Geneva  - One of Switzerland's largest private wealth managers will have a new chief executive officer come May, aged only 34 years old, the Julius Baer bank announced Tuesday.

The private bank said Boris Collardi would take over from current CEO Johannes de Gier.

Collardi, a Swiss national born in 1974, worked for Credit Suisse before joining the private wealth manager in 2006.

The previous CEO of Julius Baer, Alex Widmer, died suddenly in December 2008 at the age of 52, amid rumours that it was a suicide.

Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said on Monday that capital restructuring of the state-owned United Bank of India (UBI) will soon be underway. The government-approved restructuring of capital will include over 80 percent reduction in paid-up equity, in an attempt to improve the monetary strictures of the bank.

According to a tie-up between Tata Motors and United Bank of India (UBI), the public sector lender will extend retail finance facility to customers purchasing the passenger vehicles of the bigwig automaker.

Madrid  - Spain could "continue being proud" of its financial system, Economy Minister Pedro Solbes said Monday, one day after the government announced its decision to bail out the savings bank Caja Castilla La Mancha (CCM).

It was the first such rescue in Spain during the global financial crisis, and made the government's constant reassurances about the solidity of the banking system ring increasingly hollow.

The lower-than-expected credit growth might just be enough reason for SBI - State Bank of India - to slash interest rates in the forthcoming new financial year.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the 53rd convocation ceremony of the Xavier's Labour Relations Institute in Jamshedpur, SBI Chairman O P Bhatt hinted at measures that India's largest lender intends taking for bringing down interest rates.

Madrid  - The central bank of Spain, a country whose banking system has remained largely untouched in the ongoing world financial crisis, has intervened to save regional savings institution Caja Castilla-La Mancha (CCM), the government said Sunday evening.

The Bank of Spain took control of CCM on Sunday and removed its board of directors, the government said.

Spain's Finance and Economy Minister Pedro Solbes said the savings bank had a large liquidity problem, in comments after a cabinet meeting.