ABN Amro is to acquire a 9% stake in the Instinet-led consortium that owns the Tradepoint stock exchange operator. 30-Dec-1999

Card Clear, the credit card security group, is planning to float off its online and telephone businesses for up to £50m, in order to increase its stock market rating. 29-Dec-1999

Prudential is forming a £16m joint venture with China International Trust & Investment Corporation to provide life assurance in the city of Guangzhou. 21-Dec-1999

Jellyworks is raising £1m in a share placing, in order to help fund a £20m project to provide a range of financing options to internet start-up companies. 20-Dec-1999

Bank of Scotland is considering plans to sell its 56% stake in BankWest of Australia for about £440m, in order to help fund its hostile bid for National Westminster Bank. 20-Dec-1999

Euro Sales Finance is to expand its invoice discounting and factoring business into France through a joint venture with L'Assurance Universelle. 20-Dec-1999

The government is planning to ban mortgage lenders from insisting that borrowers take out home insurance with their nominated insurers, in order to increase competition and provide greater choice. 18-Dec-1999

Inter-Alliance is to set up a finance centre in Middlesbrough, and is looking to recruit a team of 25 financial advisers and support staff. 17-Dec-1999

Halifax is to recruit a further 600 staff for its internet bank at a second site near Edinburgh, on top of the 500 already being hired at Edinburgh Park. 16-Dec-1999

Standard Chartered has withdrawn from a deal to acquire control of Bank Bali from the Indonesian government. 16-Dec-1999

Hawkpoint Partners is to set up an equity capital markets business, in order to provide advice on initial public offerings, capital increases and share buybacks. 16-Dec-1999

Halifax is planning to dispose of 210 high street properties that are no longer required following its merger with Leeds Permanent. 13-Dec-1999

Lloyds TSB has announced an internal reorganisation as it moves further into e-commerce, and three new divisions have been created to handle customer management, retail distribution and IT. 11-Dec-1999

Barclaycard is considering plans to provide free smartcard readers to its 10m credit card holders, in an attempt to revolutionise internet-based transactions. 10-Dec-1999

Interactive Investor International is planning to raise £30m in a flotation in order to fund the development of its internet-based personal finance business. 10-Dec-1999

Garban Intercapital is linking up with Zions Bancorporation in order to build an online moneybroking business, and Zions will take a 5% stake in Garban for £11m. 10-Dec-1999

Versailles, the trade finance group, has had its shares suspended and independent accountants have been appointed to investigate its procedures. 09-Dec-1999

Norwich Union has sold its marine insurance portfolio to St Paul Syndicate Management for undisclosed terms. 09-Dec-1999

Ernst & Young is in discussions to merge its IT and consulting arm worldwide with Cap Gemini. 08-Dec-1999

Tullet & Tokyo is to launch the world's first electronic futures exchange in cross-border telephone calls, in partnership with Telstra and Telia/Telenor. 07-Dec-1999

PwC is shedding 200 consultancy jobs in the UK, as part of a strategy to focus on e-business. 02-Dec-1999

Investin Securities is opening the UK's first day trading centre in London, enabling investors to buy and sell US stocks from an initial 12 trading desks. 01-Dec-1999

Brewin Dolphin is to hire a London-based team of fund managers from Williams de Broe in a £12m deal, in order to expand its private client stockbroking business. 01-Dec-1999

CPP, the credit card insurance company, is relocating its senior management from London to York, and plans to open a new office building next year. 30-Nov-1999

Standard Chartered is to acquire 89% of Metropolitan Bank of the Lebanon for undisclosed terms. 30-Nov-1999

Deloitte & Touche is to close its Leicester office and relocate staff to a new East Midlands regional office in Nottingham by June 2000. 29-Nov-1999

Royal Bank of Scotland is forming a joint venture with CGU to create insurance policies for its banking customers, and CGU will pay about £150m for a 50% stake in RBS's life subsidiary. 29-Nov-1999

Schroder Investment Management is to cut the number of dedicated UK fund managers from 40 to 24, and then rehire them as account managers responsible for client relationships. 27-Nov-1999

CGU has agreed a £124m IT outsourcing deal with IBM, which will involve IBM supplying further equipment and support at CGU's Perth office. 26-Nov-1999

Next is looking to sell its Clydesdale consumer credit business, which could be worth up to £100m, but will keep its Ventura call centre operation. 26-Nov-1999

National Westminster Bank is planning to set up a private banking service for affluent customers called NatWest Priority Banking. 25-Nov-1999

Prudential is forming alliances with CNP Assurances of France and Signal Iduna of Germany, as part of a strategy to sell co-branded insurance products in continental Europe. 25-Nov-1999

Ellen Group, the supplier of credit hire and car repair services, has raised £3.3m in a flotation on Ofex, in order to fund three new distribution centres in Essex, Edinburgh and south Wales. 23-Nov-1999

National Westminster Bank has cut 90 jobs in its internal management consultancy department, in order to save £3m a year. 22-Nov-1999

Charterhouse Bank has agreed to acquire and occupy two office buildings at the Paternoster Square development in London. 20-Nov-1999

Folgate Insurance is creating 60 new jobs in its commercial lines business over the next three years, but 30 personal lines staff are being axed. 19-Nov-1999

Weatherall Green & Smith has acquired the Bristol operation of rival property consultant HSBV. 18-Nov-1999

Reliance Mutual Insurance is to close all its business centres around the country and shed its entire salesforce, due to the effect of pensions mis-selling. 18-Nov-1999

Admiral Insurance, the car insurer, has sold a 60% stake to Barclays Private Equity for £110m. 17-Nov-1999

Lambert Fenchurch, the insurance broker, has received a £133m takeover approach from an undisclosed company. 17-Nov-1999

Northern Rock is to close 29 of its 105 bank branches with the loss of 250 jobs, but 100 new jobs will be created at a call centre in Sunderland and a further 300 will be recruited at its Newcastle head office to work on e-commerce. 16-Nov-1999

Charles Stanley, the stockbroker, is to provide the online dealing service for Prudential's Egg internet banking division. 16-Nov-1999

PwC is said to be considering plans to float its consultancy operation, as part of an internal review to reflect the growing importance of e-commerce. 16-Nov-1999

Barclays has announced plans to close 200 branches next year, as more customers are moving to its telephone and internet-based banking services. 15-Nov-1999

Bank of Ireland is linking up with Irish Life & Permanent to launch a joint bid for Ulster Bank, the Irish banking operation being sold by National Westminster. 12-Nov-1999

ITG is planning to raise £45m in a share placing in order to fund the expansion of its network of card payment terminals from 2,700 to 40,000 over the next 18 months. 10-Nov-1999

