Junior Isas to match adult savings funds April 6, 2011 IN LAST month’s budget, the chancellor announced the arrival of the Junior Isa scheme, which will become available in November of this year. The Junior Isa is a replacement for the Child Trust Fund (CTF), but will do away with the government contribution of the previous scheme (see the table below). The Junior Isa will [...]
Relief for banks as 2011 sees fees rise April 5, 2011 INVESTMENT banks have raked in their largest first-quarter fees pool since 2007 with fees up eight per cent globally on last year, according to Thomson Reuters data released yesterday. The UK and Ireland saw fees drop 5.4 per cent, however, versus north America, where fees income rose 13.4 per cent. Barclays Capital was the biggest [...]
Small firms see no effect from Merlin as banks sign up to new lending code April 5, 2011 THE UK’s major lenders have gone on the offensive to convince small businesses that they are freeing up credit, signing up to a new lending code and launching a website to help businesses access loans. But a survey of 500 small businesses released yesterday showed that 75 per cent of respondents have seen no change [...]
FTSE lags over China’s rate hike and European debt fears April 5, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index edged lower yesterday as miners fell on concerns that an interest rate hike in China could hurt demand for metals and banks dropped on worries over European debt. The FTSE 100 closed down 9.92 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 6,007.06, having rallied 7.4 per cent off lows hit in March [...]
Banks launch SME lending campaign April 5, 2011 A task force of Britain’s major banks have launched a campaign to make lending to small and medium-sized businesses more transparent, the British Bankers Association said. Under the scheme, backed by the BBA, the banks will have to provide businesses with the result of a loan appeal within 30 days and information on alternative sources [...]
RIVERSIDE HQ MARKS NOMURA’S NEW START April 4, 2011 THE humanitarian disaster in Japan was never far from the City’s minds at the opening of Nomura’s new offices at One Angel Lane, which started with a one-minute silence as a mark of respect for the victims and survivors of the tragedy. The Japanese bank’s president and chief executive Kenichi Watanabe paid tribute to Londoners [...]
Barclays buys MBNA’s UK small business credit card business April 4, 2011 BARCLAYS Bank has bought MBNA Europe Bank’s Small Business credit card portfolio in the UK, acquiring approximately 60,000 accounts with around £130m of outstanding balances at the end of February. The portfolio will be integrated into its payment division, Barclaycard. Valerie Soranno Keating, chief executive of Barclaycard, said: “Following on from our recently announced intention [...]
Pfizer sells pill unit to KKR April 4, 2011 DRUGMAKER Pfizer has struck a deal to sell its Capsugel unit, the world’s largest maker of hard capsules, to private equity firm KKR for nearly $2.38bn (£1.48bn). Pfizer, which said in October it was exploring the sale of Capsugel, said it expects to make additional share repurchases this year as a result of the deal, [...]
BarCap top of debt league in first-quarter April 4, 2011 BARCLAY’S Capital has topped a list of global banks for handling the highest value of debt capital for the first-quarter of this year. The British investment bank handled the raising of $128.6bn (£79.7bn) through debt instruments over the first three months of 2011, according to Thomson Reuter’s global league table. The lender knocked Bank of [...]
Banks reject claims over competition April 3, 2011 SANTANDER UK has rejected a suggestion by MPs that its purchase of 318 RBS branches last year was a “missed opportunity” to improve the competitiveness of high street banking in Britain. “’The deal to buy the RBS branches was approved by the EU. Santander is a challenger bank in the UK, not an incumbent,” a [...]