Tesco may have to delay its entrance into the UK mortgage market because the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is still mulling over its application for regulatory approval. According to reports, the FSA’s more stringent approach to mortgage lenders is likely to mean that the Tesco home loan will not be available this year, as planned. [...]
The Baltic republic of Estonia has been given the go ahead to adopt the euro on 1 January 2011 and will become the euro zone’s 17th member. “Estonia will become the 17th member of the euro area on 1 January, 2011,” Euro group president and Luxembourg Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker told a news conference. “The [...]
Finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s top 20 developed and emerging economies are meeting this weekend in Busan, South Korea, with the euro zone debt crisis set to be high on the agenda. Markets have been in turmoil in recent months by worries over the debt crisis. The crisis led to the [...]
The European Commission today gave the Baltic republic of Estonia the go ahead to adopt the euro on 1 January 2011. The announcement comes at a time when many nations in the euro zone are implementing tough austerity measures in order to cut their budget deficits. A €500 billion (£433 billion) emergency rescue package was [...]
It has been announced that the National Lottery operator, Camelot, has been sold to a Canadian teachers’ pension fund in a deal valued at £389 million. The buyer, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan – simply known as Teachers’ – has stakes in Northumbrian Water and Bristol and Birmingham airports. Teachers‘ beat off strong competition from [...]
Earlier this month, it was reported that Coventry Building Society was in merger talks with its smaller rival, the Stroud & Swindon. Today, however, the talks have been confirmed and the merger will bring together the country’s third and eleventh largest building societies. The merger, which is subject to approval by the members of Stroud [...]
Prudential, which is Britain’s second largest insurer, is understood to be in ‘advanced talks’ to acquire AIA, the Asian arm of US company American International Group (AIG). AIA is a key part of AIG with around 20 million customers and reports say the deal could cost about $30 billion (£19.6 billion). In order to finance [...]
The UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI) has written to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to approve its £1.3 billion in bonuses to its investment bankers. The Treasury, through the UKFI, had the right to veto any bonus deal after the bank participated in the Government’s Asset Protection Scheme (APS) – one of the conditions [...]
Shares in British Airways (BA) were up more than 4% this morning after US regulators have given the go-ahead to permit American Airlines and BA to coordinate schedules and share costs. Preliminary approval of the alliance was approved by the Department of Transportation (DOT) over the weekend. A combined firm would create the world’s third [...]
It emerged in December that Yorkshire Building Society and Chelsea Building Society were in advanced merger talks and the deal is moving a step closer after YBS members voted in favour of the merger. Around 87% of savers and 85% of borrowers voted in favour of the merger, which members of the Chelsea have already [...]
It was recently confirmed that crisis-torn Northern Rock would be split into two, after receiving the necessary approval from the European Union (EU). 1 January 2010 is the date that has been agreed for the Rock to be split into two divisions – a “good bank” of profitable assets and “bad bank” of toxic debts. The [...]
It emerged yesterday that Yorkshire Building Society and Chelsea Building Society were in advanced merger talks but today the Yorkshire has revealed that a tie-up would lead to a number of job losses and a £200 million write-down on Chelsea’s bad debts. “The merger will lead to a number of job losses,” the two societies [...]
Crisis-torn Northern Rock is to be split into two, after receiving the necessary approval from the European Union (EU). Northern Rock collapsed at the onset of the credit crunch in autumn 2007 after savers staged a nationwide run on the bank. It was then nationalised in February 2008. The plan is for bank to be [...]
BAA has today confirmed the sale of Gatwick airport to Global Infrastructure Partners for £1.51 billion. The sale of the airport is due to be finalised at the end of the year – subject to approval by the European Union. The sale marks the end of BAA’s 40-year monopoly of London’s three main airports – [...]
The Government announced earlier this year it was planning to split nationalised Northern Rock into two divisions – a deposit bank and a mortgage platform. However, the proposals have met with criticism from the Building Societies Association (BSA) saying that the split would put building societies at a big disadvantage. Northern Rock collapsed at the [...]
Ten US banks have been given approval to repay a combined $68 billion (£41 billion) in Government bailout money, said the US Treasury. In a sign that stability is returning to the banking sector, the banking giants will repay some of the money it was loaned in the US Government’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief [...]
According to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), the number of mortgages approved for house purchases rose by 4% in April compared with the previous month, rising from 26,671 to 27,685 approvals. However, compared with April 2008, this represented a fall of 15.5%. Furthermore, net new mortgage lending (which takes into account repayments and redemptions) hit [...]
Mortgage approvals for house purchases fell during October, having seen a slight rise in September. Figures from the Bank of England show that 32,000 new home loans were approved during the month, despite the 0.5% cut in the base rate at the beginning of October. The decline takes the figure below the level seen in [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported that the temporary rise in the stamp duty threshold, to £175,000, benefited 51% of homebuyers during September. In the same month last year, when the threshold stood at £125,000, only 22% of homebuyers escaped the tax. The CML also notes that in September, the number of mortgages [...]
Following a week of talks, the $700 billion (£380 billion) bailout plan has finally been approved. The plan had been designed to prevent financial meltdown and was essential to the financial security of every American, according to President George W. Bush. On Friday night, the vote which was nervously watched by Wall Street, saw the [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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