A major overhaul of the UK banking industry has been confirmed by the Treasury today with plans for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group to sell off bank branches. The shake-up comes as the Government hopes to create more competition within the industry. The Government holds a 70% stake in RBS and [...]
Last week, it was announced that nationalised Northern Rock is to be split into two, after receiving the necessary approval from the European Union (EU). Meanwhile this weekend, it has been confirmed by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, that Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) are to broken up. The new banks [...]
UK airports operator BAA has reported a pre-tax loss of £784.7 million for the first nine months of the year, compared with a £519 million loss a year earlier. The group said it had lost £225 million on Gatwick Airport, which it confirmed it had sold last week for £1.51 billion. However, today BAA said [...]
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 – [...]
Evidence that the UK mortgage market is stabilising has emerged from Moneyfacts.co.uk, which has noted that lenders have been extending the shelf lives of their various offerings in recent weeks. According to the financial website, the average mortgage product was available for 24 working days in September, up from 18 working days in August, and [...]
Moneyfacts.co.uk has revealed that the price contest between supermarkets and banks is hotting up. According to the comparison site, supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsbury’s have both increased their savings account interest rates and also offer competitive rates on credit cards, loans and life assurance. The Tesco savings account is one of the best performing with [...]
Estate agents that have so far survived the housing market downturn can look forward to a review of the market by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), in 2009. The watchdog has promised to take a comprehensive look at the sector and will be involving both consumer groups and industry bodies. In a similar study [...]
In a move that could be seen as a snub to the Government, state-owned Northern Rock has increased rates on some of its most attractive mortgage deals. For new borrowers, the bank’s one-year fixed mortgage rate has increased from 3.99% to 4.19%. Meanwhile, rates on the lender’s two and five-year fixed-rate home loans have risen [...]
This week has seen a round of rate cuts from High Street lenders, as competition appears to be returning to the market. Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest have announced interest rate cuts of at least 0.10% on their new fixed and tracker mortgages, while rates on some other deals are being reduced by up [...]
HomesMatter has requested an Office of Fair Trading investigation into Rightmove’s decision not to allow it to advertise on the property portal. The recently established estate agency charges a flat fee of £899 plus VAT to sell a property, regardless of its value. According to HomesMatter, Rightmove has declined the business because the estate agency [...]
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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