Wednesday, February 13, 2008

2008.02.13 18:25:26 SocGen Finalizes Rosbank Majority Stake Acquisition

PARIS (Dow Jones)--Societe Generale (SCGLY) Wednesday announced the closing of the Rosbank (ROSB.RS) operation, in line with the announcement made on Dec. 20. Societe Generale now holds 50 % + 1 share, making it the majority shareholder of Rosbank, and will launch a mandatory offer to minority shareholders as per Russian law.
With 600 branches, Rosbank is the largest privately-owned retail banking network in Russia, with 3 million private customers and 60,000 small and medium enterprise customers. It also has a strong position in the commercial banking sector, with a portfolio of around 7,000 large companies. Its network covers the entire Russian territory, including 90% of towns with more than 500,000 inhabitants, and is particularly well implanted in fast growing regions like Siberia and the Russian Far East.

Since 2004, Rosbank has experienced annual growth of around 40% in outstanding loans. Societe Generale hopes to continue this rapid growth over the coming years, based on the development of retail banking activities and the expansion of its branch network, as well as its strong commercial banking franchise.

Company Web site: www.socgen.com

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

PFG`s exposure to subprime mortgages

        DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
 

        Principal Financial Group Inc. (PFG), responding to investor inquiries, on Tuesday said its total exposure to subprime mortgages was $613 million, or 1% of invested assets, at Dec. 31.

        The Des Moines, Iowa, retirement fund and financial services company said almost all such exposure was in highly rated traunches of asset-backed securities, most of which were issued in 2005 or earlier, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

        Principal Financial Group said it owned around $1.9 billion of whole loan residential mortgages, $7.1 billion of mortgage-backed securities and $2.6 billion of asset-backed securities at Dec. 31, 2007.

        The company's shares were trading Tuesday afternoon at $54.08, down $5.73.

 

        -Gee L. Lee, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-1346

 

        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        February 05, 2008 12:27 ET (17:27 GMT)

Monday, February 4, 2008

The Best Student Loan

Having finished your coveted college degree with sheer determination and some help from your student loans, you have to make sure that you handle your finances well. You have to remember that the way your financial management works, in and out of school, has consequences that your credit history and credit score will retain.

Everybody knows the importance of having a well kept financial rating. In addition everyone knows that a credit score drops faster than it can go up. It will also take years and years of exemplary financial management again in order for you to get back on track of a good credit rating. That is the reason why for students who have multiple student loans, they need to search for the best student loan consolidation package available.

Graduates and students who are looking for the student loan consolidation are usually those who have incurred more than one student loan in their quest to finish their college education. If you think that funding a college education stops once you have paid for the tuition fees, then you might as well think again. There are more educational necessities which sustain a college student. Among them are dorm rent, meals, transportation and books as well as those unplanned for out of the blue miscellaneous expenses.

Albeit the fruit of having a college degree is sweet, students need to plan ahead on how they can manage the existence of multiple student loans. Hence, searching and applying for the best student loan consolidation should be a priority. The process involves the merging of several student loans into one major account with one interest rate. In loan consolidation, the monthly repayments may be lowered considerably..

In addition you can frequently find a lower interest rate when consolidating your student loans. Of course this will also help to lower your monthly loan payment as well.

Aside from the comfort and convenience of having to ensure that you only have one regular loan payment. Reducing the number of loans will generally increase your credit score.

It should be obvious that finding the best student loan consolidation package is a smart move. It could save you a lot of money over the life of your loan and may increase your credit score.

James Kesel, MS, is the publisher of the Student Loan Consolidation Advice website at http://www.student-loan-consolidation-advice.com Providing important information on Student loans and student loan consolidation including how to find best student loan consolidation