EDS is planning to create up to 300 more jobs at its new call centre in Peterlee, where it provides loan services to Lloyds TSB customers. 09-Nov-1999

Lambert Fenchurch, the insurance broker, is in preliminary talks that could lead to a takeover approach for the company. 06-Nov-1999

Alliance & Leicester is planning to sell its Park Lane headquarters in London, and the 30 staff will be relocated to a smaller office. 05-Nov-1999

McLarens Toplis, the loss-adjuster, is to set up a £3m claims management centre in Portsmouth with the creation of 100 jobs. 04-Nov-1999

Deutsche Bank has awarded a £4m construction management contract to revamp offices in central London. 04-Nov-1999

Tesco is to launch an internet banking service in partnership with the Royal Bank of Scotland. 04-Nov-1999

Countrywide Assured is planning to set up franchises to double the size of its financial services distribution network to 1,500 branches. 04-Nov-1999

Prudential is to cut almost 1,500 jobs, which will involve closing all 103 support branches, shedding a quarter of the direct sales force, and a further 200 job losses in its Scottish Amicable business. 03-Nov-1999

Woolwich is forming a joint venture with 145 independent financial advisers in a £20m deal with Marsh & McLennan. 03-Nov-1999

BWD Securities of Leeds is planning to buy Nicholson Barber, the Derbyshire-based independent financial advisers. 02-Nov-1999

Card Clear, the credit card fraud prevention company, is to demerge its US subsidiary and parts of its UK operation, and a new company will be created to buy the two divisions and seek a stockmarket listing. 01-Nov-1999

Abbey National is to close its administrative banking centre in Billericay by the end of the year with the loss of up to 100 jobs. 29-Oct-1999

Hyder is to invest £30m in Lincoln in order to run financial services for Lincolnshire County Council, and up to 500 jobs will be created on top of the 700 employees being transferred from the council. 29-Oct-1999

Norwich Union is in discussions with Caixa Catalunya in an attempt to gain management control and a substantial stake in the Spanish savings bank. 29-Oct-1999

Bain & Company, the business consultancy, is to supply temporary office space to internet start-up companies at its headquarters in London, as part of a strategy to invest £25m in the businesses in return for equity stakes. 28-Oct-1999

National Westminster Bank is to cut 1,000 head office jobs and 650 corporate banking jobs, and has also announced plans to sell off four units - Ulster Bank, Gartmore, NatWest Equity Partners, and Greenwich NatWest. 28-Oct-1999

Enba of Ireland is linking up with Wit Capital of the US to launch an internet investment bank in the UK, France and Germany early next year. 28-Oct-1999

Barclays is to set up an electronic market to connect customers and suppliers via the internet, which will enable companies to significantly reduce their procurement costs. 27-Oct-1999

Svenska Handelsbanken of Sweden is to set up a banking operation in the UK, providing a full range of services from offices in Birmingham and Manchester. 27-Oct-1999

First Trust has launched an internet banking service called First Trust Online in Northern Ireland. 26-Oct-1999

HSBC is to recruit a further 120 staff for its banking call centre in Swansea, in order to set up a 24-hour service. 23-Oct-1999

DJ Freeman, the law firm, is seeking 80,000 sq ft of offices in the City of London in order to relocate its headquarters. 23-Oct-1999

Northern Star is shedding 20 jobs at its insurance business in Gloucester, as part of a reorganisation prompted by its recent acquisition by Fortis. 22-Oct-1999

Friends Provident is to close its banking division in order to focus on life insurance and pensions. 22-Oct-1999

Lloyds TSB is planning to have 1m of its customers using internet banking by the end of next year, but will not set up a separate entity for the online operation. 22-Oct-1999

Woolwich is to cut 300 jobs, mostly at head office, in order to save £13m a year and focus its operations on the Open Plan integrated banking service. 21-Oct-1999

CrestCo is forming an alliance with the Depositary Trust Company of the US to reduce the cost of transatlantic equity dealing for private investors. 19-Oct-1999

Hogg Robinson, the financial services and business travel group, has rejected a £275m takeover approach from Active Value Advisors. 19-Oct-1999

Bank of Ireland has introduced a range of internet banking services for businesses in Northern Ireland, under the name Business On Line. 19-Oct-1999

Ernst & Young has moved about 120 staff into new offices at City Gate West in Nottingham, following the reorganisation of its East Midlands division. 19-Oct-1999

Norwich Union has won approval to set up a life assurance company in Poland. 16-Oct-1999

Cazenove & Co, the stockbroker, is outsourcing the running of its computer systems to IBM, which will involve the transfer of about 100 staff. 15-Oct-1999

Hill House Hammond is moving one of its Bristol-based insurance call centres to new premises in The Pithay, where it will create up to 150 jobs. 14-Oct-1999

Apax Partners is planning to sell a 25% stake in its corporate finance and securities operation to Gold-Zack of Germany for £35m, which will involve merging Apax's offices in London and Manchester into a new company. 14-Oct-1999

Direct Line is forming a joint venture with Yasuda Mutual in order to set up a motor insurance business in Japan. 14-Oct-1999

Bradstock, the insurance company, is planning a restructuring programme following the termination of discussions to sell the business. 13-Oct-1999

Abbey National is setting up a new office in Leeds to house the regional sales and operations teams of its First National Invoice Finance business. 12-Oct-1999

The government has announced plans to make it easier for people to buy and sell houses, which will involve the introduction of a "sellers pack" that includes information about the property and a survey. 12-Oct-1999

Standard Life Investments has opened a new headquarters in Edinburgh's George Street, and is planning to expand its third party asset management business. 12-Oct-1999

PwC is to reorganise its network of legal firms under a new name - Landwell - as part of a strategy to create one of the world's top five law firms within five years. 11-Oct-1999

Century Mortgages and Mortgage Control Services, two North Yorkshire-based mortgage brokers, have been closed down by the Department of Trade & Industry due to fears that they offered bad advice to homeowners. 09-Oct-1999

J Rothschild Assurance has announced plans to set up a new 42,000 sq ft headquarters in Cirencester. 09-Oct-1999

Woolwich is to invest £125m in a new internet and digital TV banking service called Open Plan. 08-Oct-1999

National Westminster Bank has abandoned hopes of taking over Legal & General, following the Bank of Scotland approach for NatWest. 07-Oct-1999

Bradford & Bingley Building Society is to create up to 200 new jobs in the Bingley area, having decided to centralise its operations in West Yorkshire, but a call centre in Leamington Spa will close with the loss of up to 275 jobs. 06-Oct-1999

