05/11/2012

Europe banks' commodity units shrink despite profits

The flow of talent from both European and U.S. banks, which began two years ago after a decade of boom, reflects a longer-term fall in profits and tighter regulation of the banking industry, which has given trading houses and hedge funds greater scope to

05/11/2012

UniCredit Quarterly Net Rises 13%

UniCredit SpA, Italy's biggest bank, said first-quarter profit rose 13 percent as higher trading income related to the buyback of its securities offset a drop in fees and lending.

05/10/2012

KBC Profit Hit By Ireland Exposure

KBC Groep NV, Belgium’s biggest bank and insurer by market value, reported a smaller-than-estimated drop in profit on capital gains in the Belgian life insurance business and lower loan losses in all regions except Ireland.

05/08/2012

Boutique banks come back into fashion

The latest round of seasoned investment bankers to leave large investment banks could spawn the next wave of boutique advisory houses.

05/01/2012

RBS to spin off M&A unit into boutique operation

In January the UK government-owned bank announced that it is getting out of some of its non-core activities such as brokerage and equity markets and the M&A business as part of a global realignment of its business.

05/01/2012

Lloyds Banking Group profits hit by PPI claims

Taxpayer-backed Lloyds Banking Group revealed lower-than-expected profits today after it took an additional £375 million hit to cover payment protection insurance (PPI) claims.

04/26/2012

BBVA Q1 profits down 12.6% amid provisions

The second biggest Spanish bank BBVA said Wednesday that its first quarter profit fell 12.6 percent to one billion euros ($1.3 billion) amid provisions to meet criteria on cleaning up bad property loans.

04/26/2012

RBS set to spin off its M&A business

Around 45 M&A bankers from RBS will join the new firm, people familiar with the matter said, but there is no set timescale for the launch, which will be managed carefully to protect ongoing deals for existing clients.