Banking
FeedBanks continue to fail to lend to SMEs
Chris Wheal
Mar 11th 2010
Filed under: Financial Crisis, Banking
Banks' lending to small businesses in January was just £543m, up on the seasonally low December figure of £511m, but lower than November's £573m and down by nearly a quarter on the same month last year when banks lent £669m.Not only that, loans to small business fell by £151m and the rise was because the much more expensive overdrafts rose by £168. This is terrible. In my view, there are lies, damn lies and the British Banking Association's director of statistics. He - David Dooks - put a positive spin on these dire figures.
Banks aren't giving anything away
Lucy Tobin
Mar 11th 2010
Those banks - they're not charities, you know. Just in case you did think they were generous institutions, Moneyfacts, the comparison website, has got in touch to point out that the banks are quietly shaving off savings rates to fund cuts in mortgage costs."In order to maintain their balance sheets, providers can either offer competitive mortgage or saving deals, not both", Moneyfacts says.
BoE reports prices and economy fears
Chris Wheal
Mar 11th 2010
Filed under: Economy, Financial Crisis, Banking
The Bank of England's (BoE) February quarterly survey of public attitudes to inflation, found the pessimistic public expect inflation to rise, interest rates to rise and the economy to be weaker.Mind you the people they asked were numpties. Only 41% knew interest rates had fallen over the past 12 months (the survey was in February, 11 months after rates last fell). You can't take what that lot said too seriously.
Economy doing worse than suspected?
Helen Fowler
Mar 10th 2010
Filed under: Economy, Financial Crisis, News , Taxes, Banking , Election 2010
Could public finances be in even worse shape than already suspected? We already know the economy is in a bad way. Biggest peace-time deficit, banks on verge of collapse, triple A rating under threat etc. Now an influential report says the government underestimates the scale of difficulties. The report claims that additional tax rises or spending cuts of £20bn a year (over and above what we already know about) will be needed within three years. The government is also too optimistic in its economic growth predictions, suggests report author PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Card fraud down except in my wallet
Chris Wheal
Mar 10th 2010
Filed under: Credit Cards, Banking
New figures from the UK cards Association show that total fraud losses on UK cards fell by 28% between 2008 and 2009 to £440.3m - a decrease of £170m on the previous year's total. I am personally bucking that trend. I have another new credit card. My bank rang me to list some questionable transactions that had nothing to do with me and the old card was cancelled. One of my two cards - personal and business - gets replaced every year as a result of fraud.
AAA downgrade risk increases for UK
Adrian Holliday
Mar 10th 2010
Filed under: Debt, Economy, Banking , Election 2010
The Brown government needs to be clearer about its planned austerity measures. If it can't, then a downgrade of its AAA credit rating looms.That's the view of Fitch Ratings. Fitch says that though plenty of other EU countries are getting their debt priorities in ordier, the UK is lagging.
Rock losses narrow but bonuses are back
Adrian Holliday
Mar 10th 2010
Filed under: Debt, Economy, Loans, Mortgages, Banking
When you've made a £257m loss is it right to splash out on bonuses? For some, that would be an easy question to answer.Not for Gary Hoffman though, boss of Northern Rock. He's defending the decision to pay out bonuses because he claims Northern Rock is now £500m ahead of government targets put in place to turn the bank around.
Remove all financial safety nets - Myners
Adrian Holliday
Mar 9th 2010
Filed under: Debt, Economy, Financial Crisis, Banking
Let's remove the bail-out safety net. Let's start treating money as if it's something you could actually lose. Crikey, you mean, the government won't bail us out if we make a boo-boo? Even just one or two?
That's right. That was the crux of Lord Myners' Smith Institute speech last night to financial industry players: start behaving as if you really have something to lose.
Weak security questions put data at risk
Guy Clapperton
Mar 9th 2010
Filed under: Banking , Technology
Every now and then in this column I mention how people pick insecure passwords for websites and work computers. There's now another wrinkle – insecure questions.When I log onto one of my accounts I get asked a few things. Name of first school, mother's maiden name...now, how many people would actually know those things about me? My mum's a nice woman, she has loads of friends, it could be hundreds.
Where to find best ISA deals
Helen Fowler
Mar 8th 2010
Filed under: Investing, Savings and Accounts, News , Banking
Just over four weeks to go until the new ISA year. This is traditionally a time when you can find attractive rates on these tax-free investment vehicles. Firms dangle these rates in an attempt to woo last-minute savers in this tax year. A moneynet.co.uk ranking reveals that Santander offers the best rates for instant access ISA products, (3.5%). Barclays has crept into second place (at 3.1%). "The ISA market is really taking shape as we approach the annual hot bed of activity as providers look to lure savers yet to make their move in the current tax year," said Andrew Hagger of Moneynet.co.uk.
State-funded banks charge over the odds on mortgages
Christina Jordan
Mar 8th 2010
Filed under: Financial Crisis, Mortgages, News , Banking
Bail out the banks and how do they repay us?
By charging higher rates of interest on mortgages than those lenders that didn't require taxpayers' money.
Nationalised and part-nationalised banks priced their homeloans above average rates over the last year, according to financial information provider Moneyfacts.
Small biz banks raided
Guy Clapperton
Mar 8th 2010
Filed under: Small Business, Banking , Technology
There's a new batch of computer malware out there and it's attacking banks of small businesses. It's exploiting the trend for social networking and underlines the need to keep all security software absolutely up to date.The US has reported more than $120m worth of losses in the third quarter of last year, according to a Financial Times report. ID fraud overall is costing the country $700m per quarter.
£250m dividend for Matalan boss
Adrian Holliday
Mar 8th 2010
Filed under: Debt, Banking , Retail
Controlling shareholder John Hargreaves of Matalan is to pay himself a £250m dividend. Sixty-six year old Hargreaves regularly receives generous dividends from his company – but a £250m pay-out certainly errs on the side of generous.Hargreaves attempted to sell his budget 200-store homeware chain earlier this year. However Hargreaves, who took the company private in 2006, and several investors couldn't agree to a sticker price.
£3m "golden hello" for Unilever CFO
Adrian Holliday
Mar 7th 2010
Filed under: Company, Banking , Manufacturing
How pleasant it is to say hello when your name is Jean-Marc Huët. The new chief financial officer of Unilever received, it is now revealed, a "golden hello" worth more than £3m in February.The deal is made up of cash and shares – none of which is performance related. Huët's own salary will be £680,000 with the potential to earn up to £1m a year.
Icelanders reject £3.4bn debt plan
Adrian Holliday
Mar 7th 2010
Filed under: Debt, Economy, Financial Crisis, Savings and Accounts, Banking
Icelanders have overwhelmingly voted against paying off their British and Dutch debts. More than 90% of those who voted claim they will not enter debt slavery, paying back more than £3.4bn, for the wrongs of a selfish minority of well-connected bankers and ineffective regulatory oversight.Icelanders do want to take responsibility for their debts, many say. They just want a fairer deal. So, the British and Dutch government will have to wait a bit longer for their I.O.U chits to be paid off.
Economy doing worse than suspected?
Coutts AIG bond row may end in court
