Shawbrook to ramp up lending after buying asset finance firm March 28, 2012 SHAWBROOK, the new business bank chaired by former RBS boss Sir George Mathewson, is set to grow this year after snapping up an asset finance business from the administrators of Icelandic lender Kaupthing. It has bought Singers Asset Finance, a major provider of finance to NHS trusts and small and medium sized enterprises, which did not [...]
PPI sales chaos triggers a spike in complaints March 28, 2012 A SURGE in public anger over payment protection insurance (PPI) has helped push up complaints about financial institutions more than a fifth to 2.26m. Complaints about the controversial method of cover jumped 85 per cent to nearly 980,000 in the second half of last year, according to the Financial Services Authority. The total paid out [...]
Most UK firms want to create jobs this year March 28, 2012 BUSINESSES are eager to hire more staff, a survey showed yesterday – but they do not think ex-public sector workers have the skills needed for private sector work. Fifty-eight per cent of companies told Barclays’ job creation survey they plan to create jobs over the next 12 months, almost unchanged from the 57 per cent [...]
French GDP grinds to a halt as household incomes stagnate March 28, 2012 FRENCH economic growth slowed to a crawl at the end of 2011, official data confirmed yesterday. GDP edged up by 0.2 per cent in the final quarter of the year, slightly slower than the 0.3 per cent gain in the previous three-month period. For the year as a whole the economy expanded 1.7 per cent, [...]
Smash open your Isa’s full potential March 28, 2012 INDIVIDUAL savings accounts (Isas) are a success story of financial marketing. Most are aware of them, many use them, and a great number understand their tax benefits. As the tax year ends on 5 April, everyone should now ensure they take full advantage. Despite Isas piercing the public consciousness, some investors don’t make the most [...]
Isa millionaires: A guide to building tax-free prosperity March 28, 2012 There is a split between the chancers that struck it rich through a risky strategy and those investors that applied more reasoned judgements THE end of another tax year looms, but it seems from figures released by HM Revenue and Customs for 2010/11 that as far as investment Isas are concerned, we’ve seen more talk [...]
FTSE dented by miners March 28, 2012 The FTSE 100 was pegged back by miners in early trading as the index lost some of the momentum built up over recent weeks. Nagging doubts over the rate of growth that can be sustained in China continued to cast a shadow over the sector and the price of copper fell. Steelmaker Evraz warned over [...]
Banks chiefs cheer a better start to 2012 March 27, 2012 SENIOR executives at Barclays and HSBC signalled a strong start to the year yesterday while shares in Royal Bank of Scotland jumped on hopes of investment from the Abu Dhabi ruling family. Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays, said investment banking volumes had shown a “pleasing increase” while the retail business had performed well. “Two [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 27, 2012 JLT Pension Capital Strategies The specialists in corporate consulting and pension scheme de-risking have appointed Martyn Phillips to the new role of head of buyout consulting, with effect from 2 April. Phillips will assume responsibility for buyout and settlement activity across the company. Prior to joining, Phillips was a senior consultant at Lane Clark & [...]
Oil stocks lead the FTSE 100 lower despite good gains in bank shares March 27, 2012 HEAVYWEIGHT oil stocks dragged Britain’s top shares lower yesterday, reversing earlier gains that had been driven by strength in banks and miners, as investors proved loath to push the blue-chip index back up to 2012 highs. The FTSE 100 index closed down 33.15 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 5,869.55, near session lows having swung [...]