AFP - British bank Barclays on Monday bought the home loans and savings arm of insurer Standard Life, pursuing its expansion strategy after the part-purchase of failed US titan Lehman Brothers last year.

AFP - Barclays on Monday bought the home loans and savings arm of insurer Standard Life, pursuing its expansion strategy after the part-purchase of failed US titan Lehman Brothers last year.

AFP - British bank Barclays announced on Monday that it will buy the home loans and savings division of insurer Standard Life for 226 million pounds (246 million euros, 369 million dollars).

AP - A House panel is investigating the role of mortgage lenders in the financial crisis and is seeking information from some of the biggest U.S. companies to determine if they used deceptive practices to lure borrowers into the housing boom.

AP - IberiaBank Corp. has opened three new mortgage offices in Alabama and two in Georgia.

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AP - Rates for 30-year home loans have inched up, hitting 5 percent for the first time in nearly a month after bond yields edged up.

AP - The Ohio House is moving quickly toward approving a delay in planned income tax reductions, but the Senate plans to slow it down, study alternatives and possibly propose something else to fill a budget hole.

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AFP - Wells Fargo said Wednesday its third-quarter earnings rose to a record 3.2 billion dollars, as the banking giant managed to profit from mortgages and consumer credit despite a weak economy.