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November 20, 2007
by Kay Murchie
Northern Rock’s shares plummeted to 104.2p yesterday after the chancellor Alistair Darling said that he was keen to protect taxpayers’ money, but shareholders were not mentioned and left out in the cold.
Furthermore, there is talk that the Government faces years of supporting the crisis-torn bank as finding a suitable buyer is looking unlikely. Last Friday was the deadline for potential bidders ...
by Gill Montia
Home owners anticipating a forthcoming cut in the Bank of England's base rate are likely to be disappointed by the impact of such a move on their mortgage payments.
According to Firstrung, the first-time buyer mortgage specialist, the convention of mortgage providers following the base rate has been broken by the credit squeeze.
Some analysts are forecasting up to three cuts in ...
by Gill Montia
London estate agents are warning that the capital's property market could enter a period of stagnation that could be a precursor to a sharp fall in prices.
The gap between asking prices and offers is widening because house sellers are reluctant to accept offers that they consider too low.
The latest figures from Rightmove (covering the four weeks to 10th November) show that ...
by Kay Murchie
Britannia, the second largest mutual lender after Nationwide, is exposed to the credit squeeze because its subsidiary, Platform, relies on capital markets for much of the money it lends.
Consequently, borrowers and savers with Britannia could see the value of their yearly member reward (the mutual’s equivalent of a dividend) decline next year as a consequence of the credit crunch ...
November 19, 2007
by Elaine Frei
In late afternoon trade, Wall Street was lower on bad news from the banking and house building sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.59 percent to 12,967.39 while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.51 percent lower to 2,597.5 and the S&P 500 had dropped 1.55 percent to 1,436.16.
Most Asia-Pacific equities markets were lower on Monday. ...
by Brian Turner
Today it was announced that the FSA had fined two brokerages because of potential mis-selling.
The action by the FSA just doesn't go far enough.
The Loan Company (trading as Greenhill Finance) was fined £31,500 for failing to make proper affordability checks on the sub-prime mortgages it was selling.
Next Generation Mortgages was fined £10,500 for failing to make proper assessments and ...
by Gill Montia
The latest survey of UK house prices from Rightmove, the property website, shows the cost of property falling by 0.7% during the four weeks to 10th November.
The decrease amounts to £1,656 on the average price of a home in England and Wales, which is now down to £239,986.
It also brings annual house price inflation to 7.9%, its lowest level ...
by Kay Murchie
Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays is proposing to recruit over 1,500 people next year – the equivalent of a 10% staff increase globally.
Since the beginning of 2005, Barclays Capital has hired 6,600 staff as part of a rapid expansion plan that has achieved compound profit growth of 25% to 30%. In 2006, the company increased staff numbers by ...
by Kay Murchie
This week is National Maintenance Week and it takes place each year in November to remind anyone who looks after a building of the simple steps they can take to get ready for the winter season.
Consequently, homeowners are being encouraged to carry out any repairs or maintenance on their properties in order to make them more energy efficient as ...
by Kay Murchie
Adam Applegarth, chief executive of crisis-torn Northern Rock has resigned.
Furthermore, non-executive directors Sir Derek Wanless, Nichola Pease, Adam Fenwick and Rosemary Radcliffe are all to step down with immediate effect. Executive directors David Baker, Keith Currie and Andy Kuipers will also step down from the board although they will remain as managers with the company.
Mr Applegarth has been under severe pressure to ...
by Gill Montia
House prices are still rising steadily in Scotland, despite a predicted end to the property boom in the region.
According to new data from Lloyds TSB Scotland, the average house price rose 3.6% in the three months to October 2007.
The increase means that in the past 12 months, house prices in Scotland have risen by 14.5%, bringing the average price of a ...
by Gill Montia
Yorkshire Building Society is introducing the paperless mortgage and will be providing its entire mortgage application process online.
