Financial Business Review: Credit Suisse Builds CAPITAL, Bank Of America SETTLES Lawsuit

Here are Wednesday’s top stories:

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) reports that it will increase capital by 8.7 billion Swiss francs, or $8.9 billion, with a possible future increase of an additional 6.6 billion francs. Further, the firm will raise its cost savings target to 3 billion francs from 2 billion francs. Finally, CS is releasing its earnings figures a week early: second quarter net income increased from 768 million francs in 2011 to 788 million francs in 2012. The Swiss National Bank had recently warned about the firm’s capital position, and commented that, “In an environment that remains particularly challenging for the international banking system, these measures substantially increase the resilience of Credit Suisse Group.”

Don’t Miss: West Coast Bancorp Second Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek.

HSBC Holdings (NYSE:HBC) wants to divest its Vietnam insurance division. according to sources. Such a sale could amass approximately $400 million for the company as it proceeds to leave non-core markets.

J.P. Morgan Chase’s (NYSE:JPM) plans for an exchange-traded fund backed by physical copper might be blocked by regulators, if Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) has his way. He is asking that the move be disallowed, as he believes that it could cause a supply shock and inflate prices, as a significant amount of copper would disappear from the markets.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) will pay $375 million to resolve a suit with Syncora Guarantee, the bond insurer division of Syncora Holdings, concerning toxic mortgage-backed securities, according to Reuters. The former was sued in 2009 by Syncora in order to recover losses on securities transactions which were based upon home loans made by Countrywide. Separately, in the bank’s conference call on Wednesday, Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson blames the bank’s decline in both consumer and business loans to the runoff in real estate. The total number of loan division employees is down 4 percent year over year, but down 8 percent if new hires in delinquent mortgage servicing are excluded. In addition, BofA confirms it is being questioned by regulators regarding the Libor matter.

Don’t Miss: Bank of America Earnings CHEAT SHEET.

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