Halifax is to set up a separate internet and telephone banking division at a cost of £100m, with the creation of 500 jobs in Edinburgh. 06-Oct-1999

Eagle Star has won back a £50m contract to supply household insurance to Alliance & Leicester, which could save the 150 jobs under threat at its Brighton office. 05-Oct-1999

Shell is planning to add new features to its Euro-Shell fuel payment card, such as credit facilities and financing for trucks, as part of a new push by the group into financial services. 04-Oct-1999

First Active is to close its Belfast branch and agency network in Northern Ireland, as part of a strategy to centralise its operations in Epsom. 02-Oct-1999

Prudential is acquiring a 58% stake in Chinfon Life Insurance of Taiwan for £21m, as part of an ongoing strategy to expand in Asia. 01-Oct-1999

Barclays has appointed David McLean Contractors to refurbish about 120 bank branches. 30-Sep-1999

Bank of Scotland has announced a number of internet banking initiatives, including a Dutch mortgage business and holiday package service in partnership with the Scottish Tourist Board. 30-Sep-1999

Close Brothers is planning to expand its corporate finance business in continental Europe, and is also seeking opportunities for its Winterflood Securities share trading division. 29-Sep-1999

Co-operative Bank is to launch an internet banking subsidiary, and aims to undercut traditional banks and provide a full range of services. 29-Sep-1999

Nationwide is testing a new caller identification system developed by Vocalis that can recognise customers by their voice on the telephone. 29-Sep-1999

Ockham is to launch a new motor insurance business outside the Lloyd's market, targeted at unusual categories of driver. 29-Sep-1999

Peoples Choice is to set up a call centre in Leicester for its motor and household insurance business, creating 600 jobs. 27-Sep-1999

Prudential is considering plans to float its Egg direct banking business next year. 27-Sep-1999

Bank of Scotland has launched a £22bn hostile takeover bid for National Westminster Bank, and plans to sell NatWest's Gartmore fund management arm, its Greenwich capital markets unit and Ulster Bank. 25-Sep-1999

Reliance National Insurance Company is to set up a new regional underwriting office in Bristol to service brokers in the South West, Midlands and Wales. 24-Sep-1999

Exchange Holdings is looking to spend £50m on acquisitions to expand its internet personal finance business, and negotiations are taking place with potential joint venture partners in continental Europe. 24-Sep-1999

Penta Capital has been set up in Glasgow by five former Royal Bank Development Capital executives in order to manage a new £100m UK mid-market venture capital fund. 22-Sep-1999

Bank of Montreal is to shed about 40 of its 100 London-based jobs by relocating a number of foreign exchange and capital markets functions to Toronto and Chicago. 22-Sep-1999

CrestCo is planning to launch a major recruitment programme in order to help with the development of its Crest securities settlement system. 22-Sep-1999

Smithson Mason Group, the Leeds-based insurance broker, is relocating more than 60 staff to a new headquarters in New Wortley, leaving the specialist professional risks unit at its existing premises in Clarendon Road. 21-Sep-1999

BNP, the French bank, is to cut 400 jobs in London over the next three years following its merger with Paribas. 21-Sep-1999

Cornhill Insurance has withdrawn from the UK healthcare insurance market due to the effect of competition. 21-Sep-1999

Merrill Lynch is to set up a private equity operation in London in order to invest up to £1.3m in European assets. 18-Sep-1999

Churchill Insurance has announced an expansion programme that will create 280 jobs, including 160 telesales jobs at its new Bromley headquarters, 90 jobs at its call centre on Teesside, and 30 at its new accident repair centre in Rotherham. 17-Sep-1999

National Westminster Bank is linking up with Orange to develop the next generation of cashpoint machines capable of topping up pre-paid mobile phones, greeting customers by name and reminding them of anniversaries. 17-Sep-1999

HSBC is launching a 24-hour TV banking service for customers with access to digital satellite television, and will later add other products such as travel and health insurance. 16-Sep-1999

Payden & Rygel of the US is launching a fund management subsidiary in the UK, which will be based in London's NatWest Tower. 16-Sep-1999

Halifax is to set up a banking call centre in Belfast with the creation of an initial 700 jobs. 14-Sep-1999

Equitable Life is planning to develop its operations in Germany and Ireland by selling savings and pensions products to both local people and expatriates. 13-Sep-1999

Scottish Amicable is to create a further 100 financial processing jobs in Stirling following the transfer of the life and pensions administration business of M&G. 09-Sep-1999

Barclays is planning to set up a £200m network of venture capital funds in order to provide loans to companies through the eight new English regional development agencies. 09-Sep-1999

Leek United, the Staffordshire-based building society, has rejected a £30m bid from Murray Financial, the company set up to acquire mutual societies in preparation for the launch of an internet bank. 07-Sep-1999

Royal & Sun Alliance is to reorganise its UK life assurance business, which will involve the disposal of its tied agents operation and the loss of several hundred sales jobs. 06-Sep-1999

National Westminster Bank is in negotiations to acquire Legal & General for about £11bn, in order to create a major new financial services group. 03-Sep-1999

Domestic & General, the domestic appliance breakdown insurer, is to create 50 new jobs at its call centre in Nottingham, while a smaller centre in Wimbledon will be closed. 02-Sep-1999

Arnott-Century is creating 20 new jobs as part of an expansion of its insurance business in the north-east. 02-Sep-1999

Card Protection Plan has awarded a contract to Harrison for the construction of a £7m operations centre in York. 02-Sep-1999

Bank of Scotland has awarded a five-year contract to BT Syncordia Solutions for the outsourcing of its voice, data and mobile telephone networks. 02-Sep-1999

Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette of the US is to offer research to UK investors by launching its full range of broker reports online next year. 01-Sep-1999

Direct Line is launching a web site that it claims will offer the fastest "quote and buy" service in the market for motor and home insurance. 01-Sep-1999

Bank of Scotland is to start offering mortgages in Ireland, with the intention of undercutting the main housing lenders by at least 1%. 25-Aug-1999

Bristol & West is to set up a new call centre in North Bristol employing 200 people, in order to build up its position in the telephone and postal banking sectors. 24-Aug-1999

Industrial Bank of Japan is to merge with Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and Fuji Bank, which could affect 1,400 jobs in London and 6,000 worldwide. 20-Aug-1999

Lloyds TSB is said to be seeking a major acquisition in Spain as part of a strategy to build up its banking business in continental Europe. 16-Aug-1999

Halifax is to outsource its credit card processing to EDS, which will result in more work for EDS sites in Swansea, Durham and Sheffield. 16-Aug-1999

EasyJet is to set up an internet bank next year, in an attempt to shake up the financial services industry by undercutting traditional high street banks. 14-Aug-1999

