The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards has appointed counsel to cross-examine witnesses during its inquiry into the collapse of Halifax Bank of Scotland. Barrister David Quest has been appointed to question witnesses in a public evidence session, as part of a sub-committee panel inquiry into the bank. Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Commission said: “This [...]
PayPal, the payments business which allows payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet, has been experiencing technical difficulties for the past week. The glitch, which is affecting UK customers, has led to large numbers of transactions being sent for security checks, causing payments to be delayed. The problem is believed to have [...]
The Financial Services Authority has revealed the results of its six-monthly review of complaints, showing that LLoyds and Barclays are the two most complained-about banks. Complaint numbers have rocketed as a result of the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal and have now reached the rate of one PPI complaint every 7 seconds. Between January [...]
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 [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is calling for pension and insurance providers to reduce the estimates of returns used when marketing their products. The regulator warns that firms are using over-generous forecasts which could be misleading for consumers. It wants them to reduce the estimates of returns on investment products by at least 0.5 percent, [...]
Banks are writing to millions of customers advising them that they may have been mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), following the release of new guidelines by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA estimates that between four million and 12 million letters will be sent out, but not everyone who has been mis-sold PPI will [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Santander £1.5m for failing to explain to customers that some of its investment products were not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS is a financial safety net which pays compensation to customers of financial services firms authorised by the FSA, if the firm itself [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is introducing new rules which will require banks and building societies to display clear signs at branches and on their websites, telling customers their savings are protected. The sign will tell savers: “Your deposits are protected up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the UK deposit protection scheme. [...]
Homeserve revealed today that it expects to spend around £10 million on overhauling its sales practices following the recent mis-selling scandal. The decision by repair and insurance group Homeserve to suspend sales activity after problems with its selling practices came to light will also result in significant costs. The reduction in marketing is expected to [...]
Figures from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) have revealed that the three most complained about British banks are Barclays, Lloyds and Santander. According to the FSA, Barclays received more than a quarter of a million complaints in the first half of 2011. Lloyds received 181,907 complaints in the six month period, while Santander had 168,888 [...]
Bank of Scotland, which is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, has been fined £3.5 million by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The matter arose after the Financial Ombudsman Service received appeals from investors who said their complaints had been rejected wrongly. As a result, the bank has been ordered to pay customers around £17 [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today announced that it has fined the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society (N&P) £1.4 million for giving unsuitable advice on its Keydata products. The Watchdog said the group failed to properly assess the financial circumstances of many of its customers and often designated them as having a higher tolerance [...]
The Government has today announced the four external members of the new Financial Policy Committee (FPC). The FPC, which was first unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne last June, has been established to regulate financial services and markets. The idea behind the FPC follows the Government’s criticism of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for not doing [...]
Banking giant Barclays has announced it will axe 1,000 jobs as it ceases to offer financial planning advice in its branches. The job cuts will take place countrywide from February 18 as the bank focuses its investment service online. The announcement comes just a week after the bank was fined £7.7 million by the Financial [...]
Following a review, City watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has announced financial advisers must hold accreditation if they want to provide independent or restricted advice from the start of 2013. The FSA said retail investment advisers will need to possess a Statement of Professional Standing (SPS) if they want to give independent or restricted [...]
Banking giant Barclays has received a fine of £7.7 million – imposed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) over poor investment advice. The City Watchdog has also ordered the bank to compensate up to £60 million to customers of two investment funds. The bank has apologised for the failures and said it will “put things [...]
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and its NatWest subsidiary have been fined by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for “multiple failings”. The fine of £2.8 million was imposed because there was an “unacceptably high risk that customers may not have been treated fairly” due to not handling customers routine complaints in a proper manner. [...]
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the body established to compensate victims of banking failures, will now reimburse up to £85,000 per saver if a bank collapses, up from the £50,000 limit previously agreed. It is hoped the new limit, which is paid for by the UK financial services industry, will avert customer panic if [...]
Figures show that UK watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has stepped up its fines this year after imposing a record £89 million in 2010, compared with £35 million in 2009. However, fines in the UK are still significantly lower than those imposed in the US, which usually exceed the $500 million mark. This year [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is set to publish a report on the near collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) following an investigation into the bank. The report, to be published by the end of March, comes after the bank had to be bailed out at the height of the financial crisis in autumn [...]
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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