Citi sells Egg credit cards to Barclays March 1, 2011 BARCLAYS is buying the UK credit card portfolio of Egg from the online bank’s US owner Citi, transferring more than 1m customer accounts to the Barclaycard brand. The value of the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, has not been disclosed, but Barclay’s said it was buying the assets at a “significant discount” to [...]
HOW THE INSURANCE RULING COULD AFFECT YOU March 1, 2011 Q.WHAT IS THE RULING? A.The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that insurance companies cannot charge different premiums to men and women based on their gender. It also bans use of actuarial factors to calculate men’s and women’s pension contributions. Q.WHY HAS IT HAPPENED? A.The ruling amends the Gender Directive, which came into effect [...]
Moneysupermarket.com profit triples March 1, 2011 Price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com said its full-year pre-tax profit jumped more than three times due to growth in its insurance, money and home services business. The company, which offers services such as travel, insurance and money and uses actor and comedian Omid Djalili in its advertising, said trading in 2011 was in line with management [...]
Barclays to buy Egg credit card assets March 1, 2011 Barclays is to buy the British credit card assets of online bank Egg from US lender Citigroup for an undisclosed price, as part of plans to boost its retail banking business. “The acquisition of Egg’s UK credit card accounts has been priced at a significant discount to gross receivables. Based on current projections, we expect [...]
What the other papers say this morning February 28, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES ITALIAN BANKS GO FOR GOLD IN MOVE TO TRANSFORM CORE CAPITAL RATIOS Italian banks think they may have struck gold as they seek to add lustre to balance sheets ahead of the summer stress tests. The lenders, which are shareholders in the central bank, are lobbying for their stakes to be marked to [...]
Lloyds stays at the top of bank complaints list February 28, 2011 LLOYDS BANKING GROUP was the most complained-about financial firm during the last six months of last year, after more than 22,000 customers registered a grievance with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Lloyds, the UK’s biggest bank by customers, was the subject of almost a quarter of the 97,237 new cases lodged with the ombudsman. The [...]
Aegon plans €1bn rights issue and US insurance sale to repay Dutch state aid February 24, 2011 DUTCH life insurer Aegon is to raise about €1bn (£850m) from a share issue to help repay €2.25bn of state aid by the middle of the year. The repayment would free Aegon from EC restrictions imposed on companies that received government cash during the credit crisis. “After repayment the limitations that were imposed on us [...]
US sales data down despite jobless claims fall February 24, 2011 New US claims for jobless aid fell last week, hinting at an improvement in the labour market, but declines in new home sales and orders for a range of factory goods in January showed the economy still faced headwinds. Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 391,000, the Labor [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS February 23, 2011 YOUNG FEMALE DRIVERS WILL PAY MORE The EU gender directive ruling, which is expected on 1 March this year, will decide whether or not it is legal for insurers to charge different premiums based on gender. Under the current rules, young female drivers pay less for their insurance than young men, based on the fact [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNINGF February 22, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES SUGAR TRADERS CONSIDER CAP The world’s largest sugar exchange and top traders are mulling “circuit breakers” to cap the recent surge in price volatility, people familiar with the discussions said. The ICE Futures US exchange, based in New York, and the World Sugar Committee (WSC), an advisory group of top traders, are setting [...]