CGU is testing the feasibility of selling general insurance to the public via interactive TV. 12-Aug-1999

Norwich Union is in negotiations to acquire the general insurance activities of Royal London, which could lead to the loss of up to 130 jobs at Royal London's head office. 12-Aug-1999

Willis is planning to set up a commercial network of independent provincial insurance brokers, and is seeking 30 partners by the end of the year. 11-Aug-1999

Providian National Bank, the US credit card company, is considering plans to set up an office in Crawley with the creation of 500 jobs. 05-Aug-1999

Barclays has announced plans to cut a further 1,000 jobs in its international banking operations, as part of an ongoing programme to centralise processes and introduce new technology. 05-Aug-1999

British American Tobacco has launched a £4.2bn takeover bid for Imasco of Canada, and intends to sell off Imasco's financial services business and retain the Imperial Tobacco division. 04-Aug-1999

Admiral Insurance is planning to establish a call centre in the US, in order to service UK customers after working hours but within the normal US working day. 03-Aug-1999

HSBC has said it might train its 1,500-strong Midland Bank direct salesforce to be independent financial advisers, in order to sell more investment products to its 8m customers. 03-Aug-1999

Prudential is to invest up to £150m in its Egg banking division this year, and aims to launch new internet-based personal finance and investment businesses. 30-Jul-1999

Alliance & Leicester Girobank is pulling its personal banking division out of Birmingham with the loss of up to 100 jobs, and the business will be combined with existing operations in Leicester. 29-Jul-1999

Abbey National is planning to launch an internet bank, and may also set up a private banking service under the Cater Allen brand name. 29-Jul-1999

Halifax is planning to launch an internet share dealing and banking service in September. 28-Jul-1999

Lloyds TSB is planning to close its custody and fund trusteeship business, which employs 825 staff, and transfer customers to the State Street bank. 27-Jul-1999

Britannia Building Society is said to be planning to sell its Britannia Life insurance business and a 50% stake in its fund management arm to Britannic Assurance. 26-Jul-1999

Sun Life & Provincial is looking to make another major acquisition in the life assurance market, following the recent purchase of Guardian Royal Exchange. 26-Jul-1999

Misys is planning to launch two online personal finance businesses next year - one aimed at consumers and the other at independent financial advisers. 23-Jul-1999

Barclays has awarded a two-year facilities management contract to WS Atkins, covering 3,000 bank branches across the country. 22-Jul-1999

Liverpool Victoria is to cut about 400 jobs in Bournemouth later this year in order to reduce costs in its insurance and pensions business. 22-Jul-1999

Prudential has launched an internet-only bank account through its Egg banking division. 21-Jul-1999

Wise Speke has relocated its Teesside stockbroking office to larger premises in Thornaby. 20-Jul-1999

Charles Schwab is to set up a customer call centre in Milton Keynes with the creation of 450 jobs, in order to cope with the rapid growth in internet share dealing. 20-Jul-1999

HSBC's Auto Direct division is planning to relocate its motor insurance operation to a new £1m call centre at the Trentham Lakes employment park in Stoke, creating almost 200 jobs. 19-Jul-1999

Lloyds TSB is to shut its Abbey Life fund management unit and transfer the funds to its Hill Samuel Asset Management division. 16-Jul-1999

Royal Bank of Scotland is forming a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to provide acquisition finance for deals of up to £400m. 15-Jul-1999

Woolwich is to offer financial services to the 3.5m customers of the Littlewoods mail order catalogue, in a £5m joint venture that is expected to be profitable within 18 months. 13-Jul-1999

Alexander Knight Financial Management is planning to create 10 jobs in Yarm near Middlesbrough, having been awarded the Allied Dunbar financial consultancy franchise. 12-Jul-1999

The government is to give more commercial freedom to the Royal Mint, but has shelved plans for a partial privatisation. 10-Jul-1999

MB&G Insurance Services is creating 200 additional jobs at its call centre in North Shields over the next 18 months. 09-Jul-1999

Allied Dunbar is seeking 70 additional financial advisers and support staff at its North East regional office on the Newcastle Business Park. 08-Jul-1999

United Assurance has announced a deal to outsource its general insurance business to Churchill Insurance, in which Churchill will sell buildings and contents insurance under the United Friendly brand. 08-Jul-1999

KPMG is planning to set up a nationwide network of corporate financiers and is acquiring the Leeds team of SG Hambros. 07-Jul-1999

KPMG is to close its Swindon office in September, and most of the 30 staff will relocate to Reading and Bristol. 06-Jul-1999

Derbyshire Building Society is to launch a telephone banking service and up to 50 jobs could be created over the next few years. 06-Jul-1999

CGU Life has acquired 49 estate agency branches from the Halifax for undisclosed terms. 06-Jul-1999

Teather & Greenwood, the independent stockbroker, is planning to recruit up to 20 research and sales staff in order to double its marketmaking activities this year. 06-Jul-1999

Clifford Chance is in discussions to merge with Punder Volhard Weber & Axster in order to increase its presence in the German law market. 06-Jul-1999

Ulster Bank has announced plans to restructure its operations by separating its capital market activities from its retail and banking division. 05-Jul-1999

Exchange Holdings, the internet-based supplier of services to independent financial advisers, is planning to raise up to £200m in a flotation this summer, in order to fund expansion plans and acquisitions. 02-Jul-1999

Cox Insurance is to set up a call centre in Bradford with the creation of 200 jobs. 01-Jul-1999

Staffordshire Building Society is to cut 82 administration jobs at its head office in Wolverhampton, but 48 new jobs are being created in customer services. 01-Jul-1999

Electra Investment Trust is considering plans for a management buy-out, which would to enable it to raise new funds. 01-Jul-1999

Ernst & Young is to close its Sheffield office and move the 50 staff to Leeds, as part of a reorganisation of its northern office network. 30-Jun-1999

CGU, the insurance company, has announced a £10m four-year sponsorship deal with British athletics, and the money will be spent on developing the sport at all levels. 26-Jun-1999

Andersen Consulting is to add to its 350 staff in Aberdeen having won a contract to supply finance and administrative services to BP Amoco. 25-Jun-1999

Hogg Robinson is looking to spend up to £50m on acquisitions, and is particularly interested in web-based service businesses. 25-Jun-1999

Nationwide is to upgrade its internet banking service in August, while its internet access service will become free. 23-Jun-1999

Bank of Scotland's Capital Bank subsidiary is creating 270 jobs at its call centre in Wythenshawe, in order to cope with rising demand for personal loans. 21-Jun-1999

Woolwich and Countrywide Credit Industries are to set up a head office for their Global Home Loans mortgage service at the Crossways business park in Kent, creating up to 350 jobs. 21-Jun-1999

