Life insurers bear brunt of Bank of England’s increasing budget July 2, 2014 Finance firms will stump up £246.8m this year to pay for their regulation from the Bank of England’s prudential regulation authority (PRA), the watchdog said yesterday. The budget represents a four per cent annual rise. Life insurers face the biggest increase, with their bill up nine per cent to £39.4m. The PRA is charging them [...]
Bank of England sets its sights on landlords’ buy-to-let mortgages July 1, 2014 Buy-to-let mortgages could be the next financial product to face tough new limits, the Bank of England revealed yesterday, as the restrictions announced last week only cover owner-occupier loans. A housing boom and bust could hit landlords just as it would any other home owner, risking a serious blow to banks and the financial system. [...]
Bank of England’s new interest rate norm not the same as the old – Mark Carney June 27, 2014 Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, today suggested that interest rates may be heading for a "new normal" of 2.5 per cent, rather than the historical five per cent. Carney was decidedly vague regarding when this norm might be reached, suggesting 2017 as a possible date. He stressed that a mid-term norm [...]
Bank of England mortgage lending cap attempts to stop boom June 26, 2014 The Bank of England announced a new mortgage lending cap yesterday, with the hope that the rule would cool down the housing market if credit became too frenzied. Governor Mark Carney revealed the rule, which will put a ceiling on banks’ riskier mortgage lending. The financial policy committee (FPC) decision means that no more than [...]
New Bank of England director Anthony Habgood on hunt for more women June 26, 2014 The Treasury Select Committee has approved the appointment of Anthony Habgood as chairman of the court of the Bank of England. Habgood, who succeeds Sir David Lees told MPs that the lack of female representation on the Bank’s board was a problem. “We should have more women. The most crying gap right now is a [...]
Are the Bank of England’s planned mortgage lending restrictions likely to prove ineffective? June 26, 2014 Shehan Mohamed, senior economist at the CEBR, says Yes. Mark Carney’s new measures are unlikely to have an impact. Lenders are already operating within the proposed cap on the number of new high loan-to-income mortgages, and most are already undertaking stress tests on a possible rate rise. The macroprudential tools seek to provide tighter lending [...]
Housebuilders shares surging after Bank of England announcement June 26, 2014 Shares in housing builders Persimmon and Barrett Homes have jumped 58p (4.84 per cent) and 16.4p (4.74 per cent) respectively at pixel time after news the Bank of England would not be imposing the tight restrictions some had feared. The new mortgage controls have been introduced to temper a possibly overheating market, but with some [...]
Bank of England imposes limits on high loan-to-income mortgages June 26, 2014 The Bank of England has introduced new mortgage controls, in an attempt to contain possible risks to the UK's financial system. New limits will apply from 1 October, and will see that no more than 15 per cent of mortgages issued should exceed a loan-to-income ratio of 4.5. Currently only 11 per cent of UK [...]
Pound falls as Bank of England staffers imply interest rate hike could be further off June 24, 2014 Bank of England governor Mark Carney has performed another backflip in testimony before MPs. After changing stance in recent weeks, he is yet again implying that the first interest rate hike could happen later, rather than sooner. Wage data has been softer than expected, says the governor. That's key because the central bank has been [...]
Bank of England sees depositors lap up low savings rates June 23, 2014 Savers are ploughing ever more money into savings accounts despite falling interest rates, Bank of England figures show today. Interest rates are falling ever closer to the Bank’s 0.5 per cent base rate. The blue bars on this chart show rates edged up a touch in the second quarter of 2014, but the [...]