A meeting between Business Secretary Vince Cable, Chancellor George Osborne and the bosses of the UK’s top five banks has been delayed after Mr Osborne is stranded in the US due to bad weather. The meeting, scheduled for this afternoon to discuss the controversial issue of bonuses, had to be cancelled due to transport problems. [...]
Business Secretary Vince Cable and Chancellor George Osborne are meeting with the bosses of the top banks today to discuss the controversial issue of bonuses. Mr Cable is keen to set a limit on bonuses and a commitment to increase lending to SMEs. Yesterday, Mr Cable warned banks that the Government will remain determined and [...]
Chancellor George Osborne has had a rethink with regard to bankers’ bonuses, suggesting he may abandon the requirement for British banks to disclose the number of employees earning more than £1 million. The requirement for banks to disclose bonuses and salary payments over £1 million was brought in by former Chancellor Alistair Darling last year. [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today announced Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose to an annual rate of 3.2% in October, up from 3.1% in September. The latest figure represents the eleventh consecutive month that inflation has been above the target of 2% and will prompt the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn [...]
Addressing the Treasury Select Committee today, Chancellor George Osborne suggested the Bank of England could resume its quantitative easing (QE) scheme next year if economic growth slows. There has been suggestions that economic growth will be severely hampered because of the Government’s massive spending cuts – many have even said a double-dip recession is likely. [...]
Chancellor George Osborne has today announced the 2011 budget will take place on 23 March. This budget, in particular, which be closely watched to see if the Government is on target with its tough spending cuts. The new Coalition Government has scrapped the autumn pre-budget report and is making the March budget the key economic [...]
After yesterday’s Comprehensive Spending Review, Chancellor George Osborne has today defended his package of £81 billion spending cuts but deemed them to be fair. Addressing parliament yesterday, Mr Osborne said “Tackling this budget deficit is unavoidable. The decisions about how we do it are not. There are choices. And today we make them. Investment in [...]
Chancellor George Osborne has today unveiled his Comprehensive Spending Review – in what has been described as the most savage spending cuts since the Second World War. Mr Osborne confirmed he would proceed with almost all of the cuts he detailed in his emergency budget in June. Firstly, defending the cuts, Mr Osborne told parliament: [...]
Chancellor George Osborne will today reveal the Comprehensive Spending Review. He is set to provide details of how he intends to slash spending by £83 billion by 2014 as he endeavours to bring down the spiralling budget deficit. The cuts have received mixed responses; many have been critical of them warning that slashing the deficit [...]
As part of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, it is understood that the social housing budget will be slashed by more than 50%. The Spending Review, which will be unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne tomorrow, will provide details of how the Government intends to slash spending by £83 billion by 2014 as it endeavours to [...]
Professor David Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), has once again said massive spending cuts introduced to deal with the budget deficit could push the UK back into a recession. In June, and again last month, Mr Blanchflower warned the coalition Government that tough spending cuts could pose [...]
According to the New Economics Foundation (NEF), banks could be forced to seek more support from the taxpayer next year, due to a £25 billion funding gap. The NEF has published a report on Britain’s banks entitled “Where Did Our Money Go?” and the 88-page document suggests an urgent reform of the sector is required, [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today announced Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) slipped to an annual rate of 3.1% in July – down from to 3.2% in June. The latest figure, which was widely expected by analysts, represents the eighth consecutive month that inflation has been above the Bank of England’s target of 2%. [...]
British banks will unveil their first-half profits this week with the five biggest banks expected to reveal they are back in the black. Banking giant HSBC will kick off the reporting season tomorrow, with Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Chartered announcing their results on Wednesday, Barclays on Thursday and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on [...]
Following an announcement by Chancellor George Osborne last month, the Government has today confirmed that the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) should be operational by autumn. In his Mansion House speech last month, Mr Osborne said the Government was launching the FPC in order to regulate financial services and markets. The proposals came after the coalition [...]
The Treasury Select Committee has warned that cutting the deficit too quickly could risk pushing the UK back into recession. Since coming to power, the new coalition Government has made cutting the deficit its top priority. However, many leading business groups and former Chancellor, Alistair Darling, all warned that cutting the deficit too quickly could [...]
As expected, Chancellor George Osborne has today revealed plans to simplify the UK tax system, in a bid to encourage investment and stimulate economic growth. The Chancellor said the “spaghetti bowl” of UK tax law will be simplified and said: “The previous government took a complex tax system and made it even worse. A decade [...]
The Treasury has today announced Martin Weale will join the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Mr Weale will assume his position in time for next month’s rate-setting meeting and replaces Kate Barker after her term ended on 31 May. Consequently, the Bank’s June meeting only comprised eight members but it will resume to [...]
Business Secretary Vince Cable has warned that the UK’s car industry will not receive any further funding from the Government. Mr Cable was speaking at a conference in London organised by trade body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). However, he said the industry is “incredibly important to the UK economy” and insisted [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
