London - Britain's Northern Rock mortgage lender, which was nationalized in the wake if the credit crisis, reported losses of 585 million pounds (1.17 billion dollars) Tuesday for the first six months of 2008.

The Newcastle-based bank, which was taken under "temporary" government control in February, said most of the loss came from the charges it took to cover losses from struggling mortgage borrowers.

However, Northern Rock also paid back a loan of 9.4 billion pounds from the Bank of England, reducing the amount owed to 17.5 billion pounds. The figures published Tuesday relate to the period from January up to the end of June.

Country's leading credit rating agency ICRA Limited (ICRA) has informed that it has signed MOU with Canara Bank.

London  - Britain's HSBC bank Monday reported a 28-per-cent drop in pre-tax half-yearly profits to 10.2 billion dollars (5.2 billion pounds) as a result of the "toughest conditions in financial markets for decades."

The leading international bank said it saw profits drop 3.9 billion dollars in the first six months up to the end of June, as its North American arm reported a loss of 2.8 billion dollars.

London - Britain's HSBC bank Monday reported a 28-per-cent drop in pre-tax half-yearly profits to 10.2 billion dollars (5.2 billion pounds) as a result of the "toughest conditions in financial mar

Private sector lender Bank of Rajasthan (BoR) has finally received shareholders' approval for issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 1 share for every 5 shares held. The approval was received at the bank's annual general meeting held at Udaipur. Further, the bank has also received shareholders' approval for payment of 5% dividend for the year ended March 31, 2008. The shareholders have also approved the re-appointment of P N Bhandari, Magh Raj Calla, K N Bhandari and Sunil Behari Mathur as Directors of the bank.