HSBC Finance Corp. of Prospect Heights, Ill., agreed to buy Solstice Capital Group Inc., a $36.1 million-asset subprime mortgage lender in Irvine, Calif.
The unit of the $1.7 trillion-asset HSBC Holdings PLC in London announced the deal Tuesday but did not say how much it would pay. Solstice has 170 employees and offices in Phoenix and Las Vegas. It sells mortgages and home-equity loans through direct mail.
Amex Licenses Technology for Clear Cards
American Express Co. said Tuesday it has begun licensing its technology for producing transparent cards to other issuers.
The New York company, which uses the clear cards in its Blue line, said it signed a licensing arrangement with Versatile Card Technology Inc. to produce such cards for other issuers, regardless of which networks carry their transactions.
