Co-operative Bank Launches First Development Fund for Co-Operatives in Developing Countries

June 18th, 2009 MANCHESTER - Following the recent launch of a new market leading 3 year tracker mortgage, (2.39%* 27.05.09)The Co-operative Bank is reminding customers looking to make the most of low interest rates, to act now if they want to take advantage of some of the lowest rates available. Since launching the new 3 year tracker, The Co-operative Bank has secured many new mortgages applications, and seen a 75% uplift in new mortgage business.

June 18th, 2009 MANCHESTER, England - The Co-operative Bank is donating GBP28,358 to help community groups across the UK carry on making a positive difference, through its Community Directplus account. The Community Directplus account gives community groups a bank account with free banking, with the added bonus of being able to gain additional financial support for their community projects.

June 18th, 2009 MANCHESTER - The Co-operative Financial Services has launched a new interactive web self-service solution to improve customer experience on its website www.co-operativebank.co.uk. This new intelligent web self-service allows customers to get fast, accurate answers to queries about products, services and finance on The Co-operative Bank website.

May 28th, 2009 MANCHESTER, England - Most People Spend Their Wages by the 20th of the Month New research by The Co-operative Bank Current Accounts has revealed that the 20th of the month, is the day by which most people have spent their wages. The research shows that despite the current economic climate, many people appear to be burying their heads in the sand, by adopting a 'live for today' attitude and spending over half their wages on nights out and shopping trips within the first 11 days of being paid.

May 28th, 2009 MANCHESTER - Having to pay and display whilst visiting loved ones in hospital is life's biggest injustice payment according to new research released by The Co-operative ISA's. Hospital parking charges head the top 20 of raw deals, with 1 in 6 (17 per cent) people citing fees for visiting sick friends and relatives as the thing they hate to pay most for, making some so angry that they deliberately risk being clamped by refusing to pay.

May 28th, 2009 MANCHESTER, England - Against a backdrop of the mortgage industry prediction of 75,000 repossessions this year, new figures from The Co-operative Bank Mortgages show that despite the current economic climate, the number of repossessions at The Co-operative Bank has actually halved over the past 12 months. Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders estimated that the number of repossessions during 2009 will jump by 67% to 75,000.

May 28th, 2009 MANCHESTER, England - The Co-operative Bank is launching a new family travel and lifestyle benefit package which can be added to any Co-operative Bank Credit Card product offering customers an opportunity to choose benefits to suit their personal needs. The new benefits are available for a monthly subscription of GBP8.50 and could save customers a massive GBP500* and will be available from Thursday 23 April.

May 28th, 2009 MANCHESTER, England - New research released today by smile the internet bank from The Co-operative Bank has revealed that men need 27% more money than women to be happy, believing that to be truly happy they would need a total of GBP1,249,619 highlighting their bread-winning personality, whereas women would settle for GBP983,799. The study also found that women are 5% happier than men, 64% of women confirmed they were truly happy while only 59% of men did.

May 28th, 2009 MANCHESTER, England - The Co-operative Insurance has launched a new range of specially designed sector-specific, flexible packaged business insurance products. The range of tailored insurance products have been developed to meet the protection needs of the self employed, shop and salon owners, publicans, restaurateurs, hoteliers, office and surgery owners and residential property owners.

April 20th, 2009 LONDON - The Southern Co-operative today launch their 'aids for daily living' business: co-operative Xest. This brand new home shopping concept will offer a range of products that make life just that little bit easier.

May 30th, 2009 MANILA - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) expressed concern Saturday over the unabated increase of carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles in the region's developing countries. The Manila-based bank said that while developed countries are still responsible for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector, emissions from developing countries in Asia are growing rapidly.

April 25th, 2009 World Bank to aid poor countries with public worksWASHINGTON — The World Bank said Saturday it would provide poor countries with more than $55 billion for public work projects left in limbo when the recession dried up capital investment. The goal is to create jobs and lay the foundation for future economic growth and poverty reduction.

April 26th, 2009 World Bank: Nations should speed aid to poorWASHINGTON — The World Bank on Sunday urged donor nations to speed up delivery of the money they've already pledged — and to give even more — to help poor countries weather the steep global recession. The bank said developing countries face especially serious consequences as the financial and economic crisis turns into what it described as a "human and development calamity." In a communique, the World Bank's policy steering committee said the crisis has already driven more than 50 million people into extreme poverty, particularly women and children.

April 24th, 2009 Developing countries hit harder by global crisisWASHINGTON — Developing countries are being hit harder by the global financial crisis than industrialized nations and need urgent and unprecedented help to cope with it, the Group of 24 countries said Friday. Among the effects of the crisis the developing countries are experiencing are falling prices for their commodities and exports, a decline in money transfers their citizens send from abroad, a sharp reduction in foreign direct investment and exposure to the credit crunch other countries are facing.

February 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - World Bank's chief economist Justin Lin has called for the establishment of a $2-trillion Global Recovery Fund to help the low-income countries to cope with the current financial crisis. Lin, who proposed for the setting up of the massive fund Monday, said it was in 'the spirit of Marshall Plan for the development' that would help the low-income economies to invest in the bottleneck areas and achieve sustained growth.

March 23rd, 2009 BEIJING - Developing countries deserve more say in the decision-making process for the reform of the international financial system, World Bank Vice President James Adams has said here. 'Developing countries as a whole are much more important to the overall functioning of the world economy...

May 3rd, 2009 BALI ISLAND - Japan will establish an emergency fund of up to 60 billion dollars in the event of an Asian financial crisis, Japanese Finance Minister Kauru Yosano said Sunday. The fund is separate from the amount Japan committed to the Chiang Mai Initiative, a $120 billion regional foreign-exchange reserve pool, Yosano told a seminar of the Asian Development Bank's board of governors on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

June 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Warning that the world is entering an era of slower growth, the World Bank Monday said that without India and China, the developing countries' output would shrink 1.6 percent. But with the two Asian engines of growth included, developing countries are expected to grow by only 1.2 percent this year, after 8.1 percent growth in 2007 and 5.9 percent growth in 2008.

April 2nd, 2009 LONDON - Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has said that there is a need to substantially increase the existing resources for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the tune of 500 billion dollars in the next two years as an interim step and also to double the IMF quota in near future for the developing countries.

September 25th, 2009 PITTSBURGH - The Group of 20 (G20) nations Friday agreed to increase the voting power of developing countries at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by at least five percent. "We are committed to a shift in IMF quota share to dynamic emerging markets and developing countries by at least five percent from over-represented countries to under-represented countries using the current quota formula," G20 leaders said here in a statement.