100 per cent mortgages return September 21, 2009 Mansfield Building Society has begun offering a 100 per cent mortgage to first-time buyers who want to buy a home with a housing association.
Pirc attacks Ball’s ITV demand September 21, 2009 Shareholder body Pirc yesterday launched an attack on the £30m pay package ex-BSkyB boss Tony Ball is said to be demanding to take up the role of chief executive of ITV. The body is concerned over potential risks to the long-term stability of the struggling broadcaster. It is expected that ITV will make an announcement [...]
Banks aided byCDO unwinding September 21, 2009 Billions of dollars’ of collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) – securities backed by payments on mortgages, corporate loans and other debt – are being unwound, enabling financial institutions to clear toxic assets from their books. Many of these CDOs have defaulted but they can only be liquidated if the underlying collateral can be sold. Investors have [...]
MPC worried energy could fuel inflation September 21, 2009 THERE are big upside risks to energy prices when the global economy recovers, Bank of England (BoE)Monetary Policy Committee member Andrew Sentance said yesterday. In a speech in London that made little reference to the monetary policy outlook beyond saying Britain and other nations appeared to be emerging from recession, Sentance said he expected energy [...]
Sterling hit as Bank warns of long-term falls September 21, 2009 STERLING fell sharply against the dollar and euro yesterday after the Bank of England warned of a long-term decline in the pound’s value.In its Quarterly Bulletin, the central bank yesterday said that foreign investors may be rethinking their long-term affinity with pumping money into sterling-denominated investments. The UK has run current account deficits since the [...]
RBS cash call looks weak to City analysts September 21, 2009 THE CITY yesterday poured cold water on news that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is considering launching a further cash call to limit the government’s control over the bank, arguing that the plans are not radical enough to stir shareholders into action. RBS is mulling a rights issue of between £3bn and £5bn as it [...]
US body supports network neutrality September 21, 2009 INTERNET service providers in the US should not be allowed to restrict access to rival services such as Google Voice and Skype, the head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said yesterday. In a move that will be lauded by “net neutrality” advocates, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said operators should not be able to discriminate [...]
AIGshares surge on hopes that its bailout terms may be relaxed September 21, 2009 AMERICAN International Group (AIG) shares closed up over 21 per cent yesterday on hopes that the terms of the insurer’s government bailout may be eased after a proposal by former chief executive Hank Greenberg. Greenberg’s plan would cut the US government’s stake from 80 per cent, trim interest rates on AIG’s lifeline government loan and [...]
Caution hurts Alliance Trust September 21, 2009 ALLIANCE Trust, the blue-chip investment trust headed by Katherine Garrett-Cox, has said it performed worse than rivals after the manager took a cautious view on the recent equity-market rallies. The Dundee-based trust, which is listed on the FTSE 100 index, has said it is now ranked 36th out of a total of 44 investment-trust rivals [...]
Britain’s bosses want to charge students more September 21, 2009 THE CBI yesterday called for students to pay more towards the cost of university, including increased tuition fees and higher student loan interest rates. The CBI also called for cuts to grants and said the savings were necessary to tackle the funding crisis in the higher education sector which it said had been thrown into [...]