Foreign news: ICBC buys Turkish bank, Deutsche Bank fined US$55m, US mortgage volume fades

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China bought a 76 per cent stake in Tekstilbank from Turkish GSD Holding, becoming the first Chinese bank operating in Turkey. ICBC will make an offer for the remaining shares of Tekstilbank.
Deutsche Bank, without admitting or denying wrongdoing, has agreed to pay a US$55 million penalty to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission claim that the bank had overvalued a derivatives portfolio by US$1.5 billion. The SEC said the bank "overstated" the value of a multibillion-dollar portfolio of derivatives during the height of the financial crisis, leading it to file inaccurate financial statements for at least a six-month stretch, the New York Times reports.
With the average rate for the 30-year fixed mortgage that is standard for US home buyers now "decidedly above four per cent", CNBC is reporting that borrowers are pulling back from refinancing and struggling to make home purchases during a historically busy time of year for housing. While volume is still higher than a year ago, it has fallen ten per cent in the last four weeks and, proportionally, is down much further than that in recent weeks, according to the US Mortgage Bankers Association.