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This is Money
Chancellor Alistair Darling is to announce a comprehensive rescue package for the embattled banks on Wednesday morning.
Alistair Darling to announce rescue package for banks
Speculation of co-ordinated interest rate cuts by the world's major central banks drove stock markets and gold prices higher.
Hopes rise for interest rate cut
The cost of inter-bank borrowing surged once again despite concerted efforts by central banks to resuscitate lending with substantial money-market injections.
Inter-bank lending rates surge
The global economy faces a much more serious downturn than almost anyone has until now realised unless international governments take immediate co-ordinated action to deal with the credit crisis, the International Monetary Fund warned yesterday.
IMF calls for action now to combat global recession
It looks as if ungumming world credit markets is going to take more than the US Treasury Secretary's $700bn bailout. Stephen Foley looks at the options.
What is Paulson's Plan B?
HBOS last night clinched the sale of its BankWest operation to Commonweatlh Bank of Australia as it part of its desperate action to shore up its balance sheet ahead of its rescue takeover by Lloyds TSB.
HBOS's Australian arm sold to Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Short-sellers barred from betting against financial services companies have instead stepped up their targeting of the UK's biggest pub companies and retailers as they try to cash in on the deteriorating consumer outlook.
Short-sellers turn on pubs and retailers
Pubs appeared to be have been forced into the toxic mix on Tuesday night as a huge line of Mitchells & Butlers was suddenly on the move. Some 90m shares in the All Bar One operator changed hands after the formal close of business in London at 130p apiece. That compares with a market price of 163p, which had already fallen 12 per cent during the day. Sources told FT Alphaville the stock belonged to Robert Tchenguiz, the Iranian property magnate, but the actual seller was Iceland�s Kaupthing, who were holding the shares as collateral.
The Tchenguiz positions are being liquidated
Personal pension funds have crashed by almost a fifth over the last year, following steep falls in world stock markets, a report said yesterday. In the last month alone, retirement savings have lost more than 10% of their value as investors sell their shares to avoid the worst effects of the credit crunch.
Pensions: Downturn has wiped one fifth off retirement funds
The South Korean government said it will investigate whether a speculative force behind the won�s recent slide against the dollar following the currency�s plunge to a seven-year low. The won tumbled by up to 7% on Tuesday, the most since December 1997 when a currency crisis forced the country to seek a $60bn bail-out from the IMF.
Korea to hunt won speculators
Russia said Tuesday it would pump $37bn in long-term subordinated loans into state-controlled banks in a fresh attempt to stem a deepening financial crisis that has seen the steepest losses ever on the Russian stock exchange.
Russia lends banks $37bn to stem crisis