Bank reports a rise in home loan approvals November 30, 2009 HOME loan approvals rose in October to a 19-month high as the housing market showed signs of recovery. Banks approved 57,345 mortgages in October against 56,205 in September, the highest since March 2008 and the 11th monthly rise in a row, the Bank of England said. Net mortgage lending rose by £922m in October versus [...]
ECONOMIC DIARY November 29, 2009 Monday 30 NovemberUK: November GfK Consumer Confidence (12am)November Hometrack Housing Survey (12am)CBI Service Sector Survey (12am)October Net Consumer Credit (9.30am)October Net Lending Secured on Dwellings (9.30am)October Mortgage Approvals (9.30am)October Final M4 Money Supply (9.30am)Eurozone: November CPI Estimate (10am)US:November Chicago PMI (2.45pm) Tuesday 1 DecemberUK:November PMI Manufacturing (9.30am)November Nationwide House Prices (7am)Eurozone:November PMI Manufacturing (9am)October Unemployment [...]
The FSA must make sure that its tough new approach doesn’t backfire November 24, 2009 FINANCIAL services firms have come under the increasingly intense gaze of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in recent months. Its supervisory approach has changed dramatically as a result of the credit crisis. The upshot of this is that the risks for somebody who is FSA authorised, or is an “approved person” at an FSA authorised [...]
Banks report mortgage approvals at two-year high November 24, 2009 THE number of new mortgages approved by the main banks rose to its highest level for nearly two years in October. The British Bankers’ Association said 42,238 loans were approved last month – nearly double the number seen last October at the height of the crisis. This was a slight increase on the September figure [...]
TIMELINE: HOW BRITAIN’S BANKING SECTOR WENT SOUR November 3, 2009 21 February, 2008Britain passes legislation allowing the government to nationalise Northern Rock after rejecting two private bids. Northern Rock is nationalised months after the Bank of England stepped in to provide support. 21 AprilThe BoE unveils the Special Liquidity Scheme to swap banks' risky mortgage assets for at least £50bn of government debt. 18 SeptemberLloyds [...]
Home loans surge but British consumer remains subdued October 29, 2009 MORTGAGE approvals soared to their highest levels in 18 months but credit card lending remained subdued as recession-hit consumers paid back their debts for the third successive month. Data from the Bank of England showed that a total of 56,215 mortgages were approved in September, up from 52,970 in August and above expectations, indicating that [...]
Rock gets go-ahead to split October 28, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling ruled out the prospect of a quick sale of Northern Rock yesterday, despite winning backing from the European Union to split the troubled lender into a “good” and “bad” bank ahead of a sell-off. EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes approved the government’s proposals to split the Newcastle-based bank, led by chairman Ron [...]
TOP BANKER HIRED TO SPLIT UP ROCK October 27, 2009 SENIOR UBS banker Robin Budenberg is set to be named today as the new chief executive of UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the Treasury unit that manages the government’s holdings in UK banks. Budenberg’s first job will be to oversee the break up of Northern Rock into a “good” and a “bad” bank – a plan [...]
Play the Bank’s QE decision with a punt on gilts October 25, 2009 THIS year we have witnessed the Bank of England take the unprecedented step of buying billions of pounds worth of assets – mostly government bonds – in order to loosen monetary policy further than can be achieved through interest rate cuts alone. It goes without saying that this policy of quantitative easing (QE) has had [...]
EU to allow Rock plan to split itself up October 22, 2009 The European Commission (EC) is expected to approve plans to split Northern Rock into a “good” and “bad” bank by the middle of next week, paving the way for the break-up and sale of the nationalised bank. The EC is set to authorise the plans next Wednesday. They were originally submitted by Northern Rock, led [...]