Britannia Building Society is opening a new staff training centre in Leek that will provide services to its 4,000 staff nationwide and includes an online link to Stoke-on-Trent College. 18-Jun-1999

Rabobank of the Netherlands has shed 105 of its 800 London-based jobs and closed its UK-based international equities operation, as part of a cost-cutting programme. 18-Jun-1999

Abbey National is to close about 700 counters in its chain of 800 bank branches over the next year, in order to free up space to install 500 help desks and more cash machines. 18-Jun-1999

Prudential is to cut 4,000 jobs at a cost of £150m, as part of a restructuring programme that also involve contracting out its door-to-door cash collection business and the consolidation of its general insurance centres from four to three. 18-Jun-1999

Alliance & Leicester has called off merger talks with the Bank of Ireland due to disagreements over the structure of the combined banking group. 17-Jun-1999

Bank of Scotland is planning to launch a direct-banking venture in Europe, and details are expected to be revealed later this year. 16-Jun-1999

Wren is in merger discussions with Benfield & Rea Investment Trust to create a combined insurance group with a market value of £300m. 16-Jun-1999

Intercapital, the wholesale broker, is linking up with Bloomberg of the US to offer electronic trading of financial products via Bloomberg's terminals. 16-Jun-1999

Ambient Media's Moneybox subsidiary is planning to install at least 1,000 cash machines throughout the country, and they will be serviced by Woolwich and also offer pre-paid mobile phone cards and stamps. 11-Jun-1999

Garban is in discussions to merge with Intercapital, in order to create the world's largest wholesale money broker with revenues of more than £500m. 10-Jun-1999

Cambridge Building Society is planning to open more branches, following the recent opening of its 21st branch in Huntingdon town centre. 09-Jun-1999

United Assurance is to cut 160 head office jobs in Wilmslow as part of an ongoing restructuring programme. 09-Jun-1999

Meghraj Bank is to give up its UK banking licence by the end of the year having ended talks with potential partners, but will continue to provide other financial services. 09-Jun-1999

Barclays is increasing its stake in an Egyptian banking joint venture to 60% by buying an additional 11% from Banque du Caire for £13m. 09-Jun-1999

Barclays is returning to the pensions market following a two month absence caused by a regulatory requirement not to sell policies that were incompatible with the planned stakeholder pension. 09-Jun-1999

Lazard, the investment banking partnership, is to integrate its London, Paris and New York operations, to enable it to compete globally in the mergers and acquisitions market. 08-Jun-1999

Friends Ivory & Sime is moving into the Japanese investment market in partnership with Sumitomo Life, by taking a 15% stake in Sumisei Global Investment Trust Management. 08-Jun-1999

Close Brothers is to launch a private banking service aimed at investors with portfolios as small as £25,000, in its first major move into the mainstream fund management market. 07-Jun-1999

Bank of Scotland is seeking a partner to develop a direct banking service in the US, following the cancellation of a previously-announced project with Robertson Financial Services. 07-Jun-1999

Bank of Ireland is planning to set up an offshore banking service called Fsharp in the Isle of Man, in order to provide services to expatriates via the internet. 04-Jun-1999

CGU is in discussions to merge its Delta Lloyd subsidiary with NUTS OHRA to create the third largest insurer in the Netherlands with 6,000 employees. 03-Jun-1999

Prudential is seeking partners in Germany and France in order to build up a presence in the continental European pensions market. 01-Jun-1999

Schroders is setting up a securities business in Paris in response to rising demand for a pan-European equities service. 01-Jun-1999

NFU Mutual Direct is to set up a £3.8m insurance sales and customer service centre in Glasgow with the creation of 250 jobs over the next three years. 28-May-1999

Girobank has scrapped plans to create 300 jobs at a call centre because of the government decision not to include benefits payments in the modernisation plan for post offices. 27-May-1999

SJ Berwin, the private equity law firm, is to open its first Spanish office in Madrid, as part of a strategy to expand across continental Europe. 27-May-1999

Euro Sales Finance is raising £10m in a share offer in order to fund the opening of new factoring offices in Paris, Munich and Amsterdam. 27-May-1999

Abbey National is to install 250 cash machines in Shell service stations, as part of a £150m expansion of its network. 25-May-1999

Clifford Chance is planning to merge with Wall Street lawyers Rogers & Wells, in order to expand into the US banking and capital markets business. 24-May-1999

Britannia is looking to sell its life insurance business, which has 460,000 policyholders, in order to focus on mortgage and savings products. 24-May-1999

Royal London is to stop paying commission to its life assurance salesforce in order to improve the quality of advice and help recruit better staff. 24-May-1999

Alliance & Leicester is in merger talks with the Bank of Ireland, which would create the UK's fifth largest mortgage lender with 500 branches and a further 320 branches in Ireland. 22-May-1999

Barclays has announced plans to cut 6,000 jobs in order to reduce costs by £200m a year, and the reorganisation will involve moving back-office operations to central processing sites, although no branches will be closed. 21-May-1999

Inter-Alliance is raising £8m in a share offer in order to fund a financial services call centre, e-commerce, and a marketing programme for its financial advice business. 21-May-1999

First Direct has launched a mobile phone banking service that will enable customers to receive account information automatically to their handset. 20-May-1999

Royal & Sun Alliance is setting up a Bermuda-based reinsurance vehicle in partnership with Aon and Ace Bermuda Insurance in order to provide alternative risk capacity. 20-May-1999

Meghraj Bank is in discussions to sell a 51% stake to Brown Shipley, which will enable it to offer a broader range of financial services to its customers. 19-May-1999

Old Mutual, the South African financial services group, is planning to raise about £377m through a listing in London in July, in order to fund its international expansion programme. 18-May-1999

The Bank of England is planning to open a district office in Belfast, in order to get closer to the opinions of the local business community. 17-May-1999

British Airways is launching a banking service for business travellers in an alliance with the Royal Bank of Canada, and a range of other financial services will follow. 17-May-1999

Charles Schwab is launching an online dealing service in US shares in June, that will enable UK investors to use a new automated trading system for equities, traded options, bonds and offshore mutual funds. 17-May-1999

Scottish Widows is to conduct a review of its life assurance and pensions business, prompting speculation that it could abandon its mutual status by opting for a £5bn flotation. 14-May-1999

National Mutual is closing seven of its 18 branches due to growing financial pressure on mutual insurance companies. 13-May-1999

Reuters has acquired a £12m stake in WR Hambrecht, the US investment bank that arranges stockmarket flotations by auctioning shares on the Internet. 12-May-1999

