BofA and Citibank Among Top 10 Western Europe Credit Card Issuers

The Top 10 credit card issuers in Western Europe based on number of cards in issue last year is listed below: [TABLE=584] Source: Lafferty Group Barclays Plc(BCS) of the UK tops the  ranking with over 13 million cards issued thru its Barclaycard division. It is interesting to note that Bank of America’s MBNA unit(BAC) and …

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600 Banks Have Not Yet Repaid TARP Funds

In an earlier article I wrote about the success of the TARP program. This $700 billion bailout government program is officially ending on Monday. According to a Wall Street Journal piece, more than 600 banks are still holding $65 billion of the bailout funds.Many of these banks are too weak to repay the government funds. …

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10 U.S. Public Companies With Strong Insurance Subsidiaries

SNL Financial recently published its ranking of publicly-listed companies which have strong insurance units. Banking giants Bank of America(BAC), Wells Fargo(WFC) and Triton Insurance, a subsidiary of Citigroup(C)  appear in the top 10 list. These companies were selected based on the first quarter financial performance of their insurance divisions. The Top 10 Companies with Strong …

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Was TARP a Success to the US?

The Troubled Asset Recovery Program (TARP) was started by the U.S. government in 2008 to purchase assets and equity from troubled financial institutions and strengthen the sector at the height of the credit crisis. Billions of tax payer funds were loaned to banks and other lenders thru this program. According to a report in The …

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