HSBC expected to be picked to buy Korea First
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Korea First Bank, South Koreaâs eighth-largest lender, said it would make an announcement on Friday regarding a stake sale, with global banking giant HSBC Holdings Ltd.
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The transfer of North Korean funds that have been frozen in a Macau bank is to begin on Thursday, Japan's Kyodo news agency said, citing Macau financial authorities.
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SEOUL/LONDON  - HSBC  has agreed to buy a 51 percent stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB)  from U.S. private equity firm Lone Star for about $6.3 billion in cash to boost its profile in Asia's third-largest banking market.
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EBay Inc. (EBAY.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday said it will soon launch a tender offer to buy the remaining outstanding shares of South Korea&#39;s Internet Auction Co.
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HSBC Holdings , Europe's biggest bank, is acquiring The Chinese Bank Co. in Taiwan and will provide it with additional capital of between $300 million and $400 million, it said on Friday.
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Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia   BNS.TO confirmed on Friday it was looking out for   acquisitions in Malaysia but denied a report that it planned to   buy an indirect stake in the country's fourth-biggest lender.
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HSBC Bank USA will open a D.C. branch by the end of November in a bid to replace Riggs Bank as the city's premier diplomatic bank.
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LONDON/HONG KONG  - Shares of HSBC Holdings   dropped more than 2 percent on Thursday after the British lender announced its bad debt charge last year would be about $1.8 billion higher than expected.
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MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AU) may acquire up to 20% of mid-sized Chinese bank Jinan City Commercial Bank to secure a foothold in China&#39;s growing finance services sector.
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HSBC's agreement to buy a majority stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB)  is putting the South Korean banking sector under even more pressure to consolidate, amid growing prospects of privatization and sales.
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HSBC agreed to buy 51 percent of  Korea Exchange Bank from private equity firm Lone Star for $6.3  billion, in a deal that could propel the UK-based bank into the  top ranks of Asia&#39;s third-largest banking market.
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Standard Chartered is to expand its foothold in Asia with a deal to buy Korea First Bank for 3.3 billion dollars (2.5 billion euros) in cash, reportedly outbidding rival HSBC.
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Denmark&#39;s biggest financial group, Danske Bank, has agreed to purchase Northern Bank in Northern Ireland and National Irish Bank in the Republic of Ireland from National Australia Bank for Â£967 million.
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Standard Chartered Plc, a UK bank that makes two-thirds of its profit in Asia, will start talks to buy a 51 percent stake in PT Bank Permata, Indonesia&#39;s seventh- largest lender, after being named the preferred bidder.
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LONDON/HONG KONG  - HSBC's shares slumped to a 9-month low on Thursday after Europe's biggest bank announced its bad debt charge last year would be about $1.8 billion higher than expected as problems grew in its U.S. mortgage lending.
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Temasek Holdings, the biggest shareholder in Standard Chartered, increased its stake in the British bank to 18 percent, increasing the financial services investments in its $100 billion portfolio. Temasek bought 12 million shares of Standard Chartered, raising its holding by one percentage point, the bank said in a filing. Standard Chartered gets most of its profit from Asia and spent more than $2.7 billion since 2006 on acquisitions, including Hsinchu International Bank in Taiwan and Union Bank Ltd. in Pakistan. The shares purchased by Temasek, worth Â£220 million ($436 million), lift the total holding to 253.7 million shares.
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Lone Star Funds, the buyout firm founded by John Grayken, plans to sell a stake in Korea Exchange Bank for as much as $1.1 billion after its move to divest entirely was derailed last year by a legal dispute. Lone Star is offering 73.1 million shares, or 11.3 percent of Korea Exchange, for 13,150 to 13.750 won ($14.19 to $14.84) a share, according to an e-mail message sent to fund managers by the Credit Suisse Group, the investment bank arranging the sale. Shares in Korea Exchange fell 1.7 percent, to 14,600 won, up 14 percent this year. Lone Star, based in Dallas, has struggled for two years to sell the controlling stake it bought in 2003 as Korean prosecutors contend that the firm purchased the shares at an artificially low price. The sale of part of the Seoul-based bank would allow Lone Star to return money to investors while the case is pending and retain a majority stake.