The Icelandic stock exchange has reopened today for the first time since trading was suspended last Thursday. Last Thursday, it was announced that trading had been suspended on the OMX Nordic Exchange in a bid to prevent further crises. The country faced a near-collapse of its banking system after the country’s three largest banks were [...]
Talks between the UK and Iceland look like they have reached a satisfactory conclusion after the Bank of England (BoE) has agreed to provide a short-term secured loan of up to £100 million to the UK division of Icelandic bank, Landsbanki. It is hoped that the loan, announced to parliament this afternoon by Chancellor Alistair [...]
Iceland had a disastrous week last week after the nationalisation of the country’s three largest banks. On Thursday, it announced that trading had been suspended on the OMX Nordic Exchange in a bid to prevent further crises. It was expected that the stock exchange would reopen today but it remains closed due to ‘unusual market [...]
Talks between Britain and Iceland have begun with regard to the British deposits frozen in Iceland’s banks. The talks commenced after Treasury officials headed to Reykjavik late last week to discuss its banking crisis and the affect on UK savers and councils with money in its banks. Britain’s Local Government Association estimated 108 British local [...]
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said yesterday that the UK may freeze the assets of Icelandic companies after he branded Iceland’s failure to guarantee British savings in its failed banks as ’unacceptable and illegal‘. The two countries are battling over who should compensate British savers whose money is in Icelandic amid the collapse of the country’s [...]
Despite shares recovering in early trading today as investors absorbed the news of a half a point percentage cut in interest rates, stock markets this afternoon have fallen as investors fear a world recession. On Wall Street, shares dipped despite opening 1.63% higher and this resulted in its counterparts losing ground. In London, the FTSE [...]
Kaupthing, Iceland’s largest bank, is the latest to be hit by the financial market turmoil after it has been seized by the country’s Government. The country’s Financial Supervisory Authority said the move was done to protect its domestic banking system. However, it added that all domestic deposits at the bank were fully guaranteed. It was [...]
British savers of internet bank Icesave, an arm of Landsbanki, have been warned that they may struggle to claim their money. Earlier today, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority announced that the country’s Government had seized control of Landsbanki, which owns Icesave. At the moment, Icesave is not allowing customers to withdraw money out of their [...]
It has been yet another weekend full of news in the banking sector which has sent shares in London and Europe crashing. Meltdown Monday saw the FTSE 100 index down by over 6% by mid-morning to 4675 – a fall of 304.6 points. Banks including HBOS fell 32p, while Royal Bank of Scotland lost 26p. [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced it was lowering interest rates from 5.25% to 5% yesterday, which was widely expected by economists. This usually means good news for homeowners but bad news for savers. However, bucking the trend for the second time is Icelandic bank, Kaupthing Edge, who yesterday announced it will [...]
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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