Clik here to view.
Mortgage lending regressing in 2013
Mortgage lending to homebuyers fell by 7% in March to its lowest level since August 2012 – the month when the Funding for Lending Scheme began. The number of approved mortgages for home purchases...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Banks oppose new accounts for benefits claimants
The UK's largest high-street banks are reluctant to offer bank accounts to help benefits claimants manage their budgets when the welfare system reverts to universal credit later this year. Universal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Government accused of abandoning savers
The government has been accused once again of abandoning savers who are unable to keep up with the rising cost of living. The Treasury-supported savings institution last week announced a 30...
View ArticleClik here to view.
PPI complaints exceed four million in 2012
The number of complaints made about financial institutions rose during the second half of 2012 due to payment protection insurance (PPI). The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that a total of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Metro Bank to open in Guildford this weekend
Metro Bank will open its 17th store in Guildford this weekend as it continues its expansion outside the M25. Following the success of the Reading branch, the bank will once again mark the occasion...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Credit unions to rescue 1 million from high cost loans
The Government is to help hundreds of thousands of hard-up borrowers avoid the trap of high-cost loans by boosting the influence of credit unions. A £38 million pot is to be given to the Association...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Current account mortgage appeal for Co-operative Bank
A link between current accounts and mortgages may prove to be a winning formula for challenger banks to gain traction on their major high-street rivals. Mortgage customers at Barclays are to lose a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Eight charged in landbanking scam as FCA pledges tough approach
New regulator the Financial Conduct Authority has charged eight men with conspiracy to defraud in relation to a land banking scam dating back to 2008. The ongoing “Operation Cotton”, initiated by the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New regulator targets bonus rates on savings accounts
Introductory bonus rates on savings accounts and ISAs may soon become a thing of the past, the new City regulator has suggested. A dominant feature of the market in leading years has been the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
End to Diamond's legacy as Barclays' investment bosses resign
Two investment banking chiefs at Barclays are to leave the bank this summer as new chief executive Antony Jenkins continues his clearout from the Bob Diamond era. The head of the investment bank,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Santander to contact mortgage customers over claims of misleading
Santander is to contact over 270,000 mortgage customers amid claims that it misled or failed to inform them about a rise in the cap on its standard variable mortgage five years ago. Under decree from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chancellor prepares to extend Funding for Lending Scheme
Chancellor George Osborne is readying an extension to the Government's Funding for Lending Scheme in an effort to boost lending to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). The £80 billion scheme has...
View ArticleClik here to view.
HSBC to axe over 1,000 jobs
HSBC is to cut over 1,000 jobs in total as it pushes through a three-year cost-cutting plan. The bank said that 3,166 positions were to go, mostly from the wealth management division, but that it was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lloyds' branch sale to Co-op collapses
Lloyds' hopes of selling 632 branches have suffered a major blow after the Co-operative Bank decided to withdraw its offer. The Co-op blamed the sustained economic downturn and the more costly...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Funding for Lending extension a huge blow for tax-free ISAs
Savers' suffering will increase from an imminent extension to the Government's Funding for Lending Scheme after the extent of the damage it has caused to ISAs was revealed this week. According to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
UK narrowly avoids triple-dip recession
The UK has narrowly avoided a triple-dip recession, with first estimates showing that economic growth rose by 0.3% for the first quarter of the year. The return to positive growth has been attributed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clean-up at Barclays hits first-quarter profits
The cost of cleaning up Barclays' public image has already taken a significant slice out of the bank's first-quarter profits. Pre-tax profits fell by a quarter during the first three months of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Barclays shareholders vent anger at executive pay-packets
Shareholders at Barclays have reacted angrily to the pay-packets of top earners at the bank after being told that it would be two more years before they could expect to see a decent return on their...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Treasury should help challenger banks bid for excess branches
The Government should help small banks assume control of the 632 branches that Lloyds TSB has to offload, one such lender believes. A deal for the Co-operative Bank to buy the branches broke down...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Banks should redeem themselves and compete with payday lenders
Banks need to redeem themselves after contributing to the growth of the payday loan market, according to the head of a leading consumer charity. Gillian Guy, the chief executive of Citizens Advice,...
View Article