FTSE edges down as UK borrowing rises July 20, 2012 Telecoms giant Vodafone pushed the FTSE 100 lower while UK government borrowing came in above estimates this morning. The Office for National Statistics said that public sector net borrowing excluding financial sector interventions rose last month to £14.4bn from £13.9bn in June 2011. On London’s blue chip index Vodafone fell 1.3 per cent after the [...]
Libor chief quits British Bankers’ Association July 19, 2012 THE official responsible for controlling the Libor rate has left the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), it emerged yesterday. John Ewan has been at the trade body for seven years but ceased his involvement with the organisation this week. He has left to join data firm Thomson Reuters, which has a role in collating the data that [...]
Co-op to break dominance of top tier banks July 19, 2012 MILLIONS of Lloyds customers are set to become Co-op clients under the deal announced yesterday, making the smaller bank a new “challenger” to the UK’s dominant big five. Under the deal, set to be finalised by Christmas, the Co-op will issue £350m of subordinated debt in the coming months as an initial payment for the [...]
FSA in bid to create rivals to offer more banking choice July 19, 2012 AS PART of efforts to boost new entrants into the banking sector, the Financial Services Authority said yesterday that it will review applications for banking licences that were unsuccessful. Financial services minister Mark Hoban said the review would aim to ensure the current requirements are “proportionate” and “do not create excessive barriers to entry.” The [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 18, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Four banks targeted in Euribor probe Regulators are focusing on at least four of Europe’s biggest banks as they investigate the attempted manipulation of the region’s benchmark interest rate, suspecting the Barclays traders were the ringleaders of a circle that included Credit Agricole, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale. Evidence of links between [...]
Investors slam Resolution in damning report July 18, 2012 RESOLUTION chief executive Clive Cowdery has lost friends in the City and current shareholders may be reluctant to back him in new ventures, according to views canvassed by Deutsche Bank, one of the banks most respected in the insurance sector. The feedback is part of a presentation to senior members of the insurance group earlier [...]
US housing starts recover in June July 18, 2012 US housing starts jumped to their speediest pace for over three years in June, according to Commerce Department data released yesterday. Starts were up 6.9 per cent on the month, to a seasonally adjusted rate of 760,000, the highest rate since the false-start recovery in late 2008. “Housing continues to be the one sector of [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 18, 2012 In praise of Mervyn [Re: Somebody needs to guard the City of London’s guardians, yesterday] To me the story comes across a little differently. The recent facts on Libor point to regulators knowing that the rate was rigged, but doing nothing – or at least nothing in a timely fashion. But Mervyn King succeeded where our [...]
FTSE edges up as UK unemployment falls July 18, 2012 The FTSE 100 tracked gains on Wall Street as investors were given hope that the US Federal Reserve could pump in more monetary stimulus. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver further testimony to the US Congress today, having already indicated that more aid to the economy was possible. Meanwhile UK unemployment dropped by 65,000 in [...]
MPs call for cap on King’s power July 17, 2012 REGULATORS grossly overreached themselves by forcing Bob Diamond out of the top job at Barclays, top backbench MP Andrew Tyrie declared yesterday, accusing Sir Mervyn King and Lord Turner of “handing the chairman a revolver to shoot the chief executive” at the troubled bank. MPs on the Treasury select committee (TSC) also dealt a blow [...]