On Monday night, it was announced that British Airways (BA) was successful in preventing the latest series of strikes by its cabin crew staff. Mr Justice McCombe of the High Court ruled in favour of the airline and said the decision was based on a technicality. However, the Unite union described the decision “an absolute [...]
Johnny Cameron, the former chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) investment banking business, has been banned from holding an executive position within the financial services industry. The ban, imposed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), follows an investigation into systems and controls in the global markets division at the bank. Fifty-five-year-old Cameron, who was [...]
US mortgage giant Freddie Mac, which was taken over by regulators at the height of the financial crisis, has asked for a further $10.6 billion in state aid. The company, which announced a $6.7 billion dollar loss in the first quarter, said it would need the new funding by the end of June. The latest [...]
The credit crunch has resulted in a “dramatic jump” in the number of professional negligence claims brought against surveyors and estate agents, according to a City law firm. Research from Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) reveals that there were 25 commercial and residential High Court cases against estate agents or surveyors in 2009, compared with one [...]
Swiss banking giant UBS has today reported first-quarter net profit of SwFr2.2 billion boosted by a strong performance in its investment banking division. The earnings beat analysts forecasts of SwFr2.0 billion, according to a poll by economics newswire AWP. UBS is among one of the worst hit victims of the credit crunch due to its [...]
The UK’s biggest coal producer, UK Coal, has today reported increased losses for the 2009 year due to a fall in production and lower coal prices. The company said pre-tax losses grew to £129.1 million for the full year, against a loss of £15.6 million the previous year. Meanwhile, revenues plunged by 20% to £316 [...]
Lufthansa has announced it is planning to save £100 million pound at airline BMI, which involves slashing almost one quarter of its capacity and the loss of 800 jobs. The German owner also said the restructure will see BMI’s name changed back to its former name – British Midland International – believing that British Midland [...]
It has been confirmed that British Airways (BA) and Spanish airline Iberia have signed a deal to merge their operations. The merger, which was provisionally agreed last November, will be finalised this year and is set to create one of the world’s largest airline groups, flying to more than 200 destinations The new company, which [...]
The Bank of Ireland has today reported a loss of €3 billion (£2.6 billion) in the first nine months of its financial year, with write-downs totalling €4 billion. In a statement, the bank said: “Revenues remain under pressure, in particular due to higher funding costs as we continue to extend the maturity profile of our [...]
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is 84% state-owned, has today announced it will dispose of its factoring unit in Germany to GE Capital, the financial services division of General Electric. In a statement, the bank said: “The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc has agreed the sale of RBS Factoring GmbH to GE [...]
Banking giant, Lloyds Banking Group, has said it will return to profitability in 2010. Last month the bank, which is 41% owned by the taxpayer, posted a full-year loss of £6.3 billion. It was hit by bad debts following the acquisition of HBOS, which it took over at the height of the financial crisis in [...]
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global airline industry is improving, with both passenger and freight numbers expected to grow this year. In January, the industry body said 2009 saw the biggest decline in air passenger traffic since the aftermath of World War II. The global economic downturn had a devastating impact [...]
State-owned bank Northern Rock has today announced losses for the 2009 year fell to £258 million, compared with £1.36 billion in the previous year. Despite the loss, the Newcastle-based bank said it is awarding staff £14.9m in bonuses but Gary Hoffman, the chief executive of Northern Rock, is waiving his payout. Northern Rock said Mr [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is 84% state-owned, has today posted a full-year loss of £3.6 billion. RBS is the second major UK bank to report its 2009 results. Last week, Barclays announced record profits of more than £11 billion – a 92% rise on the previous year. However, RBS’ loss is not as [...]
It has emerged today that Eric Daniels, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, will waive his £2.3 million annual bonus. The move comes after Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive, Stephen Hester, opted not to take his £1.6 million bonus. The decision by 49-year-old Hester came just one week after Barclays chief executive John Varley [...]
Over the weekend, it emerged that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive, Stephen Hester, had opted not to take his £1.6 million bonus. The decision by 49-year-old Hester came just one week after Barclays chief executive John Varley and president Bob Diamond both agreed to sacrifice bonuses for the second year in a row, [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive, Stephen Hester, has decided not to take his £1.6 million bonus, according to the BBC. The decision by the 49-year-old comes just a week after Barclays chief executive John Varley and president Bob Diamond both agreed to sacrifice bonuses for the second year in a row, in light [...]
The Unite union is in the High Court this week to resolve whether there should be a permanent injunction preventing British Airways (BA) from imposing cost-cutting measures. Unite previously applied for a High Court injunction to block BA’s plans, but it was unsuccessful . The airline wants 75% of its crew to accept a pay [...]
Irish budget airline Ryanair has today posted a €10.9 million (£9.4 million) loss for the October to December quarter. However, the loss for Europe’s largest no-frills airline was much less than the €101.5 million deficit it posted for the same period a year earlier – when fuel costs were sky-high. The group said the result [...]
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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