Lloyds TSB shareholders voted today on the proposed takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) with 95.98% voting in favour of the deal. Shareholders also approved proposals to raise £5.5 billion by issuing new shares and special preference shares. The takeover will create a new banking giant called Lloyds Banking Group, which will comprise almost [...]
US shares have fallen today after investors are concerned over the US $700 billion (£380 billion) rescue package. Earlier this morning, it was announced that the US Senate voted in favour of a new version of the $700 billion (£380 billion) bailout plan. The revised scheme will now go back to the House of Representatives [...]
Banking shares have been the sharpest fallers on the FTSE 100 today in London as it was announced late last night that the US $700 billion (£380 billion) bailout scheme was rejected after it failed to gain support from Congress who voted against the proposed scheme. One of the biggest fallers today was HBOS who [...]
A new financial giant has been created as Bank of America confirmed it is to buy Merrill Lynch in a deal worth $50 billion (£28 billion), subject to the approval of shareholders and regulators. The deal will result in the new financial services giant involved in everything ranging from fixed-income trading to stock underwriting to [...]
Barclays has improved its balance sheet today after it revealed it has offloaded its life insurance unit to Swiss Re in a deal worth £753 million ($1.48 billion), subject to regulatory approval. Swiss Re is paying £753 million in cash for Barclays Life, which manages £6.8 billion of assets on behalf of 760,000 policyholders. Swiss [...]
Shares in Alliance & Leicester (A&L) have rocketed 47% this morning after it has been revealed that Spanish bank Santander has agreed a deal to buy the former building society in a deal worth £1.3 billion. Shares in A&L suffered, particularly last year, after many believed it would follow in the footsteps of Northern Rock [...]
A deal has been reached between the Government and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to ensure that homes will continue to receive flood cover. Last month, the ABI warned the Government to take action against floods as its members will stop insuring people in high risk areas. The ABI has been urging the Government [...]
US banking giant, Bear Stearns is no more as its shareholders have approved the $2.2 billion sale to rival JP Morgan Chase. A meeting took place earlier this week at Bear’s headquarters in New York where investors backed the $10-a-share bid. The original offer of $2 a share infuriated some Bear Stearns shareholders who said [...]
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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