AEGON, the owner of Transamerica Corp., has confirmed that it is currently examining the possibility of acquiring a thrift in the United States. This would potentially allow the company to qualify for the U.S. government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). …
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its ‘A+/A-1’ long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on Netherlands-based insurance group AEGON N.V. S&P also affirmed its ‘AA’ long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on AEGON’s core operating insurance entities. …
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its ‘AA-/A-1+’ counterparty credit ratings on both ING Groep N.V. and ING Verzekeringen N.V. S&P also affirmed its ‘AA/A-1+’ counterparty credit ratings on ING Bank N.V., and said that “the outlook on all …
The Bank of Beijing, which is 16 percent owned by the Netherlands ING Groep NV, said on Tuesday it is in talks to buy a 50 percent stake in one of ING’s life insurance ventures in China from the venture’s …
One of Pat Oliphant’s more recent editorial cartoons shows presidential candidate John McCain held in the trunk of an enraged elephant labeled “The Economy.” “My friends,” says McCain to a bewildered Barack Obama and Sarah Palin, “kindly pay no attention …
A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the financial strength rating to ‘A+’ (Superior) from ‘A’ (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating to “aa-” from “a+” of New Zealand’s AMI Insurance Limited. Best also revised the outlook for both ratings to stable …
French bank BNP Paribas agreed to scoop up assets in Belgium and Luxembourg of banking and insurance group Fortis for €14.5 billion ($19.66 billion) to become the Euro zone’s biggest deposit bank. The move followed a weekend of frantic talks …
Fortis, the Belgian-Dutch banking and insurance giant, faced a takeover or break-up as European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet held emergency talks with Dutch and Belgian lawmakers to restore faith in the Belgian-Dutch financial group. Trichet, who as ECB [European …
U.S. lawmakers rejected a $700 billion bailout plan for the financial industry in a shock vote that sent global markets sliding as the world credit crisis claimed more banks. By a vote of 228-to-205 the House rejected a compromise plan …
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley sought shelter with the Federal Reserve to survive a financial storm that destroyed their rivals as Wall Street braced for a week of political wrangling over a proposed $700 billion bailout for troubled banks. Morgan …
