Chancellor Alistair Darling’s plans to automatically increase ISA limits in line with inflation are merely a “token gesture”, according to one industry expert. Andrew Hagger of financial advice site Moneynet said the new measures will cost banks more money to implement than the potential benefits for savers. “This is a token gesture that is likely [...]
The Pre-Election Budget will be delivered today by Chancellor Alistair Darling but he has repeatedly said there will be no “giveaways” ahead of the general election. What we can expect to see, though, are more details of how the Government expects to trim the budget deficit. Mr Darling has previously pledged to halve the budget [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK Government borrowed a further £12.4 billion in February. However, while the figure represented the highest amount for February on record, it was less than economists had forecast. Overall, debt stands at £857.75 billion – the equivalent to 60.3% of GDP, up from 50.5% a [...]
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has confirmed the date of the Budget as March 24 with speculation mounting that the general election will be 6 weeks after – on May 6. The Treasury is set to confirm the Budget date later in a written statement to MPs. Meanwhile, in the build-up to the budget, Chancellor Alistair [...]
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is calling on the Government to provide a ‘credible’ economic plan for balancing public finances by 2016 – two years earlier than planned. The business group believes that Chancellor, Alistair Darling, should use his last Budget before the general election to give more details of spending plans for Whitehall [...]
Mervyn King, the Bank of England’s Governor, has today appeared before the Treasury Select Committee to discuss the latest inflation figures and the issues surrounding the UK’s economy. Last week, the Office for National Statistics revealed Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose to a 14-month high of 3.5% in January, driven by higher petrol costs and [...]
London Mayor, Boris Johnson, has warned that high-earning bankers are leaving the capital because of the super tax which has been introduced by the Government. In the recent Pre-Budget Report (PBR), UK Chancellor Alistair Darling confirmed there would be a one-off 50% tax on bankers’ bonuses paid above £25,000. The Chancellor said the banks, rather [...]
At today’s Pre-Budget Report, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling unveiled measures to claw back money in order to pay off the UK’s spiralling debt. Mr Darling confirmed there would be a one-off 50% tax on bankers’ bonuses paid above £25,000. The Chancellor said the banks, rather than the bankers, will pay the tax and [...]
Today is the day of the Pre-Budget Report and Chancellor Alistair Darling will give more detailed plans about how the Government intends to halve the £180 billion deficit. Moody’s credit rating agency has warned that Britain is facing a “fiscal crisis” unless the Government takes action to pay off the debt or risk losing its [...]
Over the weekend, it emerged that Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to announce a windfall tax on British banks in Wednesday‘s Pre-Budget Report. The measure is one of many being planned by Mr Darling to target high earners. Other measures include increasing the number of people liable to pay inheritance tax, as well as an [...]
Addressing parliament today, Chancellor Alistair Darling warned that UK unemployment would continue to rise “for a while”. The latest official figures show that UK unemployment stands at 2.46 million – a rate of 7.8%. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation recently forecast that UK unemployment will increase to a rate of 9.3% in 2010 and to [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is 70% owned by the taxpayer, has announced it is to eliminate 3,700 positions among its branch staff. The bank, which along with Lloyds Banking Group is to be broken up, said the redundancies are the equivalent of 14% of its workforce and the job losses are in addition [...]
From today, the total Individual Savings Account (ISA) allowance for people over 50 will increase from £7,200 to £10,200. The £3,000 increase, which was announced in this year’s Budget, is eligible to those born on or before 5 April 1960. For everyone else, the limit will rise from 6 April 2010. ISAs, which were launched [...]
It has emerged that Britain’s five largest banks have agreed to bonus terms set out by the world’s leading nations at last week’s G20 summit. The five UK banks that have accepted the curbs on bonuses are Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered. Under the new terms set out at last week’s summit, up [...]
Prior to his departure to the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Chancellor Alistair Darling warned bankers that the ‘party is over’ and the controversial bonus culture is set to change. The G20 summit, which takes place today and tomorrow, is to focus on tightening global financial regulation. The subject of bankers’ pay and bonuses are expected [...]
France’s proposal of a series of mandatory caps on bank bonuses was rejected at this weekend‘s meeting of G20 finance ministers. While the proposals made by French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, received strong European support, UK Chancellor Alistair Darling dismissed them as “unenforceable”. Instead, the G20 group of leading economies have agreed on new regulatory measures [...]
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 [...]
The Chancellor Alistair Darling has reiterated that Britain will join other leading economies and emerge from recession within the next few months. In an article in the Guardian, Mr Darling wrote: “I am determined the recovery will be sustainable and lasting, that no one should be consigned to the scrapheap, like so many were in [...]
The Chancellor Alistair Darling has today announced key reforms of banking regulation in a bid to prevent future meltdowns. The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s has forced the Government to nationalise Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, as well as bailing out Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland using [...]
In a bid to prevent future meltdowns of the banking system, Chancellor Alistair Darling is set to announce key reforms of banking regulation today. According to the Chancellor, the reforms will “toughen up of the regulatory system” in order to “learn the lesson of what went wrong… and make sure we reduce those risks”. Proposals [...]
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 [...]
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