The German retail banking arm of Citibank, part of the Citigroup financial giant, saw the number of interested German parties drop to one when Commerzbank withdrew from the race.
There is interest from outside Germany still, but within the borders of the country only Deutsche Bank remains an interested party. A couple of other big European players are looking at Citibank in Germany with interest, with a move expected before the end of the month. It continues what has been a turbulent time in the German banking market as a number of organisations have changed hands recently.
With around 3.25 million customers the German Citibank is expecting offers in the region of EUR4 to EUR5 billion, especially as it runs profitably and is one of the leaders in consumer financing, generating handsome returns.
Looking at the small business environment in the UK Direct Line has found that nearly a quarter of people running small businesses will not enjoy a day off on bank Holiday Monday.
Compared with the minimum 20 days holiday entitlement given to employees, small business owners take an average of just over 13 days holiday per year. The 20 days does not include Bank Holidays either, of which there are 8 each year. Looking at new start up businesses the holiday situation is even worse. Direct Line found that over 65 percent of people in business for less than 6 months have not taken any time off at all.
A Direct Line spokeswoman, commenting on the findings, commended the dedication shown by small business owners, seeing them working so hard to make their business a success.
The first six months of the year has seen Northern Rock record a loss of GBP585 million, primarily through their customers being unable to meet the payments on their mortgage.
The figures provided by Northern Rock show 1.18 percent of customers are regularly missing mortgage payments, which is an increase of 300 percent compared with 12 months ago. The upshot of missed payments is arrears, with the number of people now in this state also up by around 300 percent.
The worry for everyone looking at the housing situation, not just Northern Rock, is that these arrears can turn into repossessions, especially where negative equity becomes a problem, such a situation will be affecting many homeowners who bought their house within the last two years.
