From Mr Michael Maslinski, on Thursday…
Sir, Richard Lesmoir-Gordon (Letters, June 
is undoubtedly right in his conclusion that the excessive reliance on mathematics and financial models has driven out the traditional banking skills of “common sense, assessment of character, knowledge of history, how countries and cultures differ and experience of life”… Read more
Six regional banks have repaid funds borrowed from the US Treasury in the financial crisis, returning $2.7bn to taxpayers, reports the FT. The US government spent $389bn bailing out the financial system more than two years ago. Many of the largest US banks and insurers have since repaid the emergency funds, underlining the weaknesses of those still in the scheme and helping drive merger activity among regional banks. The latest crop includes four of the top 25 largest remaining Tarp recipients. The US Treasury said on Wednesday that Huntington Bancshares, First Horizon National, Wintrust Financial, Susquehanna Bancshares and Heritage Financial each bought back all the government’s outstanding preferred shares and paid out dividends. A sixth lender, Bank of Kentucky Financial, repurchased half of the Treasury’s preferred shares. Read more
Shares in US regional banks tumbled on Monday, marking a third day of losses for the sector on concern that lenders may be forced to take further writedowns and dilute shareholders with new capital. The KBW BKX index for large banks dropped 2.95% to a more than 10-year low, as every stock in the 24-member index fell, led by sharp drops for Huntington Bancshares, Sovereign Bancorp and Comerica. Huntington fell by more than 13%, Sovereign Bancorp by more than 8%, and Comerica by nearly 7%.
Rising losses at regiona banks on residential construction and home equity loans underscore how the financial crisis is shifting from big banks’ writedowns on complex derivatives to consumer-related problems for smaller banks. Read more
US regional bank Huntington Bancshares reached a deal to buy its Ohio neighbor, Sky Financial Group, for about $3.6bn in stock and cash. The transaction values each share of Sky at $30.22, a 25 per cent premium to its closing price on Dec. 19, Reuters said. Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns advised Huntington while Sandler O’Neill & Partners advised Sky. Read more
1Bernanke weighs in on robot wars; brings Keynes for backup
2Secret liquidity and Scottish independence
3Spain's awful unemployment
4S&P 2,100, by Goldman Sachs
5Pump up, debase
Show more6Buyback to enrich
7Collateral crunch-counting gets sophisticated
8Apple Operations International, facts (?) du jour
9In which the FTSE puts the crisis behind it
10Everlasting credit, the long view
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