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Credit card holders are facing fewer interest rate hikes and forking over sharply less in late fees.
A year after new regulations curbed a spate of questionable billing practices, federal officials say over-the-limit penalty charges have also been dramatically curtailed. The findings come from the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which will assume responsibility for administering the regulations once it’s officially up and running this summer. Get the full story »
China’s central bank raised interest rates on Tuesday, its second increase in just over a month, intensifying its fight against stubbornly high inflation. Get the full story »
Interest rates are now hovering near record highs, at an average rate of 14.72 percent. And if your credit is bad enough, you could even end up with a rate as high as 59.9 percent APR. Get the full story »
On the heels of disappointing fourth-quarter earnings that drove its stock down 5.7 percent Wednesday, Northern Trust Corp., Chicago’s biggest locally headquartered bank, said the recently announced hike on Illinois business taxes will reduce its profits by an estimated $4 million a year starting in 2012.
“If it doesn’t get vetoed, and we don’t think it will,” Northern Chief Financial Officer William Morrison said during an hour-long conference call to discuss fourth quarter results. Get the full story »
U.S. economic recovery may have started to gain traction and market expectations for stronger recovery have bid up interest rates, Federal Reserve Gov. Elizabeth Duke said Friday.
Duke, in prepared remarks to the Maryland Bankers Association, said she believes expectations will remain subdued despite signs economic recovery is gaining momentum. Get the full story »
The U.S. Federal Reserve opens a two-day meeting on Tuesday that is expected to conclude with a decision to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy to stir the tepid recovery out of its doldrums. Get the full story »
Shares of Northern Trust Corp. jumped 4.4 percent on Tuesday as talk swirled that HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, may be planning to make a bid for the U.S. trust bank and investment manager. Get the full story »
CME Group Inc. said on Monday that it had begun clearing interest rate swaps, the largest of the over-the-counter derivatives markets that lawmakers are forcing through more transparent venues.
The giant futures exchange operator named as participants in the clearinghouse five buyside firms, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and PIMCO, and 10 dealers, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase and Co. Get the full story »
The Federal Reserve’s new vice chairwoman warns that record-low interest rates may give companies an incentive to take excessive risks that could be bad for the economy. Get the full story »
The European Central Bank will face scrutiny on Thursday over its response to a growing global battle over currencies and a spike in market interest rates after it held interest rates at a record low 1.0 percent.
The rate decision came as no surprise as all 79 economists in a Reuters poll had predicted the ECB would leave rates on hold for the 17th month in a row. The median forecast is for no change until the fourth quarter of next year. Get the full story »
Urban Partnership Bank, the successor to the recently failed ShoreBank, has already boosted the interest rates on a couple of savings accounts for its online ShoreBank Direct.
The ShoreBank Direct Online Savings Account now pays a 1.25 percent annual percentage rate with a $100,000 minimum balance, up from 1.19 percent. It also pays 1.2 percent for balances of less than $100,000, up from 1.03 percent.
The rate hikes were first reported by www.depositaccounts.com, a tracker of bank account trends. Get the full story »
Interest rates fell again in the Treasury market, sending the yield on the two-year note to another record low, after a sharp drop in sales of existing homes added to worries about the economy.
The yield on the 10-year note continued to hover near levels not seen since March 2009. Get the full story »
Interest rates are lower in the Treasury market after a disappointing report on services businesses added to concerns that the economy is slowing. Get the full story »
The Federal Reserve acknowledged a faltering pace of U.S. economic recovery on Wednesday as it renewed its vow to hold benchmark interest rates exceptionally low for an extended period.
In a statement at the end of a two-day meeting, the Fed scaled back its assessment of the pace of recovery, taking note of pockets of weakness, and issued a cautionary note about volatile financial markets in light of Europe’s debt woes. But it stuck to its expectation that the economy will continue to gradually emerge from the worst recession in decades. Get the full story »
Associated Press | Interest rates surged in the bond market Monday after European leaders and central banks around the world agreed to rescue measures to help stem growing debt problems in Europe. European Union leaders and the International Monetary Fund agreed to a nearly $1 trillion aid package that will help weak European countries like Greece that are facing mounting debt problems. The U.S. Federal Reserve is also making loans available to central banks in Europe that can then loan the money out to financial institutions in their countries.
Get the full story: Interest rates up sharply on rescue plan news.
