Iceland’s Central Bank (Sedlabanki Islands) has slashed its key interest from 8% to 7%. While a cut was expected, it was not as much as economists had forecast after inflation eased and the country’s currency, the krona, strengthened. The central bank has aggressively cut interest rates after they hit a record high of 18% in [...]
Barclays Bank has reported a 15% rise in pre-tax profits for the first three months of the year despite the financial maelstrom. The bank posted pre-tax profits £1.37 billion, primarily due to its Barclays Capital investment banking division. John Varley, Barclays chief executive, said the good performance “the continued benefit of diversification. We generated strong [...]
Yesterday saw Belgian-Dutch financial group, Fortis, rescued after the Governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands invested a total €11.2 billion (£8.9 billion) in the respective Fortis bank institutions in each country. Each Government will take a 49% stake in Fortis. It has emerged today that Fortis’ rival, Dexia, has become the latest European bank [...]
It has been announced that the $700 billion (£380 billion) US financial bailout plan has been blocked sending stockmarkets throughout the world into turmoil. After several hours of discussions with President George W Bush, a group of Republican members of Congress blocked the plan. It is understood that republicans balked at US Treasury Secretary Henry [...]
HSBC, the UK’s largest bank, is shedding around 1,100 jobs worldwide across its global banking and markets division, as it comes under pressure due to the current financial turmoil. The jobs represent around 4% of its total workforce with nearly half of the job cuts to go at the bank’s Canary Wharf office in London, [...]
US billionaire investor, Warren Buffett, has described the current financial turmoil as ‘an economic Pearl Harbour’. Buffett, who is one of the world’s richest men, and US Federal Reserve chief, Ben Bernanke, are urging US Congress to quickly approve the $700 billion (£380 billion) financial rescue plan or risk serious consequences to the US economy. [...]
The Bank of England has announced its decision to extend its special liquidity scheme until 30 January 2009. The scheme was launched in April and was to run for six months until 21 October. Initially, the Bank and Treasury said that they expected the scheme to involve at least £50 billion in funding. However, amid [...]
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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