Carney sets out plan to stem housing boom November 28, 2013 BRITAIN’S resurgent housing market risks becoming a danger to the economy, Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned yesterday as he and the Treasury stopped the cheap funding on offer for mortgages, instead favouring sustained support for small business loans. Mortgage rates have plunged since the Funding for Lending scheme was launched in August 2012 [...]
The top seven changes from Carney’s report November 28, 2013 1 This is the first sign of tightening – or at least withdrawing stimulus – from the Bank of England since the crisis began, showing some parts of the economy heating up. 2 The Funding for Lending Scheme has been scrapped for mortgages. That means banks will no longer get access to cheap funding when [...]
The government is still contradicting itself on bank lending November 28, 2013 ONE of the great but ultimately vacuous buzzwords of the Blair years was “joined-up government”; a fuzzy, heart-warming attempt at making sure that every part of the state machinery worked together, trying to achieve the same objectives. It failed pitifully. But at least the Blairites tried. This coalition, by contrast, is becoming ever more contradictory [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 29 November 2013 November 28, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Apollo in Aviva’s UK property deal Apollo Global Management is closing in on the purchase of a £400m block of distressed UK property holdings put up for sale by Aviva, the FTSE 100 insurer, said people familiar with the matter. The private equity house has emerged as the preferred bidder for the assets. [...]
Lending plan hits shares in housebuilders November 28, 2013 SHARES in FTSE-listed housebuilders slumped in unison yesterday, wiping almost £1bn off their value, after Mark Carney’s pledge to end Funding for Lending support for mortgages. Investors fled the stocks on worries that house sales, and seven per cent annual price growth, could vanish once the Bank of England governor puts the brakes on incentives [...]
Analyst Views: Will the funding for lending scheme help small firms? November 28, 2013 LEE HOPLEY EEF “Putting further firepower behind banks through FLS to make more finance available should provide a further spur to lending which is still challenging for many SMEs.” STEPHEN ROPER ENTERPRISE RESEARCH CENTRE “Funding for Lending’s narrow focus on small business lending effectively excludes medium-sized companies from this funding. This continues a worrying trend.” JOHN LONGWORTH [...]
Lord Blackwell is set to be Lloyds Banking Group’s chairman November 28, 2013 SCOTTISH Widows boss and Lloyds Bank board member Lord Blackwell is poised to take over the chairmanship of the group, it emerged last night. The City veteran is to take over from outgoing non-executive Sir Win Bischoff, who announced his intention to resign earlier this year. The handover is expected to take place early in the [...]
Boss of Speedy Hire quits after £5m hole found November 28, 2013 BRITISH construction equipment provider Speedy Hire has said its chief executive will step down and that the finance director of its international unit has been suspended after it uncovered accounting irregularities. The company said yesterday that, based on the information it had available, control processes within its international division had been repeatedly and deliberately circumvented. [...]
UBS to combine currency, rates and credit trading into new unit November 28, 2013 SWISS bank UBS has reorganised part of its investment bank to put its currency, interest rates and credit trading businesses into one unit, amid a growing European investigation into potential manipulation of currency markets. A memo sent by the bank last week said a new FRC (FX, rates, credit) unit will be run by Chris [...]
Top hedge fund investor sells holdings of Co-op Bank bonds November 28, 2013 A KEY player in the deal to take ownership of the Co-op Bank away from the Co-op Group has sold its holdings in the lender, it emerged yesterday, after the value of its debt holdings increased. Aurelius Capital has sold its bonds in the bank, meaning it will not be involved in the debt for [...]