To date, online application systems have still involved hard copies because of the problems of proof of identity and the paper-and-ink, or "wet", signature that is required to show that the borrower agrees to the terms and conditions of the loan.
The Yorkshire has been ...
November 16, 2007
by Gill Montia
Mortgage borrowers with Standard Life will be dismayed to learn that the company is increasing its standard variable rate (SVR) by 0.15 percentage points, to 7.46%, from Monday of next week.
The news comes as a surprise because the Bank of England left the base rate unchanged, at 5.75%, in November.
However analysts are warning that higher mortgage interest rates are on the cards, ...
by Kay Murchie
A recent survey conducted by Defaqto discovered that over 30% of people said that they were not saving for their retirement, while 70% confessed that they are relying on their state pension.
Richard Sheppard, head of pensions for AWD Chase de Vere, said pensions are not a priority and many are paying less attention to their long-term saving but are focused on ...
by Kay Murchie
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has provided evidence in its case against the 8 High Street banks over unreasonable charges and said even if it loses its High Court test case against them in the New Year, it will follow up with a second legal challenge next year.
OFT recently accused the banks of using stealth and tricks ...
by Gill Montia
The Nationwide Building Society is predicting that annual house price inflation will fall to zero during 2008.
The current annual rate stands at 9.7% but in the coming months affordability issues and tighter lending criteria are expected to continue to have a negative impact on property price inflation.
In addition, forecasts of a downturn in the economy could make 2008 the slowest year ...
by Kay Murchie
Jim Fitzpatrick MP, road safety minister, has said that drivers are to receive their motor insurance certificates via email. The announcement was made by the Association of British Insurers' (ABI) Motor Conference.
The announcement has been welcomed by the ABI who has been calling for a change in the law and claims that it will bring significant benefits for motorists. Furthermore, email is ...
November 15, 2007
by Elaine Frei
Europe’s markets were lower Thursday. The pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 1.1 percent to 1,505.96. Madrid’s IBEX was 0.53 percent lower to 15,725.8 while the CAC-40 was down 0.93 percent to 5,561.13 in Paris and the Dax dropped 1.49 percent to 7,667.03 in Frankfurt. Equities markets were down in London as well as the FTSE 100 fell ...
by Kay Murchie
Barclays, Britain’s third largest bank, said its investment bank unit made a £1.3 billion write-down due to its exposure to credit market problems in the 4 months to the end of October.
Barclays will write down £500 million for the July-September quarter and a further £800 million write-down for October. The write-down was less than many predicted in terms of Barclays’ exposure to problems.
Until ...
by Kay Murchie
Regardless of whether Northern Rock gets bought out or broken up, the crisis-torn bank could still owe the Bank of England as much as £5.9 billion by 2010. The debt is currently over £20 billion and is expected to reach £25-£30 billion before the crisis is over.
If Northern Rock, which was Britain’s fifth largest bank, is bought out in its entirety, ...
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Northern Rock’s shares plummeted to 104.2p yesterday after the chancellor Alistair Darling said that he was keen to protect taxpayers’ money, but shareholders were not mentioned and left out in the cold.
Furthermore, there is talk that the Government faces years of supporting the crisis-torn bank as finding a suitable buyer is looking unlikely. Last Friday was the deadline for potential bidders ...
In late afternoon trade, Wall Street was lower on bad news from the banking and house building sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.59 percent to 12,967.39 while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.51 percent lower to 2,597.5 and the S&P 500 had dropped 1.55 percent to 1,436.16.
Most Asia-Pacific equities markets were lower on Monday. ...
Europe’s markets were lower Thursday. The pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 1.1 percent to 1,505.96. Madrid’s IBEX was 0.53 percent lower to 15,725.8 while the CAC-40 was down 0.93 percent to 5,561.13 in Paris and the Dax dropped 1.49 percent to 7,667.03 in Frankfurt. Equities markets were down in London as well as the FTSE 100 fell ...