Bank of Ireland has today revealed it is looking to raise €2.2 billion (£1.86 billion) of capital, in a move designed to meet the conditions of the country’s bailout package. The capital raising would bring the crisis-torn lender close to nationalisation. The bank is currently 36% owned by the Government and the news emerged shortly [...]
According to Alan Barrett, a research professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, Irish ministers should move to nationalise banks and end the uncertainty instead of buying property loans. The focus needed is to end the uncertainty and Finance Minister, Brian Lenihan, plans to clean up banks by removing the bad debt built up [...]
Smaller stockbrokers are winning more clients as a result of the economic downturn, the Sunday Times reported this week. According to research seen by The Times, larger stockbrokers such as Dresdner Kleinwort and UBS are losing clients to smaller rivals such as Collins Stewart and Cenkos. UBS, for example, has lost more than 20% of [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which today entered the history books with the largest UK corporate loss, is set to receive a further £13 billion injection from the Government in return for more shares. The latest injection of funds means the taxpayer’s stake in Britain’s second largest bank could reach as high as 95% and [...]
According to the Wall Street Journal, the US Government is in talks with Citigroup to increase its stake in the struggling bank. Shares in Citigroup plummeted for a sixth consecutive session last Friday amid speculation that it would have to be nationalised in order to survive. It is believed that the Government could end up [...]
Lloyds Banking Group shares have fallen further this morning after closing more than 30% down on Friday following the news of a potential £10 billion loss at HBOS. Lloyds, which is 43% owned by the taxpayer, saw its shares fall 7.4p to 54p this morning amid speculation that the Government may be forced to inject [...]
Lloyds Banking Group shares took a pounding on Friday after it warned of multi billion pound losses at HBOS, the bank it rescued last September. Shares in Lloyds, which is 43% owned by the taxpayer, plummeted 40% within a few minutes of the news being announced, but recovered slightly to close at 61.4p. Chief executive [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is set to report massive losses for the 2008 year and there is speculation that the Government will have to fully nationalise the struggling bank. Shares in the bank plummeted by 67% today to 11.6p following the news. Other banks also lost ground with Lloyds Banking Group shares closing down [...]
US banking giant Citigroup saw its shares plummet 21% in early trading today due to rumours that the group could be nationalised. Furthermore, analysts at Bank of America issued a sell note for Citigroup, attributing to the fall in its share price. Wall Street also panicked over the financial health of Citigroup and its balance [...]
Northern Rock shareholders are to enter the High Court this week demanding compensation to contest the way in which the stricken bank was nationalised in February 2007. The firm’s biggest former investor SRM Global has brought the case, with RAB Capital and 150,000 private investors. However, it is not the nationalisation itself that shareholders are [...]
Iceland’s central bank, Sedlabanki, slashed interest rates today, earlier than scheduled, from 15.5% to 12% following a disastrous couple of weeks for the country. The country faced a near-collapse of its banking system after the country’s three largest banks, Glitnir, Kaupthing and Landsbanki, were nationalised recently. Meanwhile, the stock exchange was closed following a three-day [...]
The BBC reported over the weekend that troubled buy-to-let lender Bradford & Bingley (B&B) was set to be nationalised. It has emerged this morning that Spanish bank, Santander, which recently agreed to buy Alliance & Leicester, is to acquire B&B’s £20 billion savings base and its network of 197 branches. According to sources, talks ran [...]
The Government’s own advisers, Goldman Sachs, have warned that taxpayers could lose up to £1.28 billion due to the nationalisation of crisis-torn Northern Rock. Northern Rock was nationalised in February after the Government rejected takeover bids from the board of Northern Rock and a consortium led by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. A judicial review [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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