London - Ailing British lender Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) Friday reported an increase in write-downs to 8 billion pounds (12 billion dollars) for the first 11 months of 2008.

The news sent shockwaves through the banking sector, causing HBOS shares to plummet by 16 per cent on the London stock market. Shares of Lloyds TSB, which is in the process of taking over HBOS, fell by 17 per cent.

The scale of the write-downs, coupled with a warning of more to come, was revealed as shareholders were due to vote Friday on the mammoth merger.

Amas Bank (Switzerland) Ltd has acquired 40 per cent stake in PATCO Investments & Consultancy Services Private Ltd. for an undisclosed amount. PATERSON is a Chennai-based stock broking firm, while Amas Bank is a global banking entity of the trans-national Hinduja Group, founded in 1978 as a finance company and granted banking license in 1994. Amas Bank is headquartered in Geneva, having offices in Zurich, Lucerne, Basle, St. Margrethen, Dubai, London, Paris, New York and Mauritius.

Home loan interest rates are all set to be cheaper as all public sector banks are planning to cut rates on small-ticket home loans by up to 300 basis points. RBI may also help the banks by relaxing the risk weight age norms. It is expected to revise the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) for every loan, which is currently 9 per cent.

Washington  - Bank of America Corp, the third-largest US bank, said Thursday it planned to eliminate between 30,000 to 35,000 jobs over the next three years because of the weak economic environment and its acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

The final number of jobs to be cut is to be determined early next year, said the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank, which will be the country's largest financial services firm when the deal with Merrill Lynch closes over the next few weeks.

The Reserve Bank of India has indicated further revision of growth forecast for the financial year 2009. The apex bank has earlier forecasted 7.5-8% growth target, which seems hard to achieve, following the impact of global slowdown. The growth rate for the financial year 2009-10 may even slide, under such hard economic conditions. The country registered a growth rate of 7.8% in the first half of the current fiscal as compared to 9.3 percent a year ago.

Paris - After last-minute adjustments to secure EU approval, France on Thursday began implementing its bank bail-out plan.

Under the plan, the state will subscribe to subordinated five-year debt totalling 10.5 billion euros (13.75 billion dollars) issued by the country's six largest banks.

The debt subscription concerns the banks Credit Agricole (3 billion euros), BNP Paribas (2.55 billion), Societe Generale (1.7 billion), Credit Mutuel (1.2 billion), Caisses d'Epargne (1.1 billion and Banques Populaires (0.95 billion), the French Finance Ministry said.

In exchange, the French banks have committed themselves to increasing their loans to individuals and companies by 3 to 4 per cent by the end of 2009.