Woolwich is forming a joint venture with Countrywide Credit Industries to provide mortgage services, with both companies investing £10m in the Global Home Loans operation. 12-May-1999

Allied Dunbar is planning to recruit 750 additional financial sales staff, following a move to convert its salesforce into a franchised network in order to attract better-qualified advisers. 11-May-1999

Sun Life & Provincial Holdings is to cut 2,000 general insurance jobs over the next two years following its acquisition of Guardian Royal Exchange, and offices will be closed in Bournemouth, Lancaster, Liverpool, Nottingham, Wolverhampton, Kendal, Southgate, Hitchin, Exeter and Folkestone. 11-May-1999

The Permanent Insurance Company has dropped plans to relocate from its offices in Exeter, and is now looking to expand the site. 10-May-1999

Sedgwick Financial Services is being put up for sale by parent company Marsh & McLennan of the US, and the business is expected to be valued at about £50m. 10-May-1999

Abbey National is acquiring a 50% stake in PSA Finance, the joint venture with Peugeot that provides finance for car dealers, for £12m. 08-May-1999

Pink Home Loans, the Lichfield-based home loans company, is seeking to expand its office space and 50-strong workforce due to its success in the mortgage intermediary market. 07-May-1999

Tradepoint Financial Networks, the electronic share trading system, has agreed a rescue package with a consortium that includes Instinet and a number of US investment banks. 07-May-1999

Westbury, the housebuilder, is to launch Westbury Direct in order to provide financial services through selected independent financial advisers to its existing customer base. 06-May-1999

Royal Bank of Scotland is said to interested in a merger with Barclays. 06-May-1999

Culver Richards has been appointed as the sole insurance broking representative for South Wales of the new Willis Corroon commercial network. 05-May-1999

The London and Frankfurt stock exchanges have agreed to include Amsterdam, Madrid, Brussels, Paris and Zurich in their discussions about the creation of a pan-European alliance. 05-May-1999

Halifax has announced plans to install cash machines at 200 Esso petrol stations, and is also seeking to increase its presence at leisure parks, railway stations and convenience stores. 04-May-1999

Eagle Star is to close its insurance office in Brighton later this year with the loss of 150 jobs. 30-Apr-1999

Abbey National is planning to relocate a number of departments from its head office in London's Baker Street to a larger office in Euston. 30-Apr-1999

KPMG is setting up an associated law firm called Klegal, and plans to launch a recruitment campaign. 30-Apr-1999

Abbey National has opened a new regional headquarters in Bradford city centre, and now employs about 1,800 staff in the city. 29-Apr-1999

Cameron McKenna is forming an alliance with five continental European firms to create one of the leading European legal services groups with 1,400 lawyers. 29-Apr-1999

The government is planning to launch a new independent self-regulatory body for more than 200,000 accountants. 29-Apr-1999

Prudential is to stop taking new telephone customers for its Egg banking division in order to prevent further losses, but it will continue to take accept new savings over the internet. 28-Apr-1999

Composite Legal Expenses of Cardiff has announced plans to set up a call centre for First Welsh, the business credit union. 27-Apr-1999

Bradford & Bingley members have voted to transform the building society into a bank, which means it will lose its mutual status and up to 3m members will receive windfalls of about £1,000. 27-Apr-1999

Robson Rhodes and Pannell Kerr Forster have called off plans for a merger that would have created a combined accountancy group with 2,100 partners and staff, due to differences in their approaches to international business. 26-Apr-1999

Bank of Scotland is planning a joint venture with the Pharmacy Guild to offer financial services through 5,000 pharmacies in Australia. 22-Apr-1999

British Marine, the marine insurer, is to demutualise with backing from the US private equity fund Capital Z. 21-Apr-1999

Sporting Index is launching a new subsidiary called Financial Spreads in order to offer spread betting on stock market indices, individual share prices and other financial markets. 19-Apr-1999

United Assurance is planning to cut up to 1,000 jobs in its salesforce, following a decision to stop selling policies for cash collection at customers' homes. 17-Apr-1999

Halifax is planning to sell 224 of its estate agencies in order to cut 1,500 jobs and create a more efficient network of integrated retail banking and estate agency outlets. 15-Apr-1999

Prudential is to cut 250 jobs, due to a reduced requirement for head office support functions following the restructuring of its retail operations. 15-Apr-1999

Co-operative Bank is planning to re-enter the mortgage market, starting with a pilot service aimed at existing customers later this year. 15-Apr-1999

Harlow Khandia & Mistry, the accountancy and insolvency practitioner that employs 17 people, is to relocate to a former textile warehouse in Leicester. 14-Apr-1999

Card Protection Plan is planning to set up a new credit card insurance office at Holgate Park in York, with the creation of 750 jobs. 14-Apr-1999

Co-operative Bank is planning to use satellite communications for the installation of up to 350 cash machines in Co-op stores across the country. 14-Apr-1999

Hammond Suddards has announced plans to recruit 250 staff in Leeds over the next three years in order to expand its house conveyancing and property services division. 12-Apr-1999

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter of the US has confirmed plans to set up a £20m customer service centre in Cumbernauld, creating 1,000 jobs over the next five years. 09-Apr-1999

Daiwa Europe is looking to sell its London-based principal finance division. 09-Apr-1999

Admiral Insurance is to relocate the 800 staff at its Cardiff headquarters to a new site at Capital Tower in the city centre, and its existing building has been sold to local property company PMG for £10m. 08-Apr-1999

Midland Bank is planning to acquire a 67% stake in the Mid-Med Bank from the Maltese government, and may use it as a base to expand into north Africa. 07-Apr-1999

JP Morgan, the US investment bank, has confirmed plans to set up a £7m software engineering centre in Glasgow that will create up to 300 jobs. 07-Apr-1999

Prudential has won approval to set up an office and form joint ventures in China, and expects to start offering life assurance by the end of this year. 06-Apr-1999

British Airways has launched a new scheme to provide loans to passengers to fund their holidays, in a joint venture with Abbey National's First National Tricity Finance division. 05-Apr-1999

The London International Financial Futures & Options Exchange (Liffe) is forming a joint venture with the London Clearing House to provide trading and clearing services to the mainstream cash markets. 30-Mar-1999

Bank of Scotland is linking up with the Royal Bank of Scotland to set up Caledonian Capital, which will provide funding for buy-out deals above £100m. 30-Mar-1999

Royal Liver is to stop selling policies for cash collection at customers' doorsteps as it is no longer economic, and new customers will be encouraged to pay their premiums directly through a bank. 30-Mar-1999

Abbey National is to expand its call centre in Belfast with the creation of 236 jobs. 30-Mar-1999

