Citigroup has won its first battle for Wachovia, as Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos has temporarily blocked Wells Fargo from acquiring the troubled U.S. bank Wachovia. Citigroup had signed an exclusive agreement with Wachovia and even provided funding for the troubled bank last week; however, on Friday Wells Fargo announced a takeover bid valued at $15 billion for the troubled bank. Wells Fargo's... More

TCF Financial Corporation reported Wednesday that it will eliminating positions due to cutbacks in the bank\'s annuity business. The bank reported that it is no longer taking on any new accounts; however, it would continue servicing its existing accounts. Jason Korstange, Spokesperson for TCF, reported that the move was not due to current market conditions, but was a move as part of the banks efforts... More

Despite Wachovia's agreement with Citigroup, Wells Fargo has decided it now wants control of the bank. Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $15.1 billion for the bank much higher than Citigroup's agreement to purchase the bank for $2.1 billion. Under the Wells Fargo deal, each Wachovia shareholder will receive 0.1997 shares of Wells Fargo for every share they own. The move values Wachovia at roughly $7... More

Swiss Bank announced Friday that it plans to cut 2,000 jobs. The majority of the job cuts will come from the U.S. The investment banking unit has led to UBS having record massive losses and write downs totaling 45 billion this year.

Merrill's CEO John Thain who helped broker the agreement to sell Merrill to Bank of America is planning to stay with Bank of America. He will resume the position of president of global banking and lead up the division of securities and wealth management for the two companies, essentially managing the businesses previously run by Merrill.

UBS AG reported Thursday that it expects to report a profit in its third quarter. The news sets a positive sentiment that a dismal year of U.S. sub-prime losses may be close to an end. UBS is Switzerland's largest bank, and has been one of the hardest European banks hit by the U.S. mortgage crises.

Shares of Washington Mutual have been desisted from the New York Stock Exchange and are now only trading on pink slips under the symbol WAMUQ. The shares closed at 8 cents on Tuesday.

In an all stock deal, Citigroup acquired Wachovia's banking division. Citigroup is planning to raise $10 billion in stock sale as well as cutting its dividend in half in order to preserve capital. As part of the agreement Citigroup will receive Wachovia's deposit network giving it more then $600 billion in deposits in the U.S.

Citigroup & Wachovia have entered into preliminary merger negotiations. Both banks have been hit hard by the credit crisis. Any negotiations between the two companies may be directly dependent on how the current bailout proposal surfaces.

Visa announced this week that it is planning to develop financial applications for Google's mobile operating system Andriod. The applications will allow cardholders to receive notifications and track transactions on their mobile phones. The application will also utilize GPS technology to pinpoint nearby ATMs. Visa hopes to have applications ready by the end of the year. The company also hopes to... More

Washington Mutual was seized by regulators Thursday making it the largest bank failure in U.S. history. JPMorgan has agreed to acquire the deposits. Washington Mutual has lost 95 percent of its value in the last twelve months and has suffered nearly $6.3 billion in subprime related losses in the last 3 quarters.

In what may be the largest bank failure in U.S. history, Washington Mutual could be seized by regulators as early as today. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is planning to take control of Washington Mutual, according to CNBC. JPMorgan is looking to acquire the failing bank possibly as early as tonight.

Berkshire Hathaway is buying $5 billion of perpetual preferred shares and $2.5 billion in common stock of Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs just this week transformed itself from being the largest U.S. investment bank to becoming the fourth largest bank in the U.S.

Both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanely, currently the largest independent investment banks in the U.S., have now become banks. As banks they will be subject to far greater regulations by the Federal Reserve. The move allows the two companies to be able to finance their activities with insured deposits; however, now they will no longer be able to leverage as much capital in order to make the huge returns... More

Citigroup is now considering making an offer for Washington Mutual in hopes of taking advantage of current market conditions. The move comes just months after Citigroup was desperately attempting to solve its own problems. WaMu is facing steep write downs and met with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. just last week.