FSA: time for common sense on mortgages December 18, 2011 LENDERS will not face mandatory limits on how much they can lend to house-buyers, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced today, but will be expected to use more “common sense” when issuing mortgages. Draft rules out this morning argue that too many risky loans were made on the basis that house prices would always rise, [...]
ECB official: I quit over the bond buying December 18, 2011 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) should not be expected clean up the mess created by individual Eurozone governments, according to its outgoing German official Juergen Stark. Senior decision-maker Stark steps down at the end of the year. In the autumn he attributed his high-profile resignation to “personal reasons” yet has now confirmed his opposition to [...]
City says Cameron was right to veto EU treaty December 18, 2011 AN OVERWHELMING 66 per cent of our Voice of the City panellists believe the Prime Minister was “completely right” to veto changes to the EU treaty, according to the results of our latest poll, run in association with PoliticsHome.com. Another 15 per cent said Cameron was “somewhat right” – leaving just 15 per cent in [...]
UK and rest of Europe need each other, new bank chief Draghi says December 18, 2011 EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi has expressed sadness over Britain’s withdrawal from European talks over a new treaty. “My more general reaction to all this is that it’s sad,” Draghi said in an interview with the Financial Times today. “I think the UK needs Europe and Europe needs the UK. There’s a lot [...]
Retailers hit as consumers cut spending December 18, 2011 RETAIL sales are continuing to slump as consumer spending power is hit by inflation, government spending restraint and the Eurozone crisis, according to research published yesterday by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). Spending is down 1.7 per cent compared with November, the CEBR claims, and down 0.3 per cent on last December [...]
Fears of more losses at HMV December 18, 2011 HMV IS TODAY expected to reveal it has plunged further into the red as the troubled music retailer grapples with intense competition from the internet and waning CD and DVD sales. Analysts have forecast first half losses of almost £40m for the six months to 29 October compared with a hit of £32m a year [...]
Black’s Leisure looks for new bidders or faces winding-up December 18, 2011 BLACK’S LEISURE faces falling into administrators’ hands and being broken up if the struggling outdoor chain fails to find a buyer this week, putting 2,000 jobs at risk. Black’s competitors Go Outdoors and Mountain Warehouse have both emerged as likely bidders for the company after Sports Direct’s billionaire founder Mike Ashley ruled out a bid [...]
Britain’s last-standing music retailer will have to change its tune to keep up December 18, 2011 ALMOST a century after HMV’s dog mascot Nipper first took a look down the gramophone, the record is still playing but the music has long changed its tune. After what has been a torrid year for the group, investors, lenders and suppliers will today want to know whether HMV can play a different record — [...]
Inflation hits incomes at record speed December 18, 2011 CONSUMERS are suffering at record rates, despite the small fall in inflation, according to separate pieces of research published today by Markit and Lloyds TSB. The Bank of England’s quarterly bulletin also identified ongoing falls in the standard of living. Spending power fell at its fastest rate this year in November, according to Lloyds TSB. [...]
Weak pound helps slash trade deficit December 18, 2011 THE WEAK pound has helped cut the UK’s trade deficit by making imported goods more expensive and exported services cheaper, according to the Bank of England’s quarterly bulletin. However, the weak state of the financial services industry meant exports did not rise as strongly as may have been hoped. The 25 per cent fall in [...]
