Prudential, which is Britain’s second largest insurer, has announced today its $21 billion (£13.8 billion) cash call will be delayed due to intervention by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The insurance giant was due to embark on the rights issue in order to fund its acquisition of AIA, the Asian arm of US company American [...]
Edinburgh-based insurer, Standard Life, has today posted a 30% rise in sales for the first quarter of 2010 – far exceeding analysts expectations. The insurer said global sales grew to £4.6 billion in the first three months of the year compared with £3.56 billion in the same period a year ago. Long-term UK savings sales [...]
City Watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has criticised the UK’s largest High Street banks for the poor way they handled their customers’ complaints. Five of the banks, who have not been identified, have agreed to make “significant” changes to the way it handles complaints. However, two of the banks are being investigated further and [...]
The financial world was in shock over the weekend following the decision of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to charge Goldman Sachs and one of its vice presidents with fraud. The Wall Street bank allegedly sold investors down the river by “misstating and omitting key facts” about a financial product tied to US [...]
Tony Hobman has been appointed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to run the newly created Consumer Financial Education Body (CFEB). The CFEB is aimed at enhancing consumers’ financial education and their ability to manage their finances. The newly-established CFEB comes at a time when the Government is concerned that a lack of financial knowledge [...]
Two former directors of crisis-torn Northern Rock have been fined and banned by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Former deputy chief executive, David Baker, has been fined more than half a million pounds by the FSA for misreporting mortgage arrears data and banned from working for an FSA-regulated firm. Furthermore, ex-credit director, Richard Barclay, has [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Kensington Mortgage Company Limited £1.225 million over the way in which it treated some of borrowers facing financial difficulties. The regulator identified a number of serious failings by the sub-prime lender between January 2007 and October 2008, and the firm will have to pay up to £1.066 million [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today found that poor advice is still being given to people switching pension funds. The findings come after a major review of the sector conducted by the FSA in 2008. The City Watchdog has raised concerns about the advice being given and, as a result, is to take enforcement [...]
In yesterday’s Budget, Chancellor Alistair Darling unveiled plans for rescued banks, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group, to lend more to businesses. In a legally binding agreement, RBS and Lloyds, which are 84% and 41% owned by the taxpayer respectively, were rescued at the height of the financial crisis but there have [...]
In its latest round-up of UK mortgage statistics, the Financial Services Authority has reported a fall in the number of homeowners in arrears. In the final quarter of 2009, 378,000 households were behind with their monthly repayments (at a level equivalent to 1.5% of their outstanding balances). The figure is down 4% on the previous [...]
City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has today announced banks will face stricter stress testing to ensure they can survive a further 4 years of falling economic growth and a 13.3% unemployment rate. Stress tests were introduced following the financial crisis to ensure that banks had sufficient capital to allow them to continue operating [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA), has announced a delay on its plans to reform the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) market. The City Watchdog said its consultation will be delayed by six weeks due to a heavy amount of criticism from the financial industry. Under a PPI policy, an agreed sum of money is paid out [...]
According to reports this weekend, Coventry Building Society is in merger talks with its smaller rival, the Stroud & Swindon. The talks follow a series of recent mergers between Britain’s building societies and, should a deal be successful, will bring more consolidation to the mutual sector. The news comes as Coventry, which is the country’s [...]
City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has granted a banking licence to Metro Bank – which is set to become Britain’s first new high street lender for more than a century. Metro Bank, which is backed by US billionaire and former Commerce Bank owner Vernon Hill, is planning to open two branches in central [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is to investigate the way Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) deals with customers’ complaints. The City Watchdog is to examine “certain aspects” of the way the bank deals with complaints but the bank has said it would fully co-operate. A spokeswoman for the FSA said: “We are looking at all [...]
Leeds-based independent financial advice company, Park Row Associates, has failed to give suitable advice, according to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and has therefore been ordered to pay compensation to customers. The City Watchdog has established that customers of Park Row Associates were at risk of receiving unsuitable advice about all of its financial products. [...]
Mortgage borrowers in arrears stand to get a better deal from lenders under new proposals published today by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The package is aimed at ensuring home owners in financial difficulties are treated fairly, by strengthen existing rules on arrears handling and promoting the regulator’s “tough stance” on mortgage fraud. Under the [...]
The National Fraud Authority (NFA) has revealed the extent to which fraud is having on the UK economy. According to the NFA’s figures, fraud (including scams, online theft, insurance cheats and tax fraud) is costing the economy £30 billion a year – the equivalent of £621 per adult in the UK. The figures have resulted [...]
New data from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) show the number of homes being taken back by lenders rising 3% to 13,987 in the third quarter of 2009, compared with the previous three months. However, repossession levels have remained fairly flat in recent months and the figure is almost 6% below the January to March [...]
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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