LONDON/ATHENS, May 17 (Reuters) – Greek savers may be gripped by a “great fear that could develop into panic” in the words of President Karolos Papoulias, but many Greeks shifted their money to safer havens in Britain, Switzerland, Germany and Nordic countries long ago.

Worries about a run on Greek banks have rattled Athens this week, after savers withdrew at least 700 million euros on Monday alone, according to minutes of Papoulias’s comments to political leaders posted on the presidency’s website.

It is not only Greeks who are worried about their savings. Data shows depositors have also taken flight from banks in Belgium, France and Italy. And on Thursday, Spain’s Bankia was reported to have seen more than 1 billion euros drained by its customers in the past week.

Greeks are afraid they could be hit by rapid devaluation if the country leaves the European single currency, while customers at Bankia have been rattled by the government’s takeover of the recently floated bank on May 9 and growing uncertainty about the final cost of Spain’s banking reforms.

In Greece, sources at two banks told Reuters that withdrawals on Tuesday had taken place at about the same rate as on Monday.

“The entire Greek banking system is in danger: the banks are now facing the worst of all outcomes, deposit flight,” said Arnaud Poutier, deputy CEO of IG Markets France.

That flight started at least two years ago, as the debt crisis grew more serious.

LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) – In November 2010, rumours swirled through financial markets that Spanish bank BBVA was suffering a run on its deposits. The share price fell before excitable traders realised they had made a mistake.

In fact the bank was holding a “fun run” in Madrid and customers had lined up outside its branches to get their T-shirts. In a jittery market, talk spread quickly and few things worry bank investors and customers more than talk of a run.

Nervous times have returned to the euro zone, and customers are worrying again about whether their savings are safe.

Banks, regulators and policymakers in Greece, Spain and across Europe are back on high alert to avoid a repeat of the most catastrophic risk for a bank — a loss of confidence among savers, or a run on the bank.

A run may start irrationally, but once it takes hold the panic can be entirely rational. No-one wants to be last in line if everyone else is pulling out their cash.

A run on Britain’s Northern Rock in September 2007 was one of the most sudden and shocking events of the financial crisis.

It was the first run on a British bank for more than 100 years and critics said it made the country look like a banana republic. Yet it is providing lessons on how to limit the damage in future.

LONDON, May 25 (Reuters) – HSBC said it had no appetite to take advantage of turmoil in the euro zone and make big acquisitions there or anywhere else where rivals are selling major assets.

“We’re good at running our own businesses, we’re not so good at making acquisitions, so history suggests that we would do better to run our own firm and focus on that,” said Stuart Gulliver, chief executive of Europe’s biggest bank.

Gulliver was speaking after the bank’s AGM, where the bank sidestepped an investor backlash on pay on the scale seen by some rivals.

It said 10.2 percent of shareholders voted against its pay plan, above the average for a FTSE 100 firm but down from 18.7 percent last year. Including abstentions, 13.7 percent failed to back this year’s vote.

“It’s not a vote without significance,” Catherine Howarth, a private HSBC shareholder, told Reuters. “It’s still sizeable. In historical terms these are high levels of dissent.”

Howarth, who is chief executive of Fair Pensions, said she wants HSBC to discuss its pay plan with private shareholders, and not just big institutions.

“The remuneration committee seems to have done more to advance the financial interest of the board rather than shareholders,” she said.

LONDON, May 25 (Reuters) – HSBC said it had no appetite to take advantage of turmoil in the euro zone and make big acquisitions there or anywhere else where rivals are selling major assets.

“We’re good at running our own businesses, we’re not so good at making acquisitions, so history suggests that we would do better to run our own firm and focus on that,” said Stuart Gulliver, chief executive of Europe’s biggest bank.

Gulliver was speaking after the bank’s AGM, where the bank sidestepped an investor backlash on pay on the scale seen by some rivals.

It said 10.2 percent of shareholders voted against its pay plan, above the average for a FTSE 100 firm but down from 18.7 percent last year. Including abstentions, 13.7 percent failed to back this year’s vote.

