NATWEST AGONY GOES ON AND ON June 24, 2012 THE REPUTATION of RBS-owned NatWest came in for a hammering yesterday as the bank failed to overcome the systems failures that first emerged last week. The bank, which is 82 per cent owned by the government, opened 1,300 RBS, Ulster Bank and NatWest branches on a Sunday for the first time in its history as [...]
Greek leaders call in sick as lenders wait June 24, 2012 GREECE’S paymasters will have to wait to meet the embattled Eurozone nation’s latest leaders, after the new Prime Minister and incoming finance minister were both hospitalised within days of winning last week’s election. With Prime Minister Antonis Samaras resting following an eye operation and finance minister Vassilis Rapanos stable in hospital with a mystery illness, [...]
Top Lib Dems tell party to push economic reforms June 24, 2012 THE LIBERAL Democrats should fight to reduce the size of the state and cut taxes, according to some of its most prominent members. The party must keep the faith with capitalism in the wake of the global financial crisis, David Laws MP has written in an update to the Liberal Democrats’ “Orange Book”, which pushed [...]
Customers should vote with their feet to punish bad service June 24, 2012 EVERY so often, a company makes a mistake. These things happen; we are all human, after all. But the extraordinary and seemingly never-ending IT blunder that rendered RBS and its NatWest unit unable to service customers properly in recent days takes the biscuit. It has severely inconvenienced a large number of people, and has reminded [...]
Islamist joy as Mursi elected Egypt president June 24, 2012 ISLAMIST Mohammed Mursi was declared Egypt’s first freely elected president yesterday, sparking joy among his Muslim Brotherhood supporters on the streets who vowed to continue to try to wrest power from armed forces reluctant to cede ultimate control. But many Egyptians, and anxious Western allies, also urged Mursi to work fast to repair the economy [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 24, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES MPC member wants £50bn easing The Bank of England needs to pump at least another £50bn into Britain’s “stalled” economy, says David Miles of its interest rate-setting committee, warning that only a “substantial” third round of emergency bond-buying will kick-start recovery. Bank chiefs enjoy double-digit pay rises Top US and European bankers, including [...]
Concerns over Google co-founder June 24, 2012 Google chief executive Larry Page wrote to employees last week that “there is nothing seriously wrong with me” and that he would “continue to run the company.” The email came after co-founder Page missed Google’s annual meeting last Thursday and said he will miss two other important engagements over the next few weeks.The 39-year-old Google [...]
Unite leader makes strike threat June 24, 2012 The leader of Britain’s biggest union Unite yesterday warned of more strikes and industrial action in the months ahead. “I think it’s inevitable that there will be further campaigns, further strikes,” Len McCluskey told the BBC, adding that it may roll on “for the next few years”. McCluskey also warned Labour to be ready for [...]
Regulatory burden to cost €33bn June 24, 2012 The cost of complying with new EU regulatory requirements will cost the financial services sector up to €33bn (£26.5bn) over the next three years, according to new research from a think tank. JWG’s second quarter report says the financial services industry has assigned €33.3bn to improve their regulatory reporting capabilities by 2015. The think tank [...]
Lloyds slashes price of Verde branch sell-off June 24, 2012 THE Co-operative group has moved closer to sealing a deal for 632 Lloyds branches after the taxpayer-backed bank slashed its selling price. Lloyds is thought to be willing to cut the price by up to half of the £1.5bn to £2bn expected as bank values plunge. Hopes of floating the Project Verde branches appear to [...]
