George Osborne regrets mistakes over RBS and looks to sell up quick March 5, 2015 George Osborne has conceded he made an error not reforming the state-owned bank RBS when the coalition took power in 2010. Speaking to the Financial Times Weekend Magazine the chancellor said he hopes to move forward "as quickly as we can to get rid of it". He added that he regretted acquiescing to the view [...]
Euro falls below $1.10 for first time 12 years after ECB reveals date of bond buying programme March 5, 2015 After hovering close to the $1.10 for past 48 hours the euro fell below it for the first time since September 2003. The euro has lost 15 per cent of its value against the dollar over the past six months. However, it's not just a weaker euro contributing to the shift – the dollar has [...]
ECB will launch €1 trillion bond buying programme on 9 March March 5, 2015 The European Central Bank (ECB) said it will launch its €1 trillion quantitative easing programme on 9 March, in a bid to ward off a deflation death spiral and kick start economic growth throughout the ailing region. "We will on 9 March 2015 start purchasing euro-dominated public sector securities in the secondary market," ECB governor [...]
Bank of England interest rate decision: MPC holds at record low for sixth year March 5, 2015 The Bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) voted not to touch interest rates for what's now the 72nd month. This means interest rates have been held at a record low 0.5 per cent for six years. If you're struggling to think back this far, this time in 2009, Sacha Baron Cohen's "Bruno" was gracing cinema screens. [...]
Knight Frank Wealth Report 2015: Which is the world’s hottest luxury property market? March 5, 2015 The world's richest individuals are piling into properties in the world's most expensive cities, pushing up prices of luxury homes. The value of luxury residential property across the world rose by an average of about two per cent last year, based on prices in the 100 locations covered by Knight Frank's Prime International Residential Index [...]
General election jitters? UK house prices fall off the boil in February March 5, 2015 The path to house price equilibrium is an undulating one. After a 1.9 per cent spike in January the average cost of a house fell by 0.3 per cent month-on-month in February, according to the latest data from Halifax. This put the price of the average home slightly lower at £192,372, with some analysts suspecting [...]
Serious Fraud Office to probe Bank of England’s liquidity auction March 4, 2015 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is investigating Bank of England liquidity auctions held during the financial crisis in 2007 and 2008. The central bank confirmed last night that it had handed over the findings of an independent inquiry conducted by Lord Grabiner QC into whether any bank officials knew of, or took part in, attempts [...]
Bank of England liquidity auctions under investigation by Serious Fraud Office March 4, 2015 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is investigating the Bank of England's (BoE) money-market auctions in late 2007 and early 2008 for possible fraud. The Bank said it had referred information relevant to the auctions to the SFO in November. This is the first time the Bank's auctions has been put under investigation by the SFO. [...]
Euro edges closer to $1.10 mark as investors await more details on quantitative easing March 4, 2015 The euro edged closer towards the $1.10 psychological barrier in early afternoon trading, falling 0.8 per cent to $1.1086 as investors awaited further details of the European Central Bank's (EBC) €1.2 trillion (£870bn) quantitative easing programme. The currency crashed through its previous 11-year low of $1.1098, which it hit in earlier this year. ECB chief [...]
More Londoners will be affected by EU bonus cap under new rules March 4, 2015 More people working in the UK's financial services sector will have their bonuses capped, under new draft guidelines released today by the European Banking Authority (EBA). Last year, the financial watchdog put into force a limit on bonuses among bankers across the EU's 28 member states, stipulating that they could be no greater than twice [...]