Australia's Commonwealth Bank eyeing BankWest: report (Reuters)

Reuters - Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) , the country's No. 2 bank by assets, may offer over A$6 billion ($5.2 billion) to British bank HBOS for its Australian unit BankWest, the Australian newspaper reported on Monday.

Britain's HBOS sells 2 Australian units

Australia's largest bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd., said Wednesday it had agreed to buy Bank of Western Australia Limited and St. Andrew's Australia from troubled British bank HBOS for $1.4 billion.

Credit crunch up to 18 more months: CBA

Commonwealth Bank chief Ralph Norris says the credit crunch, which dragged on the bank's full-year earnings, is likely to last another 12 to 18 months.

'No insurance business plans' says CBA

Commonwealth Bank of Australia said it had no plans to acquire a general insurance business after a broking house said that CBA would consider such a move.

Fed move boosts European stocks

World stock markets on Tuesday recovered some of their hefty losses from the previous day, helped by a steady opening on Wall Street after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced that it would buy massive amounts of short-term debts in an attempt to ease tight credit markets.

RBS forced to abandon sale of Australian assets

Royal Bank of Scotland has called off plans to sell the Australian and New Zealand businesses it acquired as part of last year's landmark ABN Amro takeover after the last bidder walked away yesterday.