US Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, expects US banks to repay $25 billion (£16 billion) of bailout funds over the next 12 months. According to Mr Geithner, the money will be put towards helping other financial institutions in need of assistance. Mr Geithner told Congress it is imperative that the Government protect the remaining $123.7 billion [...]
It has been confirmed this morning that the Nationwide is to buy the Dunfermline Building Society’s branches, good loans and deposits. It was reported over the weekend that Scotland’s largest Building Society had collapsed after last-minute rescue attempts failed. The institution, which was established in 1869, will see Nationwide take on its 500+ staff and [...]
After days of negotiations, Lloyds Banking Group has now agreed to sign up to the Government’s Asset Protection Scheme. The scheme, which insures against losses arising from toxic assets, will see Lloyds commit to lending at least £28 billion over the next few years. As a result, the Government’s stake in the bank will rise [...]
The UK’s new Banking Act, which will allow authorities to intervene and rescue troubled financial institutions and safeguard investors, is now in force. The act, which came into effect on Saturday 21 February, means the Tripartite authorities (the Bank of England, Financial Services Authority and Treasury) will provide greater protection for investors as they can [...]
Emergency funding of $20 billion (£13.4 billion) has been provided to Bank of America after it shares plummeted 17.5% yesterday amid speculation that the bank might be nationalised. In return for the cash injection, the bank must adhere to strict restrictions on senior management pay. Bank of America has been one of the strongest in [...]
Troubled buy-to-let lender, Bradford & Bingley (B&B) is set to be nationalised, according to the BBC. Treasury officials and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) have been holding talks with the lender in an attempt to secure its future. The bank is to be nationalised using special legislation the Treasury implemented after it took Northern Rock [...]
US Congress have approved the $700 billion (£380 billion) financial rescue plan after a week of talks. The announcement comes after US billionaire investor, Warren Buffett, described the current financial turmoil as ‘an economic Pearl Harbour’. Buffett, who is one of the world’s richest men, along with Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, and US Federal Reserve [...]
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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