It has been reported that banking giant Barclays is considering purchasing one of Spain’s ailing regional savings banks. According to the Sunday Times, the bank’s chief executive, Bob Diamond, met with the Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, last week. However, Barclays has declined to comment on the report and it is unknown which […]
The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a report on the Government’s Asset Protection Scheme (APS) and concluded that it failed in its aim of boosting bank lending. The scheme, which insurers against losses arising from toxic assets, also did not charge sufficient fees to the banks which participated. The scheme was established in 2009 […]
HSBC’s chief executive, Michael Geoghegan, has threatened to leave the bank if he is not promoted to chairman. According to the Financial Times, a person familiar with the bank’s succession plan, said: “He [Geoghegan] was told the board was not ready to give him the chairmanship and he was not happy.” Earlier this month, it […]
Metro Bank, which aims to make banking a “fun retail experience” opens in Holborn, central London today. The bank is Britain’s first new high street lender for more than a century and it has pledged to return to “core banking values”. The bank said it will employ more cashiers than the existing “big four” banks, […]
Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan has kicked off the banking reporting season today with better-than-expected second quarter profits – due to better credit conditions. The bank reported net income of $4.8 billion (£3.1 billion) – a 75% increase on the $2.7 billion reported in the same period a year ago. Today’s figures from JP Morgan […]
Consumer watchdog, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), has today revealed UK banks may soon be offering customers the ability to opt out of unarranged overdraft facilities. Should the procedure be put in place, it would mean consumers would avoid hefty fees if they slipped into the red. The announcement comes as the OFT took […]
Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan has kicked off the reporting season with a bang by posting fourth quarter profits of $3.28 billion (£2 billion) compared with $702 million a year ago – at the height of the financial crisis. Meanwhile, the bank reported full-year profits of $11.7 billion, or $2.26 per share, on record revenue […]
Supermarket giant Tesco has taken the next step in its quest to become a bank by signing up Fiserv. US-based Fiserv provides information management and electronic commerce systems to the financial services industry. Tesco said Fiserv will assist it in becoming a full-service bank by providing account information and banking transactions for Tesco Bank customers. […]
Santander is attempting to lure new customers into opening a premium current account with an introductory special offer. New customers opening a Premier 50 Current Account at Alliance & Leicester or a Reward Bank Account at Abbey will pay account fees of just £5 per month for the first three months. After this introductory period, […]
According to the European Central Bank (ECB), bank lending to companies within the euro zone declined for the first time ever in September, sparking fears that weak lending could hind a recovery within the economy. The euro zone, which comprises 16 countries, is still officially in recession and the fall in lending comes at a […]
The topic of bank bonuses continues to hit the headlines with Prime Minister Gordon Brown suggesting a possible cap on bonuses within the banking industry, and indicating that bonuses should be based on long-term success. The PM added that banks should be able to “claw back” bonuses if the bank later performed poorly. Mr Brown […]
Sir Richard Branson is looking to obtain a licence for his Virgin Group in a bid to become a High Street bank and return to the mortgage market. The billionaire entrepreneur told The Times: “We are going to get back into the mortgage business and we will become a bank either by acquisition or by […]
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics today have revealed that national debt could be pushed up by as much as £1.5 trillion, following the bailouts of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds TSB. Billions of pounds were injected into the two banks last autumn to prevent them from collapse. Furthermore, both Northern […]
Despite the bad news surrounding the economy this week, bank shares have recovered today following two weeks of heavy falls in the sector. Following decent increases yesterday, shares in Barclays were up 12% to 99p earlier today, following a 73% surge yesterday. Shares in the bank closed today at 89p. However, shares in Barclays are […]
Bank shares on Friday took a battering amid speculation that more financial institutions will have to be rescued by the Government. Barclays stock was down 25% to its lowest level since 1993, while Royal Bank of Scotland lost 13%, the latter is 57.9% owned by the Government. Last week alone, Lloyds TSB saw its shares […]
Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has admitted that 2009 will be a difficult year because the UK is far from through the recession. In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Darling updated an earlier prediction that the downturn would run its course by the middle of the year. He said the forecast was […]
The Government is reported to be considering a range of new measures that could free up lending. When the banks were bailed out with £50 billion of taxpayer cash in October, ministers made it clear that they expected the UK’s High Street banks to restore lending to businesses and individuals. Business Secretary, Peter Mandelson, has […]
The announcement earlier this week of the £500 billion Government package of support for UK banks, plus a 0.5% cut in the Bank of England’s base rate, has met with disappointing results in the mortgage market. According to financial website, Moneyfacts.co.uk, home loan providers have continued to withdraw products with high loan-to-value (LTV) ratios, leaving […]
As yesterday morning’s speaker on BBC Radio 4′s “Thought for the Day” urged a bleary-eyed nation to consider in its prayers the plight of bankers, whose lives may be torn apart by the credit crisis, and bear in mind their efforts in support of charity, a new day of financial turmoil was about to break. […]
According to reports from Robert Peston at the BBC, both Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) and Lloyds TSB (LLOY) are in advanced talks on a merger. The news comes as HBOS shares show extraordinary volatility in London trading, so far trading anywhere between 88 pence and 214 pence per share according to Google Finance. HBOS […]
Gender directive could slash men’s annuity payouts
The EU Gender Directive, which came into force today, could see men losing up to £10,000 from their annuity payouts, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under the new rules insurers are no longer allowed to take gender into account when setting annuity rates and premiums on insurance products. Men previously enjoyed higher annuity rates than […]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was £741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. […]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees […]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to £12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on […]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages […]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The ‘Mind the Credit Gap‘ report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than £50,000 could have a credit […]
Monthly incomes £22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by £22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE […]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was £1,186, more than double the average savings […]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though […]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Company’s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailers’ sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wonga’s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A […]
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