G. Kennedy Thompson G. Kennedy Thompson G. Kennedy "Ken" Thompson (born November 25, 1950) is an American businessman who was previously chairman, president, and CEO of Wachovia Corporation, formerly First Union Corporation, from 2000 through 2008. First Union Corporation acquired Wachovia Corporation and changed its name to Wachovia in September 2001 after fending off a hostile takeover attempt by SunTrust Bank. Thompson succeeded Edward E. Crutchfield in 2000, who stepped down due to health reasons. Previous positions at First Union included vice chairman of the corporation and head of Global Capital Markets; president, First Union-Florida; senior vice president and head of First Union
HSBC Bank (Europe) mid-2003, HSBC became the first UK high-street lender to offer homebuying products in compliance with Sharia (Islamic) law, which prohibits the charging or payment of interest. The range now includes a bank account, home insurance policy (takaful), and home finance. In April 2008 HSBC launched a campaign selling mortgages. This was seen as a risky move by media and HSBC staff due to their previous non-plus attitude building on their 3% market share of the mortgage market. While other banks and building societies felt the effects of the 'credit crunch', HSBC, bolstered by a favourable savings to lending ratio, unveiled