“It’s not a vote without significance,” Catherine Howarth, a private HSBC shareholder, told Reuters. “It’s still sizeable. In historical terms these are high levels of dissent.”

Howarth, who is chief executive of Fair Pensions, said she wants HSBC to discuss its pay plan with private shareholders, and not just big institutions.

“The remuneration committee seems to have done more to advance the financial interest of the board rather than shareholders,” she said.

LONDON/ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek savers may be gripped by a “great fear that could develop into panic” in the words of President Karolos Papoulias, but many Greeks shifted their money to safer havens in Britain, Switzerland, Germany and Nordic countries long ago.

Worries about a run on Greek banks have rattled Athens this week, after savers withdrew at least 700 million euros on Monday alone, according to minutes of Papoulias’s comments to political leaders posted on the presidency’s website.

It is not only Greeks who are worried about their savings. Data shows depositors have also taken flight from banks in Belgium, France and Italy. And on Thursday, Spain’s Bankia was reported to have seen more than 1 billion euros drained by its customers in the past week.

Greeks are afraid they could be hit by rapid devaluation if the country leaves the European single currency, while customers at Bankia have been rattled by the government’s takeover of the recently floated bank on May 9 and growing uncertainty about the final cost of Spain’s banking reforms.

In Greece, sources at two banks told Reuters that withdrawals on Tuesday had taken place at about the same rate as on Monday.

“The entire Greek banking system is in danger: the banks are now facing the worst of all outcomes, deposit flight,” said Arnaud Poutier, deputy CEO of IG Markets France.

That flight started at least two years ago, as the debt crisis grew more serious.

LONDON (Reuters) – British bank Barclays is selling its near-20 percent stake in U.S. asset manager BlackRock, worth $6.1 billion, as tougher global regulations have cut the attraction of such holdings.

Barclays has held the stake for almost three years, a legacy of BlackRock’s $13.5 billion purchase of Barclays Global Investors, but Basel III regulations mean banks have to hold more capital against minority stakes in asset managers and other firms, making it less profitable.

“All this is just showing how difficult it is for banks to make a profit and sufficient RoE (return on equity) in the new regulatory environment. They are deleveraging or pursuing transactions like this to improve capital ratios,” said Richard Barfield, a director at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Barclays said the shares would be sold by way of an offering and a related buyback by BlackRock of up to $1 billion of the stock. Bookbuilding was expected to take a couple of days before the price of the share sale is finalized, possibly on Wednesday, bankers said.

Barclays holds BlackRock common stock and convertible stock representing a 19.6 percent economic interest in the firm, equivalent to about 35.2 million shares.

BlackRock bought BGI in a cash and share deal in June 2009, making it the world’s largest money manager, almost doubling its size. It was seen as a good deal for Barclays, giving it a much-needed capital boost at a time when all banks were under strain.

The deal also left BlackRock as one of the biggest shareholders in Barclays, with a 7.1 percent stake. Barclays said the future of that holding was a matter for BlackRock, and BlackRock declined to comment.

LONDON/ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek savers may be gripped by a “great fear that could develop into panic” in the words of President Karolos Papoulias, but many Greeks shifted their money to safer havens in Britain, Switzerland, Germany and Nordic countries long ago.

Worries about a run on Greek banks has rattled Athens this week, after savers withdrew at least 700 million euros (560 million pounds) on Monday alone, according to minutes of Papoulias’s comments to political leaders posted on the presidency’s website.

It is not only Greeks who are worried about their savings. Data shows depositors have also taken flight from banks in Belgium, France and Italy. And on Thursday, Spain’s Bankia (BKIA.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) was reported to have seen more than 1 billion euros drained by its customers in the past week.

Greeks are afraid they could be hit by rapid devaluation if the country leaves the European single currency, while customers at Bankia have been rattled by the government’s takeover of the recently floated bank on May 9 and growing uncertainty about the final cost of Spain’s banking reforms.

In Greece, sources at two banks told Reuters that withdrawals on Tuesday had taken place at about the same rate as on Monday.

“The entire Greek banking system is in danger: the banks are now facing the worst of all outcomes, deposit flight,” said Arnaud Poutier, deputy CEO of IG Markets France.