KPMG is planning to integrate its global accountancy network into two major groups, and the UK operations will be combined with others from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. 29-Mar-1999

Capita is moving into the insurance sector by acquiring a 20% stake in Eastgate, the provider of outsourcing services to the insurance industry, for £27m. 27-Mar-1999

Sedgwick, the insurance company, is moving its finance department from Witham in Essex to parent company Marsh McLennan's Docklands site, with the loss of up to 40 jobs. 26-Mar-1999

Cinven, the private equity group, is planning to open offices in Paris and Frankfurt later this year. 26-Mar-1999

Societe Generale and Paribas of France have confirmed that about 900 jobs will be shed in London if their £22bn merger goes ahead, while worldwide job losses will reach 5,000. 25-Mar-1999

Portman Building Society is set to award a £23m contract to Kvaerner for the construction of offices in Bournemouth. 25-Mar-1999

Cardiff City football club is launching a range of insurance policies for supporters, in alliance with insurance brokerage JLT Direct Club Service. 24-Mar-1999

Tradepoint has won permission to establish its stock trading system in the US, which will enable it to trade UK equities through qualified US brokers. 24-Mar-1999

Bifu, the banking union, is to merge with the staff associations from Barclays and National Westminster to create a new trade union for the financial services sector called Unifi. 23-Mar-1999

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter of the US is said to be planning to locate 1,000 back-office jobs in Cumbernauld, while JP Morgan is reported to be considering the creation of 300 IT jobs at the Stratchlyde Business Park. 22-Mar-1999

Royal London is suspending sales of life assurance and pensions for eight weeks in order to provide additional training to staff, in response to an inspection by the Personal Investment Authority. 20-Mar-1999

Eaton Smith Marshall Mills is to merge with Bruce & Co to form a combined law firm based in Huddersfield with 11 partners and 60 staff. 18-Mar-1999

Smart & Cook has acquired J David Petch, the Grimsby-based insurance company, and now employs a total of 170 staff. 17-Mar-1999

CGU Group has launched a separate fund management division called Morley Fund Management, which will manage about £45bn of assets from London. 17-Mar-1999

Benchmark has announced a deal to provide a European headquarters in London for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the US buy-out group. 16-Mar-1999

The Corporation of London is to assemble sites for redevelopment in the City to enable property companies to build office complexes for financial services companies, in an effort to maintain London's leading position as a financial centre. 16-Mar-1999

Barclays is to offer a free internet access service to its personal and small business customers that will include online banking and stockbroking. 16-Mar-1999

CPP, the credit card insurance company, has opened a new customer service centre in York, and it expects to take on up to 1,000 staff over the next five years. 15-Mar-1999

Nova Retail Finance, part of the Hitachi Credit group, is doubling the size of its consumer credit call centre in Leeds, which currently employs 85 staff. 15-Mar-1999

Guardian Royal Exchange is to move out of the Royal Exchange building in London, as its new owner Axa believes it to be surplus to requirements. 15-Mar-1999

Apax Partners is backing a new Irish company called Enba that is planning to launch an internet-based bank and brokerage service in the UK. 15-Mar-1999

Bank of Scotland has won regulatory approval to set up its Investors Club, in order to offer pensions and life assurance and provide investment advice. 12-Mar-1999

Cattles is planning to open a branch a week this year, as part of a strategy to set up a national network of Shopacheck and Welcome consumer finance outlets. 12-Mar-1999

Royal & Sun Alliance is acquiring a 60% stake in PBK Zycie, the Polish life insurer, for £8m. 12-Mar-1999

Marks & Spencer Financial Services is setting up a new telephone sales division in Chester, which will create 50 jobs. 11-Mar-1999

The NatWest Customer Telephone Centre in Birmingham is to create up to 200 new jobs following an increase in demand for telephone banking services. 11-Mar-1999

Countrywide Assured is planning to double the size of its 750-strong chain of estate agents by offering franchises. 10-Mar-1999

Wise Speke, the stockbroker and corporate finance specialist, is opening a new office in Leeds in order to provide more space for IT facilities. 08-Mar-1999

Dunfermline Building Society is to set up a new telephone service called Direct Channel in order to provide information to customers about its products and services. 05-Mar-1999

The Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre is forming a joint venture with solicitors in the north-east of England called Solicitors Property Shop, in order to offer a one-stop shop for buying and selling properties. 05-Mar-1999

Hill House Hammond, the insurance company, is looking to recruit an additional 100 staff for its call centre in Bristol. 04-Mar-1999

Heath Group has completed the sale of its financial services branch network to management, and the business will be renamed as Opus Holdings. 04-Mar-1999

Nationwide is to install 400 cash machines in Marks & Spencer stores. 04-Mar-1999

Bartlett, the Leeds-based insurance broker, has formed a German subsidiary based in Hamburg. 02-Mar-1999

Bank of Scotland is to launch a direct banking operation in the US in partnership with Robertson Financial Services. 02-Mar-1999

Coutts has confirmed plans to invest £35m in the launch of internet and telephone banking services in order to update its image, and it will remove processing operations from branches and put them into a single operations centre. 02-Mar-1999

Bank of Scotland is to set up a new office at the £7m Lisbon House in Leeds next month. 01-Mar-1999

Share Centre has bought the corporate personal equity plan business of Bradford & Bingley for about £1.7m, and has also announced plans for a flotation within two years. 01-Mar-1999

Daiwa Europe is in discussions to sell its London-based principal finance division for about £400m as part of a strategy to focus on Japan, but its London equities and corporate finance operations will not be included in the sale. 27-Feb-1999

United Assurance has announced a restructuring programme that will result in an unspecified number of job losses and an end to the sale of new policies requiring door-to-door cash collection. 26-Feb-1999

Provident Financial is to step up the expansion of its credit business into eastern Europe, following trials in Poland and the Czech Republic. 26-Feb-1999

Bradford & Bingley is launching a new homebuying service in its estate agency branches, designed to speed up the process by offering surveys on properties before they are put up for sale. 25-Feb-1999

Prudential has dropped plans to buy a bank due to the success of its Egg direct banking service, and will instead focus on the development of Egg's mortgage and loan activities. 25-Feb-1999

Lazard Brothers is planning to become a leading financial adviser in South Korea, and has opened a new office in Seoul. 25-Feb-1999

Capital One, the credit card group, is increasing investment at its Nottingham operations centre to £50m and aims to recruit 900 staff this year. 24-Feb-1999

Royal Bank of Scotland is to undertake a strategic review of its global custody operations, which could lead to the sale of RBS Trust Bank for about £300m. 22-Feb-1999

