Nationwide drops its interest rate
DEPOSITS
Nationwide UK (Ireland) has reduced the interest rate it pays on its Easy Access savings account. It was paying 3.55pc but this has been reduced to 3.30pc, effective immediately.
The British building society insisted its demand-deposit rate remains competitively priced. Nationwide said there was no change in its fixed-rate savings rate product, which pays 3.35pc.
Ireland not up to speed on internet
BROADBAND
Ireland's broadband infrastructure is not equipped to deal with the demands of next generation internet applications although improvements have been made in the past year. A survey of 66 countries for Cisco by researchers at Oxford University and the University of Oviedo in Spain put Ireland in 16th place on the quality of service. It is the second report into the state of broadband services across the world.
Bank of America CEO steps down
BANKING
KEN LEWIS, the chief executive of Bank of America who masterminded the 2008 acquisition of Merrill Lynch, is to step down by the end of the year, it emerged last night. No successor has yet been identified. Mr Lewis, who in May was stripped of his title as chairman, came under criticism after Merrill Lynch forced through billions of dollars of bonuses after being acquired in a distressed sale by Bank of America.
Harnett gets spot on Wavebob board
APPOINTMENT
Irish-American businessman John Hartnett has joined the board of green energy firm Wavebob. A native of Limerick, Mr Hartnett is based in Silicon Valley, California, and is chief executive of G24 Innovations and chairman of the Irish technology leaders group.
Eurozone banks face €400bn losses
economy
Banks in the EU could face €400bn losses this year and next year if the economy deteriorates sharply, the bloc's finance ministers and central bankers said in a draft statement last night. The statement details some of the results from recent stress tests conducted on 22 of the bloc's largest banks. "Large EU banks appear sufficiently capitalized to head off a severe macroeconomic deterioration," the draft statement added, however.
Irish Independent
