Finance growth hurt by swathe of regulations November 30, 2014 THE VAST majority of finance firms say the wall of regulation hitting the sector is driving up costs and inhibiting growth, a study from Robert Half shows today. A total of 91 per cent of firms said red tape is slowing their growth, with 38 per cent citing capital adequacy requirements as a factor particularly [...]
HSBC director fears impact of jail threat on bank leadership November 30, 2014 Two top directors at HSBC are concerned that non-executives are being given too much work under new regulations, and face greater punishments – including the threat of jail – if anything goes wrong, a letter from the bank’s chairman showed yesterday. Alan Thomson left the board at the end of October. According to chairman Douglas [...]
New oil lows put bonds at risk as Opec keeps pumping November 27, 2014 OIL PRICES dived last night after Saudi Arabia stopped cartel Opec from cutting production. Traditionally, the Organisation of Petrol Exporting Countries cuts production to shore up prices, but Middle Eastern countries are reacting to other factors, such as a rise in US oil output, which is more expensive to pump than Saudi oil Brent crude prices fell 6.6 [...]
Mario Draghi: Eurozone’s future at risk if prosperity does not spread November 27, 2014 Eurozone countries could start to consider leaving the currency union if prosperity does not spread across the area, European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi said yesterday. If countries such as Greece remain permanently less competitive than those like Finland, with higher unemployment and lower growth, “this threatens the essential cohesion of the union”, he said. Draghi [...]
London leads Britain’s enterprise recovery with surge in new firms November 27, 2014 Entrepreneurs set up 84,000 firms in London from 2012 to 2013, official figures showed yesterday, far outstripping any other part of the country. It means London was responsible for 24 per cent of the country’s 346,000 new firms in the year. At the same time, 50,000 firms in the capital closed, or 21 per cent [...]
Bank of Cyprus closes in on its market return November 27, 2014 THE BANK of Cyprus hopes to resume trading on the Cypriot and Greek stock exchanges next month, after a 21-month suspension. The lender also published its prospectus for a retail share offering which it expected to take place in January. A total of 4.6bn shares will be issued in the new offering, which the bank hopes [...]
Bank lending down despite fund injection November 27, 2014 BANK lending to businesses dived again in the third quarter, the Bank of England said yesterday, despite the economic recovery. Institutions drew down almost £2bn from the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) in the three-month period – cheap funds intended to spur the provision of credit to businesses. But net lending to firms fell by [...]
Paragon Group banks on shift from home owning as Britain becomes nation of renters November 25, 2014 Britain is increasingly becoming a nation of renters rather than home owners, Paragon Group’s boss told City A.M. yesterday. The lender increased its buy-to-let mortgage loans by more than 80 per cent this year, as homes become increasingly unaffordable. On top of sharp price rises in London, the mortgage market review (MMR) rules put in [...]
Nationwide loan volumes fall as biggest banks get back on feet November 25, 2014 BUILDING society Nationwide reported a fall in new mortgage lending as the big banks have become increasingly competitive. In the years since the financial crisis, the mutual has increased its market share rapidly, as the big banks were cutting back. But those rivals are now recovering and lending more. As a result the Nationwide’s gross mortgage [...]
George Osborne under fire for seven day current account switching service timidity November 25, 2014 George Osborne is expected to tweak the seven day current account switching scheme to iron out some of the wrinkles in the system, in his Autumn Statement next week. But the changes did not go nearly far enough to open up the market to competition, the Yorkshire Building Society said. And consumer group Which? also called [...]