It has been reported by The Sunday Times that the Government is planning to sell crisis-torn Northern Rock by the end of the year. Under a plan to retrieve some the hundreds of billions of pounds injected into the banking sector, the Government is preparing to divide the nationalised lender into two: one good and [...]
Barclays, who has continually resisted calls for taxpayer cash injections, is going to keep hold of 20 percent of its stake in iShares, although a deal will be finalised within the next few weeks as selling off the asset management business in needed. It is being sold off to the private equity firm, CVC Capital [...]
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has warned the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) about its intention of offering “exorbitant” bonuses to staff. According to a report in The Times today, RBS plans to pay staff tens of millions of pounds in bonuses. In 2007, the investment banking arm of RBS, a division known as global banking [...]
It has now been confirmed that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has sold its 4.3% stake in Bank of China for £1.6 billion. RBS sold all of its 10.8 billion Bank of China shares at a price of 1.71 Hong Kong dollars per share. The news is confirmation that the bank is looking to trim [...]
It has been reported that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is looking to dispose of its 1,000 pub estate, which is estimated to be worth £600 million. The leased and tenanted outlets were acquired from Scottish & Newcastle (S&N), the brewer now controlled by Heineken, in early 2000 for approximately £450 million. With the [...]
The extent of the stagnation in the UK property market has been revealed by research from Globrix. The property search engine found that across the UK, 5% of homes for sale first appeared on the market at the beginning of this year. In certain areas, one in four properties for sale have remained on the [...]
There is speculation that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) may abandon its £7 billion sale of its insurance unit. RBS has to decide within the next 8 weeks whether or not to proceed with the sale. The insurance arm, which includes the Churchill and Direct Line brand names, was put up for sale earlier [...]
Estate agency network, Countrywide, is mounting and three day end-of-year property sale, from tomorrow (Thursday). According to a report in The Times, around 7,500 vendors across the UK are taking part, offering properties worth a collective £1.65 billion. Some homeowners have cut prices by up to 30% while others, who have already made reductions, are [...]
Housing minister, Margaret Beckett, stands accused of putting additional pressure on homeowners by changing the rules that govern Home Information Packs (Hips). Currently vendors can market their properties without a Hip providing they have made arrangements for one to be available within 28 days, however, from 6th April 2009 a pack must be available from [...]
US banking giant, Citigroup, is rumoured to be in merger talks with after its shares plunged 26% yesterday amid fears about its financial viability. Shares in the bank were trading at $54 two years ago, however, the shares closed yesterday at $4.71. The bank, which is one of the largest banks in the US, announced [...]
Property search engine, Globrix, has reported that the majority of homes for sale in the UK have now been on the market for over 90 days. The company’s research has revealed that the proportion of properties unsold after 90 days has risen from 25% at the beginning of the year, to 53% in August. The [...]
Monthly residential property statistics published by the Government will not be appearing in August because errors have come to light. Under stamp duty requirements, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is advised of completed UK property transactions where values are £40,000 and above. The latest update on house sales was scheduled to be published on 21st [...]
It has come to light that not all homes being offered for sale have Home Information Packs (HIPs). According to the president of the Law Society, Paul Marsh, some estate agents and vendors, worried about the slowdown in the property market, are delaying the completion of HIPs until a sale has been agreed. The packs [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has confirmed it has sold Angel Trains to a consortium led by Babcock & Brown, the Australian infrastructure group. The sale, which values Angel Trains’ debt and equity at about £3.6 billion, is expected to deliver a profit of £250-£300 million to RBS. The sale forms part of RBS’ plans [...]
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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