Aegon, the Dutch insurance company, is planning to seek another acquisition in the UK, where it already owns Scottish Equitable. 22-Feb-1999

Computer Sciences Corporation has won a £17m outsourcing contract to run the administration of obsolete life and pension products for City of Westminster Assurance. 22-Feb-1999

Barclaycard and Cellnet have announced plans to test a new service in Leeds that will enable people to charge banking cards with cash using special mobile phones. 20-Feb-1999

Salomon Smith Barney is planning to move up to 1,800 staff from its Victoria Plaza offices near Westminster to Canary Wharf, in order to integrate its business more closely with Citibank. 20-Feb-1999

Woolwich is forming a joint venture with Countrywide Credit Industries, in order to gain access to the US company's loan processing technology and to enable it to securitise some of its mortgages. 18-Feb-1999

Mount Stuart Group, the Cardiff-based insurance company, has gone into voluntary liquidation. 17-Feb-1999

Robson Rhodes, the accountancy firm, is setting up a new company in Brussels called Salustro Robson, in partnership with Salustro Reydel of France, Audihispana of Spain and Haarmann Hemmelrath of Germany. 17-Feb-1999

Bradford & Bingley Building Society is to spend £9m revamping its 1,000 branches in order to update its image. 13-Feb-1999

Aon is to cut about 200 jobs in its UK insurance business in order to reduce costs. 10-Feb-1999

Generale Bank is to open a regional office in Leeds, to target small and medium-sized enterprises. 09-Feb-1999

CGU is negotiating a deal with Banca delle Marche for the distribution of its life insurance and savings products through the Italian bank's network of 220 branches. 05-Feb-1999

Bank Austria Creditanstalt is to close its London futures operation with the loss of 60 jobs, and the business will be moved to Vienna. 04-Feb-1999

Halifax is considering plans to set up a financial services call centre in Belfast, and is believed to be looking for a 60,000 sq ft facility. 02-Feb-1999

National Britannia has linked up with risk management company Cristal International to offer a new service aimed at making overseas resorts safer for holidaymakers and curbing the rapid growth in compensation claims against travel firms. 02-Feb-1999

Societe Generale of France is acquiring Paribas for £10bn to create one of the world's largest banks, and hundreds of job cuts are expected among the 4,000 London-based staff. 02-Feb-1999

Woolwich has announced plans to launch Open Plan Services, which will offer customised banking, free personal financial planning, and access via the phone or internet. 02-Feb-1999

Barclays is planning to cut hundreds of jobs in its retail banking operations in order to cut costs by more than £300m, with most of the savings coming from marketing and human resources. 01-Feb-1999

3i has launched a £1.2bn takeover offer for Electra Investment Trust, but Electra has rejected the figure as inadequate. 30-Jan-1999

Staffordshire Building Society is creating 61 new jobs in its 50-strong branch network, but 87 other positions are being made redundant. 29-Jan-1999

Barclays has opened a new Barclaycall telephone banking centre at Doxford International Business Park in Sunderland, and a further 300 jobs will be created over the next few months. 28-Jan-1999

Colonial, the Australian financial services company, is planning to set up a network of about 100 franchises in the UK next year. 28-Jan-1999

Old Mutual has won permission from the South African finance ministry to transfer its primary listing and domicile to London, which will make it the fifth largest quoted life assurer in the UK. 28-Jan-1999

Towry Law is to raise about £2.4m in a share placing in order to fund expansion and benefit from opportunities to consolidate the market for independent financial advisers. 27-Jan-1999

Midland Bank is to open a fully automated branch in Hull, and claims it will be the first bank in the country to have no staff. 26-Jan-1999

The government has ordered a review of the banking industry due to consumer dissatisfaction and concerns over a lack of competition, and it will focus on credit card processing, payment systems and credit for small businesses. 26-Jan-1999

Coutts is to launch an internet banking service and 24-hour telephone banking, in an effort to modernise its image. 25-Jan-1999

Royal & Sun Alliance is in discussions to acquire Guardian Royal Exchange for about £3.4bn, although a number of other insurance companies are also interested in making a bid. 23-Jan-1999

Skipton Building Society has started work on a £9m extension to its headquarters, which will create 600 jobs on completion next year. 22-Jan-1999

Abbey National is to recruit an extra 80 staff at its mortgage call centre at Teesdale, Thornaby, because administration of its bonus postal account is being transferred from Belfast. 22-Jan-1999

Nationwide building society has announced a £15m deal to sponsor the England football team. 22-Jan-1999

Halifax is planning to form a joint venture with Cetelem to develop the French company's consumer credit business in the UK. 22-Jan-1999

Birmingham Midshires has announced plans to cut 34 managers' jobs at its building society headquarters in Wolverhampton, in order to improve efficiency. 20-Jan-1999

Ockham Holdings is selling its stake in the Crowe Insurance Group to Stockton Re for £10m. 20-Jan-1999

Prudential is to launch a range of retail funds and other investment products for customers of its Egg direct banking service. 20-Jan-1999

Bank of Scotland is reorganising all of its activities into three operating divisions handling personal customers, small and medium-sized businesses, and corporate customers. 15-Jan-1999

Abbey National is to create 200 insurance jobs by expanding its operations at the Brunswick Business Park in Liverpool. 14-Jan-1999

Birmingham City, the football club, is planning to launch a financial services division within six months. 14-Jan-1999

London & Edinburgh Insurance is to cut up to 140 jobs in Worthing in May following its acquisition by Norwich Union. 12-Jan-1999

BIB, the Darlington-based insurance broker, has taken over its local rival Sid Turnbull. 11-Jan-1999

Doughty Hanson is to open an office in New York in its first major move into the US private equity market for leveraged buyouts. 08-Jan-1999

Norwich Union has won approval to set up a pension company in Poland. 07-Jan-1999

Liberty Re, the UK reinsurance division of Liberty Mutual Group of the US, has ceased operations due to overcapacity in the reinsurance market. 07-Jan-1999

The GMB union's Lancashire branch has won approval from the Financial Services Authority to set up a credit union for its 75,000 members, and it aims to gain 6,000 members in its first three years. 07-Jan-1999

PwC is planning to launch negotiations with potential partners in London and New York with the aim of setting up a $1bn global law firm network with 3,000 lawyers. 07-Jan-1999

Standard Life Bank is planning to recruit an extra 500 staff during 1999. 05-Jan-1999

Churchill Insurance is to open its new call centre at Thornaby near Stockton-on-Tees this month, which will eventually create 250 jobs. 04-Jan-1999

Woolwich is seeking to recruit an additional 150 staff at its Firstplus financial call centre in Cardiff. 01-Jan-1999

The information on this page comes from the UK Activity Report.
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