Darling refuses to accept EC financial system plans October 20, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling put the brakes on European Commission (EC) plans to bring in a new system of financial supervision yesterday. Darling has demanded an assurance that the plans would not lead to the EC being able to force extra fiscal costs on the UK. European lawmakers sought agreement at a routine meeting of finance [...]
AVIVA MAKES WALL STREET DEBUT October 20, 2009 UK INSURANCE giant Aviva started trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “AV” yesterday. Andrew Moss, chief executive, rang the Opening Bell at the NYSE to mark Aviva’s first day of trading, accompanied by Lord Sharman of Redlynch, group chairman. The secondary listing was criticised by some City analysts as [...]
Further QE questioned as broad money lending shows growth October 20, 2009 QUANTITATIVE easing (QE) is having an impact on the money supply, provisional September figures from the Bank of England suggested yesterday. Broad money (M4) increased by £14.7bn, above the average flow for the previous six months. There was also a pick up in the lending of broad money, which rose 0.7 per cent in September [...]
Recovery in housing demand sees mortgage lending rise October 20, 2009 MORTGAGE lending rose by two per cent in September, although the total amount lent was still 27 per cent lower than in the same month last year. Official figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) show £12.5bn was lent for mortgages in September, thanks to recovering levels of demand for housing. The figure compared [...]
UK’s finances take battering October 20, 2009 THE nation’s public finances suffered their worst six months on record between April and September, official data showed yesterday, with government borrowing more than double what it was in the same period last year. The Office for National Statistics said public sector net borrowing came in at £14.8bn, a shade less than economists had expected [...]
RED ADAIR’S TORY TINGE ENTERS THE SPOTLIGHT October 20, 2009 SHOULD we really be surprised that the Tories are cosying up to the man we know as “Red Adair”? Lord Turner, the chairman of the Financial Services Authority, has established deep-rooted links with New Labour in the past – as director-general of the CBI, chair of the government-backed review of the pensions system, the head [...]
MERVYN KING: BANKS SHOULD BE BROKEN UP October 20, 2009 BANK of England governor Mervyn King last night called for banks to be split up to ensure that no institution is “too important to fail”. Banks should be carved up into utility companies that serve the retail market and separate institutions that take part in riskier activities such as proprietary trading, he said in a [...]
BAAsells Gatwick for 1.5bn October 20, 2009 BAA last night reached an agreement to sell Gatwick Airport to the owners of London City Airport for £1.5bn. The Competition Commission is understood to have approved details of the sale to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) last night and the deal is expected to be announced at some point today. BAA, a subsidiary of Spain’s [...]
Credit Suisse ups salaries October 20, 2009 SWISS bank Credit Suisse is increasing the base salaries of its executives to compensate for new regulatory limits on bonuses. The changes, including plans to link deferred bonuses to performance and the share price, will come into effect from January and apply to around 7,000 staff – 15 per cent of the bank’s workforce. The [...]
A new Glass-Steagall Act wouldn’t work October 20, 2009 WHEN the Governor of the Bank of England – and if the Tories are elected, the next chief financial regulator – calls for investment banks to be separated from retail banks, everybody should sit up and listen carefully. King seems deadly serious, and George Osborne said last night that he agreed with much of the [...]