In an unexpected move, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday cut the repo and reverse repo rates by 50 basis points each. With that, the repo rate stands lowered to 5% and reverse repo to 3.5%, an all-time low and on a par with savings account rates.

The repo is the rate at which banks borrow funds from the RBI, while reverse repo is the rate at which banks park surplus funds with the central bank. Lower exports, falling industrial production and disappointing GDP numbers were reasons the central bank gave while urging banks to continue funding "creditworthy enterprises."

Stockholm - Swedish banking group SEB's share price was up some 7 per cent Wednesday after it detailed terms for its 15-billion- kronor (1.6 billion dollar) rights issue.

New shares were to sold for 10 kronor, offering a premium compared to Tuesday's closing price of 31 kronor. Owners of five old shares were to be offered 11 new shares.

The rights issue was announced a month ago when the group released its full-year 2008 report. SEB then said it would not pay a dividend. The two measures would raise the capital base to 19.5 billion kronor.

The havens of ill-gotten wealth can be opened up, given strong government will

Under pressure from federal authorities, Swiss bank UBS is closing the hidden offshore accounts of its well-heeled American clients, potentially allowing their secrets to spill into the open.

In a step that would have once been unthinkable in the rarefied world of Swiss banking, UBS will shut about 19,000 accounts that prosecutors suspect have gone undeclared to the Internal Revenue Service. UBS will transfer the assets to other banks or other divisions within UBS, or will mail checks directly to the account holders, creating paper trails for federal prosecutors who are examining whether UBS clients used such accounts to evade taxes.

Washington  - US government officials warned they may need even more money to stabilize the country's crumbling financial sector as they launched a new
1-trillion-dollar programme Tuesday designed to unfreeze credit markets.

The US Treasury and Federal Reserve said they would begin directly lending up to 200 billion dollars by March 25 to help restart securitization markets, a critical component of the struggling US economy that provides loans for small businesses, cars, student tuition, credit cards and other core sectors.

Washington - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday slammed insurance giant American International Group Inc (AIG) for taking needless risks and helping bring the US financial system to its knees.

In testimony before Congress, Bernanke said AIG was critical to the stability of the wider financial system, but the central bank head made clear that he was uneasy about the government's nearly 200- billion-dollar investment in the world's largest insurance company.

Washington  - The US government on Tuesday launched a new programme designed to unfreeze credit markets by taking a direct role in lending for small businesses, cars, student tuition, credit cards and other core sectors of the struggling US economy.

The US Treasury and Federal Reserve said they would begin lending up to 200 billion dollars by March 25 to help restart securitization markets, a critical component of the US economy that has virtually come to a halt since the financial crisis exploded in September.