We are still lending, assert CEOs of top US banks

September 24th, 2009 Banks trim borrowing from Fed as credit improvesWASHINGTON — Banks reduced their borrowing from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending facility over the past week, and cut back their use of other programs designed to ease the financial crisis. The reductions indicate that banks are having an easier time borrowing in private markets for short-term loans.

August 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The White House billed four corporate CEOS for having lunch with President Obama on Friday, a day after the latter organized a so-called "Beer Summit" with a black Harvard professor and a police sergeant where the drinks were on the house. According to Politico, the lunch was arranged in the private dining room located adjacent to the Oval Office.

June 1st, 2009 Bailed-out banks lent less money in MarchWASHINGTON — Banks that received taxpayer bailouts had a lower average level of loans outstanding as of the end of March than a month earlier, the Treasury Department reported Monday. Five hundred of the more than 600 banks participating in the $700 billion financial system rescue had an average of $5.24 billion in loans oustanding on March 31, down 0.8 percent from the $5.28 billion average they showed at the end of February.

May 8th, 2009 Banks, investment firms draw less from FedWASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve says banks and investment firms borrowed far less over the past week from its emergency lending program, a hopeful sign some credit stresses are easing. The Fed says commercial banks averaged $40.9 billion in daily borrowing over the past week that ended Wednesday.

May 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Black CEO's having warmer physical appearances or 'babyfaceness' tend to be at the helm of more prestigious corporations, a new study has revealed.ead author Robert Livingston, Kellogg School of Management, and co-author Nicholas Pearce examined the link between physical characteristics and their role in obtaining and maintaining power in the corporate world. Livingston, assistant professor of management and organizations, and other researchers found that babyface features clearly helped black CEOs in gathering leadership roles and further posed as disarming mechanisms.

April 8th, 2009 MUMBAI - Concerned over the rising non-performing assets (NPA) and high cost of deposits, India's bankers Wednesday told the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that there was not much room for lending rates to go down. 'If there is a sharper downturn, it can further impact the asset quality.

March 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The state-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) feels it would be difficult to lower lending rates any further if the government did not slash interest rates on existing deposits. 'The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is not reducing interest on savings bank deposits.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Banks have lent Rs.1.36 trillion (Rs.136,586 crore) to the agriculture sector in the first eight months this fiscal as against a full year target of Rs.2.8 trillion. As per the figures released by the government Monday, the commercial banks have lent Rs.96.6 billion, while cooperative banks and regional rural banks have lent Rs.251.2 billion and Rs.148.

February 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Facing criticism about their use of billions of dollars in government aid, top executives from eight of the America's largest financial institutions, including Citibank's Indian American CEO Vikram Pandit, Wednesday asserted they are continuing to lend. At a closely-watched hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Pandit said: 'American people are right to expect that we use funds responsibly, quickly and transparently to help American families, businesses and communities.' 'They also have a right to expect a return on this investment,' said Pandit.

February 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Stung by criticism about use of billions of dollars in government aid, Citigroup's Indian American CEO, Vikram Pandit has vowed to take a token salary of $1 and no bonus until the ailing banking giant returns to profitability 'I get the new reality and I will make sure Citi gets it as well,' Pandit said Wednesday as lawmakers grilled top executives from eight of America's largest financial institutions about their apparent lack of willingness to lend despite collectively receiving $165 billion in capital. 'We will hold ourselves accountable for what we do, and that starts with me,' said Pandit, who collected a salary of $1 million last year.

January 20th, 2009 LONDON - Two of Britain's biggest customer-owned banks are to merge to create a new business in a streamlining effort resulting from the credit crunch, it was announced Wednesday. Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) and Britannia building society said they agreed a deal that would create a business with assets of 70 billion pounds ($97 billion), nine million customers and more than 12,000 employees at 300 branches.

January 5th, 2009 TORONTO - Higher oil prices helped the Canadian market maintain its upward trend from the New Year's first day, with energy and metal sectors posting further gains on the Toronto stock exchange (TSX). The Canadian dollar also made major gains against the US dollar, edging 1.77 cents higher to close at 84.03 cents US even as the country's finance minister met with top banks to discuss availability of credit to stimulate the economy.

January 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Two more state-owned banks joined the banking community in cutting lending rates by 50 to 70 basis points. In a regulatory statement, State Bank of Travancore announced Friday that it had revised the benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) from 13.25 percent to 12.75 percent with effect from Jan 1.

December 23rd, 2008 TORONTO - With the Canadian finance minister blaming them for not giving enough loans to stimulate the economy and issuing an ultimatum, major banks have hit back, issuing reports and advertisements to rebut the charges. Giving them a deadline last week, finance minister Jim Flaherty had said: 'We expect the banks to provide adequate credit in Canada'.

December 22nd, 2008 MUMBAI - A senior member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Tuesday said there was more room for rate cuts by the end of this financial year. Maintaining that the central Reserve Bank of India (RBI) still had room to cut short-term lending rates, council chairman Suresh Tendulkar said: 'A one percentage point cut in both repo and reverse repo rates is desirable.' He added that inflation is expected to decline to around 4-5 percent by the end of this fiscal.