Bitcoin breaks new boundaries by slashing cost of remittances November 28, 2013 Bitcoin continues to break new boundaries as Kenyan start-up BitPesa, announced it will be going head-to-head with money transfer services such as Western Union by using the virtual currency Bitcoin to cut transaction costs for remittances. Established providers such as Western Union deduct between $10 (£6) to $17 (£10) from a wire transfer of $200 [...]
Europe’s banks face whopping €280bn capital shortfall in 2014 November 28, 2013 The European banking sector is short to the tune of around €280bn (£233bn) according to a new report by PwC. Banks will need to make up that gap as a result of new regulation next year. The shortfall stems from the combined impact of Basel III capital ratio requirements, leverage ratio requirements, the European Central [...]
BoE warns on rising cyber attack threat November 28, 2013 The Bank of England said this morning that "cyber attack has continued to threaten to disrupt the financial system." Back in March, cabinet office minister Francis Maude said that (cyber) attacks are responsible for "losses to the UK economy running into the billions of pounds." In its Financial Stability Report, the Bank states that over the [...]
Housebuilders take a knock as BoE ends Funding for Lending for mortgages November 28, 2013 Shares in the housebuilding sector have taken a tumble across the board this morning on the news that the Bank of England is ending its Funding for Lending scheme for mortgage providers. At pixel time, Barratt Homes has plummeted 9.6 per cent. Persimmon, the UK's largest home builder, is down over six per cent. Taylor [...]
Marston’s sells over 200 pubs as profits rise November 28, 2013 Marston's brewery has sold 202 pubs to NewRiver Retail for £90m.158 pubs will come from Marston's Taverns estate while 44 are leased pubs. The world's largest brewer of cask ale made the announcement in its preliminary results for 2013. For the year ended 5 October, pre-tax profits for the company rose by one per cent [...]
Funding for Lending Scheme to be scrapped for mortgages as UK house prices soar November 28, 2013 The Bank of England is to end Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) mortgage incentives as the UK housing market strengthens. UK house prices grew by 13.4 per cent in the two years from October 2011. So FLS is just available for business from next year. There's a strange juxtaposition here – The Bank is taking [...]
ECB’s Asmussen compares women in finance to unruly children November 28, 2013 European Central Bank (ECB) board member Jorg Asmussen has let attendees of a panel discussion on women in finance into insights of his own. Discussing whether women are more risk averse than their male peers, Asmussen said that as a father of two girls, six and five, he has seen "that female do behave hazardously [...]
John Laing Infrastructure Fund completes acquisition of Kelowna & Vernon Hospitals project November 28, 2013 John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF) has completed its acquisition of a 50 per cent shareholding in the Kelowna & Vernon Hospitals P3 project. In October the company successfully raised £242m of capital, the largest in the fund's history. The Kelowna & Vernon Hospitals project is JLIF's third investment in the Canadian secondary P3 market to [...]
French group Suez takes on west London’s waste with 25-year contract November 28, 2013 Suez Environnement subsidiary Sita UK is leading a consortium that has just signed a £760m, 25-year residual waste contract with the West London Waste Authority (WLWA). Over its duration, the contract is worth £1.4bn, and will see £244m invested into new infrastructure. Sita UK, along with partners Scottish Widows Investment Partners and Itochu Corporation, will [...]
Eurozone economic sentiment beats expectations in November November 28, 2013 Eurozone economic sentiment has come in at 98.5 from 97.7 (revised from 97.8) to November. Analysts had expected a rise to 98.0. IHS Global Insight's Howard Archer says that this news supports "hopes that the Eurozone can gradually establish economic recovery". Consumer confidence however, has dropped for the same period – down from -14.5 to [...]