Mortgage lending jumps in June but volumes stay below pre-crisis levels August 11, 2010 HOME loan volumes picked up in June but still languished at about a third of their pre-financial crisis levels, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Banks and building societies extended £13.1bn of credit to housebuyers in June, an increase of 15 per cent on May’s figure and seven per cent up on the [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS August 5, 2010 MS LAUNCHES NEW GROWTH PLAN Morgan Stanley this week announced the launch of its FTSE Gilt-Backed Growth Plan 4, which offers investors a fixed return equivalent to 8.5 per cent a year, paid on the first anniversary that the FTSE records flat or positive performance. If this does not happen, then investors still have some [...]
House price fall fuels fear of double-dip July 29, 2010 FEARS of a sustained double-dip in Britain’s property market intensified yesterday after mortgage lender Nationwide reported that house prices fell this month for the first time since February and the Bank of England revealed that mortgage approvals dropped to a four-month low in June. The latest figures from Nationwide showed that house prices fell by [...]
Grape escapes: make the vineyard dream come true July 29, 2010 I’D guess that at some point in your career in the City you’ve sat back and daydreamed about a life outdoors, working the land, relaxing at sunset on a terrace overlooking your vines and sipping the product of your labour. Vineyard properties are among the most magical, particularly those in the well-known grape regions of [...]
GM plots listing July 23, 2010 GENERAL Motors plans to file its registration for an initial public offering during the week of 16 August, just after the expected date for its second quarter results, according to US sources. A GM filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission would be the first step towards an IPO to reduce the US government’s [...]
GM plots IPO to reduce government stake July 23, 2010 GENERAL Motors plans to file its registration for an initial public offering during the week of 16 August, just after the expected date for its second quarter results, according to US sources. A GM filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission would be the first step towards an IPO to reduce the US government’s [...]
GM snaps up AmeriCredit July 22, 2010 US car giant General Motors (GM) yesterday said it would acquire auto finance company AmeriCredit for $3.5bn (£2.29bn) in cash in a deal aimed at easing financing terms for subprime car buyers. The deal, which remains subject to approval by AmeriCredit’s shareholders, would give GM a captive finance arm for the first time since it [...]
FOCUS ON: GREENWICH, SE10 July 22, 2010 ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY Price: From £165,000 A luxury flat in an 18th century military school is not the typical home of a first-time buyer. But a regeneration project has turned the academy into a luxury development with studios, one-beds and two-beds on offer. Contact: Hamptons on 020 8856 0034, www.theacademy-woolwich.com FINGAL STREET Price: £435,000 A [...]
Morgan Stanley continues down the road to recovery July 21, 2010 WALL Street lapped up a solid set of second-quarter results from Morgan Stanley yesterday, buoying market sentiment after a disappointing performance over the same period from some of the bank’s peers, notably Goldman Sachs. Morgan Stanley beat analyst expectations with post-tax profit of $1.4bn (£921m) for the three months to June, swinging back into the [...]
BANK CHIEF ‘OGRE’ GETS AN IMAGE OVERHAUL July 20, 2010 FAIRFAX chief executive Stefan Allesch-Taylor is on the blower following a story in this column yesterday about the boutique bank scouting around for a new investor – a move which could potentially usurp the big man’s family trust as the firm’s largest shareholder. Not that Allesch-Taylor’s particular beef is with the story itself, mind. He’s [...]