Barclays Bid Gets Backing From the East

More than 5,000 arrested in China, Singapore, Thailand

(NEWSER) - Illegal gambling dens across Asia are being rolled up in a post-World Cup crackdown. Police in China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore have found almost 800 illegal gambling dens, arrested more than 5,000 people, and seized almost $10 million in bets, the BBC reports . The establishments handled more than $155 million in bets during the tournament, according to Interpol. The international police force is still investigating to see if all that action actually influenced the games. More»

Cost of drastic rescue package could top $800B

(NEWSER) - The British government will become part owner of the nation's biggest banks with a mammoth $88-billion rescue package for the troubled institutions, the Wall Street Journal reports. Under the plan, swiftly assembled after UK bank stocks plummeted in trading yesterday, the government will purchase non-voting shares in eight of the largest banks as a way to provide extra capital to the institutions. More»

Panicked thousands rush to grab savings from Bank of East Asia

(NEWSER) - Rumors that the Bank of East Asia was in trouble spread like wildfire through Hong Kong yesterday, causing a panicked mob to descend on the bank as thousands withdrew their life savings, the Financial Times reports. Police moved in to keep order as crowds demanded their money. BEA's tycoon chairman blamed "malicious rumors" for the panic and vowed to buy shares in the bank himself. More»

(NEWSER) - Barclays will pick up the US capital-markets business of Lehman Bros. in a $2-billion deal worked out today that will go before a bankruptcy judge at 5pm and Lehman creditors shortly after that, the Wall Street Journal reports. Barclays backed away from buying all of Lehman over the weekend, but a deal was salvaged by Lehman's bankruptcy, which made it easier to leave "bad assets" at the holding company to be liquidated by the court. More»

(NEWSER) - Barclay's dropping out of a Lehman deal means that the Feds lost a game of chicken with the big banks holding Lehman mortgages, and now there will be a disorderly liquidation of Lehman assets, instead of the orderly liquidation that would have been possible with a real buyer, James Cramer writes on TheStreet.com. The question is how big a hit those owning Lehman mortgages will take. More»