Three in Five SMEs unaffected by recession

Barclays appoints new chairman

Barclays has announced the appointment of Sir David Walker as its new chairman. He will take over from Marcus Agius who resigned from the role after Barclays was fined £290 million by regulators in the UK and US for manipulating Libor, the interbank lending rate. The appointment of Sir David, a respected and experienced banker, [...]

Post Office stepping up mortgage offering

The Post Office is expanding its mortgage service with the introduction of mortgage specialists in its branches. Mortgages have been available from the Post Office since 2009, but applications have had to be made online or over the phone. It currently offers mortgage with deposits as low as 10 per cent and plans to enhance [...]

Help Loan closed after breaching money-laundering rules

Payday Loan company MCO Capital has been closed down by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and fined £544,000 after failing to check the identity of its borrowers. The firm, which traded as Help Loan, was targeted by criminals and cheated of more than £1.5m by the fraudsters due to its negligence. The criminals stole [...]

Health insurance becoming unaffordable warns Bupa

The rising cost of private healthcare is pushing health insurance in the UK up to unaffordable levels, according to international healthcare group Bupa. A lack of competition among private hospitals has led to the cost of treatment rising, and the insurer says that this could lead to health insurance becoming unaffordable. An increase in the [...]

Bank of England forecasts zero economic growth

The Bank of England does not expect the UK economy to grow at all this year according to its latest quarterly report. It had previously forecast growth of 2 per cent for 2012 but recent gloomy economic data has led to the growth forecast being revised downwards. The forecast for medium-term growth has also been [...]

Standard Chartered in money-laundering scandal

Standard Chartered has become the latest UK bank to be accused of illegal activity. It has been accused by the New York department of financial services of hiding $250 billion worth of illegal transactions with Iranian banks between 2001 and 2010. The US regulator claims that the bank, which has wholesale banking, corporate finance and [...]

Economy benefiting from PPI refunds

The UK economy is receiving a welcome boost from compensation paid by banks to customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI). British banks have already paid out £9 billion after it came to light that they had been routinely mis-selling insurance policies designed to protect repayments on mortgage, loan and credit cards. With payouts [...]

Average house price falls to £161,000

House prices fell in July, to an average of £161,094 across the country, after increasing in the previous two months. Prices fell by 0.6 per cent in July, compared with the previous month, according to the Halifax House Price Index. Average prices are also 0.6 per cent lower compared with July 2011, the Halifax said. [...]

Tesco to offer club card points on mortgages

Retailer Tesco is launching mortgage products through Tesco Bank, allowing Tesco Clubcard holders to earn points on repayments. It is offering mainly fixed-rate deals, with interest rates ranging from 3.19 per cent to 5.09 per cent and a minimum deposit of 20 per cent. With many fixed-rate deals currently offering interest rates of below 3 [...]

Holidaymakers shun travel insurance and breakdown cover

Many holidaymakers will embark on their annual break without any travel insurance and people taking to the roads in Europe are failing to take out breakdown cover. A study by the Money Advice Service reveals that 53 per cent of people in the UK are planning to take a summer holiday, but half of these [...]