical and environment retail banking initiatives, including labellingits products with details about the financial risks they carry, the carbon intensity they carry or the activities they help finance, and the inclusion of social andor environmental criteria used in the design of the products. The system of labelling is part of a wider campaign by the French group called Bnfices Futur (Future Benefits), a comprehensive programme that Nicolas Mrindol, CEO of Groupe Caisse dEpargne, says will redefine the groups broad commitments in the area of sustainable development.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Moneysupermarket valuation tests market
In a sign of the continued strength as well as the high expectations of the online direct intermediation market in the UK, Moneysupermarket.com, the leading financial services comparison website in the country, has been valued at around £1 billion ($2 billion) followingplans to sell 40 percent to pay off debt, release capital and fund domestic and international expansion via an initial public offering at the end of July.
Retail banking profit falls for key US banks
Bank of America, for instance, the countrys largest retail bank,said that while overall second-quarter group profits have risen 5 percent year-on-year to $5.76 billion, bigger credit losses helped push consumer and small business banking profit down 23 percent to $2.46 billion. The bank said it had set aside $1.81 billion for credit losses, up 80 percent from a year earlier, while net charge-offs rose 46 percent to $1.5 billion
Asia to take over Europe in wealth league
The latest study of high net worth wealth by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch says that the population of high net worth individuals grew by 8.3 percent last year to 9.5 million, spurred largely by emerging wealth across Asia-Pacific
Vodafone ramps up m-banking
UK-headquartered Vodafone, the worlds largest mobile telecommunications group, is placing greater emphasis on mobile phone based banking, payment and remittance services. The group has published its latest policy report calling for a new regulatory framework to encourage mobile phone-based financial transactions in developing countries in an effort to transform access to financial services. In the UK, Vodafone has also just rolled out a basic m-banking service for its 17.4 million subscribers, offering customers of HSBC, First Direct, Alliance & Leicester and, from later this summer, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland, the ability to check their balance, request a mini-statement and top up their pay as you talk mobile phones