Santander

Seven more banks have agreed to join the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) review of sales of interest rate hedging products to SMEs.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the credit rating on 28 Spanish banks, including Banco Santander, less than a month after cutting the nation's sovereign rating.

The sale of 318 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) branches to Grupo Santander of Spain has been hit by more delays, The Times reports.

The government has launched a scheme to help small businesses access cheaper finance through discounts on loans.

Analysts are predicting a wave of increases in mortgage interest rates after Halifax announced it would increase its standard variable rate (SVR) to 3.99% from 3.5% in May.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Santander £1.5m for failing to confirm to customers the circumstances under which its structured products would be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

Santander is reducing the maximum loan to value on its interest-only residential deals to 50%, in a move it hopes will encourage some borrowers to select a capital repayment mortgage.

After another year of uncertainty for investors, structured products offer a defined outcome, but they remain under the regulatory microscope.

Jersey-baed Santander Private Bank has sharpened its deposit interest rate offering saying it's responding to the "abnormally low interest rate environment" that has seen UK base rate remain stuck on its record low of 0.5% for nearly three years.

Lloyds Banking Group CEO António Horta-Osório is to return as group chief executive on 9 January 2012 after a period of medical leave.