That flight started at least two years ago, as the debt crisis grew more serious.

LONDON (Reuters) – Taxpayers could lose up to 2 billion pounds from the government’s 2008 rescue of mortgage lender Northern Rock by the time all the assets are wound down, according to the spending watchdog.

The National Audit Office, an independent body that monitors value for money in government spending, said last year’s sale of part of the bank was a good choice and the loss should be seen as part of the overall cost of securing the benefits of financial stability during the financial crisis.

UK Financial Investments, the body that holds Britain’s stakes in banks it rescued, has said the taxpayer will recover all of the cash provided to Northern Rock, but the NAO said that may be optimistic.

Britain nationalised Northern Rock in early 2008 after failing to fund a buyer after providing emergency liquidity support to the lender the previous year. After nationalisation the business was split into two companies.

A new stand-alone “good” bank, Northern Rock plc, was sold to Virgin Money at the end of last year. The second company, Northern Rock Asset Management, is running down the book of “bad” mortgages that were left, and remains in government hands.

The taxpayer will lose about 480 million pounds of its original 1.4 billion pound investment in Northern Rock plc, the NAO said. Repayments of the support provided to NRAM will be spread over many years and be subject to changes in the economy.

UKFI expects to recover all the support provided to Northern Rock, including the loss on the sale of the “good” bank, and reckons the taxpayer will earn a return of 3.5-4.5 percent a year by the time all the assets run off.

LONDON (Reuters) – UK taxpayers could lose up to 2 billion pounds from the government’s 2008 rescue of mortgage lender Northern Rock by the time all the assets are wound down, according to the country’s spending watchdog.

The National Audit Office (NAO), an independent body that monitors value for money in government spending, said last year’s sale of part of the bank was a good choice and the loss should be seen as part of the overall cost of securing the benefits of financial stability during the financial crisis.

UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the body that holds Britain’s stakes in banks it rescued, has said the taxpayer will recover all of the cash provided to Northern Rock, but the NAO said that may be optimistic.

Britain nationalised Northern Rock in early 2008 after failing to fund a buyer after providing emergency liquidity support to the lender the previous year. After nationalisation the business was split into two companies.

A new stand-alone “good” bank, Northern Rock plc, was sold to Virgin Money at the end of last year. The second company, Northern Rock Asset Management, is running down the book of “bad” mortgages that were left, and remains in government hands.

The taxpayer will lose about 480 million pounds of its original 1.4 billion pound investment in Northern Rock plc, the NAO said. Repayments of the support provided to NRAM will be spread over many years and be subject to changes in the economy.

UKFI expects to recover all the support provided to Northern Rock, including the loss on the sale of the “good” bank, and reckons the taxpayer will earn a return of 3.5 percent – 4.5 percent a year by the time all the assets run off.

LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) – UK taxpayers could lose up to 2 billion pounds ($3.2 billion) from the government’s 2008 rescue of mortgage lender Northern Rock by the time all the assets are wound down, according to the country’s spending watchdog.

Britain’s National Audit Office (NAO), an independent body that monitors value for money in government spending, said last year’s sale of part of the bank was a good choice and the loss should be seen as part of the overall cost of securing the benefits of financial stability during the financial crisis.

UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the body that holds Britain’s stakes in banks it rescued, has said the taxpayer will recover all of the cash provided to Northern Rock, but the NAO said that may be optimistic.

Britain nationalised Northern Rock in early 2008 after failing to fund a buyer after providing emergency liquidity support to the lender the previous year. After nationalisation the business was split into two companies.

A new stand-alone “good” bank, Northern Rock plc, was sold to Virgin Money at the end of last year. The second company, Northern Rock Asset Management, is running down the book of “bad” mortgages that were left, and remains in government hands.

The taxpayer will lose about 480 million pounds of its original 1.4 billion pound investment in Northern Rock plc, the NAO said. Repayments of the support provided to NRAM will be spread over many years and be subject to changes in the economy.

UKFI expects to recover all the support provided to Northern Rock, including the loss on the sale of the “good” bank, and reckons the taxpayer will earn a return of 3.5-4.5 percent a year by the time all the assets run off.