ULSTER Bank made a loss of Stg£368 million (€414m) last year against a profit of £218m in 2008.

Financial institution First Active has put its branches up for sale following the closure of the operation and merger of its business with sister company Ulster Bank.

FIRST ACTIVE, now part of Ulster Bank, is to dispose of 49 branch outlets nationwide. The bank bills it as one of the largest property portfolios ever to be placed on the Irish market, although the value of the freehold properties is only put at about €13.5 million.

Bank workers' union IBOA is preparing legal action against Ulster Bank/First Active for alleged breach of contract on behalf of almost 5,000 members in the Republic of Ireland and the North, it was revealed today.

The ratings agency Moody's has downgraded its credit ratings for 12 banks operating in Ireland, despite the Government's plan to create an asset management agency to buy up risky loans.

Royal Bank of Scotland said today that it was consulting unions over plans to cut up to 9,000 jobs in the next two years.

The Ulster Bank group has reported a 76% decrease in its operating profits last year.

IT’S not just Irish investors who are being stung by the collapse of the property market in what was once western Europe’s most dynamic economy.

UNIONS at Ulster Bank and First Active have accused management of scapegoating staff for the mistakes and greed of Royal Bank of Scotland, and warned it will not accept any compulsory redundancies among the 750 job cuts.

ULSTER BANK is to axe 750 jobs and is to merge First Active, its mortgage and investment business, into its general banking operations in the south.

Bank workers today blamed the greed and incompetence of senior management for the loss of 750 jobs at Ulster Bank.

Barclays shares ended a nine-day slump in dramatic fashion today after an open letter from management insisted the bank was well-funded and profitable.

The Ulster Bank Group has confirmed plans to shed around 750 jobs as part of a major restructuring programme.

Hundreds of jobs at First Active branches around the country are believed to be under threat as part of restructuring plans by the bank's parent company.

Fears were growing for hundreds of jobs at an Irish financial institution today as bank chiefs review global operations.

THE British Government looks set to increase its stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland group (RBS) — stopping just short of nationalising the business — which is set to report the biggest ever annual loss for a publicly-quoted British company next month.

THE Cunningham Group of building companies has lost a central claim in its marathon legal action against First Active after a judge yesterday rejected a claim of fraud against the bank in its dealings with the group.

A five-year Government blueprint aims to protect the Irish economy from the global recession, the Taoiseach said today.

A €10bn initiative to shore up Ireland’s banking sector was underway today.

Ulster Bank and First Active have confirmed they will only be passing on 0.5% rate cut.

Ulster Bank today announced that it, along with the other main banks, would drop its standard variable rate for mortgage customers by 0.5% with effect from December 1.

Brian Lenihan has signed a ministerial order designating the first group of banks and building societies to participate in the state guarantee scheme.

The Dáil today approved a two-year bank guarantee scheme to protect financial institutions.

The Government is to recoup €1bn from eleven banks protected under a two-year State guarantee scheme.

JOBS will not be lost following ACC Bank’s decision to close seven of its branches.

Ireland’s bank-guarantee scheme has been approved by the European Commission.

IT IS not certain that five foreign-owned banks operating here will be given protection under the Government’s guarantee scheme.

The Government's decision to extend its deposit guarantee scheme to a number of foreign-owned banks operating in Ireland has received a mixed response today.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has confirmed that the Government's bank guarantee scheme is to be extended to include more firms.

LIKE a phoenix rising from the ashes, Brian Lenihan swooped down on the banking sector yesterday rescuing it from the brink of disaster.

THE SCOTTISH division of MediaCom — the media buying arm of international advertising group, WPP — is aiming to grow its new Irish business into a €50 million company within the next two years.

THE latest institution to jump on the eco-bandwagon is First Active, which yesterday launched its Green Loan for household customers.

THE Irish Nationwide Building Society is offering the biggest return in the country for regular savers, according to a survey conducted by the Financial Regulator.

CONSUMERS are paying the price for the so-called credit crunch as credit card companies jack up their interest rates as high as 22.9%.

Ulster Bank is making no comment on reports that its parent company, Royal Bank of Scotland, is planning to raise between £5bn (€3.2bn) and £12bn (€7.6bn) from its shareholders.

MISSING solicitor Michael Lynn has been in phone contact with his wife Bríd Murphy in recent days but she does not know his whereabouts, a High Court judge was told yesterday.

TEN banks and other financial institutions which had dealings with solicitor Michael Lynn in relation to an unknown number of properties are to pool information to try and establish the extent of the solicitor’s liabilities, estimated at up to €50 million, the High Court heard yesterday.

First Active has launched a new mortgage package to take advantage of the Government’s plan to axe stamp duty for first-time buyers.

CONSUMERS are being urged to shop around when it comes to mortgages — amid claims first-time house buyers could save €37,000 by doing so.

The gap between the best and worst mortgage rates now on the market could see a first time buyer paying €37,000 more than necessary, if rate differences were maintained over the period of their loan, according to a review of the mortgage rates available from top lenders by mortgage brokers Simply Mortgages

First Active, owned by Royal Bank of Scotland Group, plans to sell €1.95 billion of bonds backed by home loans.

Financial services provider First Active is to open seven new outlets across the country in 2007, with the first of these just opened in Ashbourne, Co Meath.

FIRST ACTIVE raised €1.8 billion after launching its 10th public mortgage backing securitisation.

ULSTER Bank has strengthened its property finance wing, with four key appointments and moves to swell its property finance division from five to nine regional centres.