Government sector jobs set to drop below 5m by 2017 March 25, 2012 OFFICIAL government employment is set to fall to a modern-era low as a proportion of total UK employment, if the coalition’s plans are carried through until 2017. General government employment is forecast to decline to 4.9m – down from its current level of 5.7m – by the start of 2017, according to the Office for [...]
Santander plans closure of 56 bank branches to reduce overlap March 25, 2012 SANTANDER is understood to be closing 56 of its branches to reduce the overlap that has been created following the mergers of Abbey National, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley. The move comes as the Spanish bank continues to negotiate the takeover of 318 Royal Bank of Scotland branches which is due to be [...]
NBNK set for comeback on Lloyds sell-off March 25, 2012 THE bank buyout vehicle run by Lord Levene is about to make another approach for the 632 Lloyds branches put up for sale as it appears a deal with the Co-operative Group could falter. NBNK is planning an improved £1.5bn offer for the Project Verde assets, the future of which appears uncertain after Lloyds last [...]
Co-op mulls Sunwin sale to beef up branches bid March 25, 2012 THE Co-operative group is considering a sale of its cash handling business as it tries to raise cash for its deal to buy 632 branches of Lloyds bank. The mutual has reportedly hired Buckingham Corporate Finance to handle the sale of Sunwin Services, which could raise £30m or £40m. Sunwin provides secure transport of cash [...]
GE plots quick launch of online bank in Britain March 25, 2012 ENGINEERING and financial services giant General Electric is to open an online retail bank in Britain. The American group’s GE Capital UK arm won approval for its banking licence from the Financial Services Authority last week and is expected to launch in mid-April. The new bank will be called GE Capital Direct and aims to [...]
Bonuses set for delay as tax cut looms March 25, 2012 BANKERS are set to try to delay the receipt of bonuses to take advantage of the abolition of the 50p top rate of tax. City workers could increase by tens of thousands of pounds the net value of their awards for this year’s performance by deferring payment by a few months from the start of [...]
China’s CCB posts rise in 2011 profit March 25, 2012 CHINA Construction Bank, the world’s second biggest lender by market value, reported a 25 per cent rise in 2011 net profit, missing expectations as lending curbs on the real estate sector hit earnings. Net profit in 2011 rose to 169.3bn yuan (£16.9bn) from 135bn yuan the year before, according to a filing to the Hong [...]
Bank seeks new powers over lending March 25, 2012 NEW regulations cannot absolutely prevent the possibility of another financial crisis or of banks failing, a Bank of England policy maker announced just days after the Bank had pushed for stronger powers over the industry. The culture within banks, as well as changes to the structure of incentives, will be the most important changes, financial [...]
Pensions deficits set to soar on Solvency II-style EU regulations March 25, 2012 BRITAIN’S largest companies face paying billions more into pension schemes to cover the costs imposed by planned new EU regulations, a study revealed today. The average FTSE100 firm could see its pension liabilities rise by up to £2.5bn, Deloitte said, as three-quarters of those surveyed said gross liabilities will rise by between 20 per cent [...]
Royal Dutch Shell has $1bn debt to Iran March 25, 2012 ROYAL Dutch Shell is struggling to pay off $1bn (£630m) that it owes Iran for crude oil because European Union and US financial sanctions now make it almost impossible to process payments. The oil major owes a large sum to the National Iranian Oil Company for deliveries of crude, with one putting the figure at [...]