In its annual budget, India’s finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee, has said the economy is in good shape and stimulus measures are set to be reviewed. The economy is recovering faster than expected after expanding at an annual rate of 7.9% in the three months to the end of September, after growing 6.7% in the year [...]
According to a review by the National Audit Office (NAO), the cost of propping up the UK’s failing banks was ‘justified’. The report by the NAO found that the cost of bailing out UK banks has hit £850 billion but the report concluded that the end result of protecting customers’ money and restoring financial stability [...]
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that public sector borrowing rose by £14.8 billion in September. Net borrowing for the first half of the financial year now stands at £77.3 billion – the worst figure for the April to September period on record. This may result in the Government having to [...]
Cattles, which has already axed 1,000 jobs this year, is proposing to cut a further 510 jobs at its Welcome Financial Services subsidiary. The struggling sub-prime lender, which is battling to stay afloat, is seeking ways to slash costs and as leases on its premises expire, several Welcome Financial Services branches could close. In a [...]
Banking giant Lloyds Banking Group has today announced it is shedding a further 200 jobs, bringing its total to 7,500 this year. The bank, which is 43% state-owned, said the latest job losses will affect the bank’s general insurance arm in Newport, South Wales and West Yorkshire. The latest round of job cuts will take [...]
It has been announced that banking giant Lloyds Banking Group is reviewing its decision to close down its Cheltenham & Gloucester (C&G) subsidiary. In June, the mega-bank said it was closing all of its 160 UK C&G branches with the loss of hundreds of jobs but the decision may now be reversed. The u-turn has [...]
Lloyds TSB’s final salary pension scheme could be shut down as the bank looks to cut costs following the acquisition of HBOS. The bank plans to review all its benefits schemes in light of the acquisition, with the pension scheme as a likely cost-cutting target, a statement from the bank said. “When Lloyds Banking Group [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has reported on its recent review of sub-prime lenders who are closed to new business, and on the third parties they instruct to handle mortgage arrears and repossessions. The study found that both were operating “an approach focused too strongly on recovering arrears without reference to the borrower’s individual circumstances”. [...]
Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed it is to axe 985 jobs over the next two years at its motor finance unit, after a detailed review established that the division was “no longer financially viable”. The move comes as Lloyds looks to cut costs after the bank was created following the merger of Lloyds TSB and [...]
Lord Adair Turner this week unveiled his much anticipated review of the financial crisis, in which he explains the causes of the credit crunch and outlines proposals to prevent similar economic meltdowns in the future. Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), identified the three main causes of the credit crunch as macro-economic [...]
Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced that an inquiry is to take place into the operations of banks after it was reported last week that banks are planning exorbitant bonuses for its staff. The review will examine how banks are managed and Mr Darling expects the review to make recommendations about the effectiveness of risk-management by [...]
Following a review of its operations, Barclays has announced today it is to axe 410 jobs in its IT department. The bank said the review will see around 158 permanent staff and 250 contractor positions go, principally in Cheshire and in London. The news comes at a bad time as the retailing sector is suffering [...]
Estate agents that have so far survived the housing market downturn can look forward to a review of the market by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), in 2009. The watchdog has promised to take a comprehensive look at the sector and will be involving both consumer groups and industry bodies. In a similar study [...]
Following a review of the business, banking giant HSBC has announced it is to shed 500 jobs in the UK, as a result of the current economic conditions. The jobs will go in the bank’s retail and commercial banking units. The news comes just a few months after the bank said it was to axe [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has today announced an 8% fall in operating profits and stated that the economic slowdown will affect its financial results for the final quarter of the year. Furthermore, the bank has announced further write-downs on credit assets totalling £206 million, on top of the £5.9 billion it reported in the [...]
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) is demanding a review of Home Information Packs (Hips) because the slowdown in the housing market means that some of the packs are out of date before a property is sold. The packs were intended to simplify and speed up the house selling process but the majority of [...]
Halifax is reported to be reviewing its mortgage range with a view to introducing rate rises on some products and reducing the cost of others. The UK’s largest mortgage lender is likely to be raising the cost of its fixed-rate deals because these are determined by money market swap rates. Banks borrowing over a fixed [...]
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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