Oliver Holbourn, the head of UKFI which manages the government’s stake in RBS, is set to join the bank as head of strategy May 5, 2018 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is set to get a new head of strategy, as it recruits the man who has spend the last several years managing the government’s stake in the bank. Oliver Holbourn, who was formerly chief executive of UK Financial Investments (UKFI), is in talks with RBS about taking the senior role, [...]
FCA says UK’s 150,000 ‘mortgage prisoners’ need help switching to better deals May 4, 2018 The UK’s financial watchdog has said it wants to help around 150,000 “mortgage prisoners” who are trapped in their current borrowing find a better deal. Releasing its interim report into the mortgage market this morning, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that there were a number of ways in which the industry could work better [...]
Bank of England official warns of risks building in the British mortgage market April 19, 2018 A top Bank of England official has warned that the UK’s mortgage market is showing signs of increasing risk in a speech today. Alex Brazier, executive director for financial stability strategy and risk at the Bank of England, said that the UK’s mortgage market was showing signs of greater risk. “A sharp slowing in credit [...]
How to sell the home of a relative following a death in the family April 6, 2018 Selling a property after a death in the family can be difficult for many reasons. Whoever has been named executor of the deceased’s will is forced to sort through the home of someone who was very dear to them, whilst also dealing with the many complications that come with selling a property. To help simplify [...]
First digital mortgage deed signed for house in Rotherhithe London April 5, 2018 The first digitally-signed mortgage deed has been successfully entered into the national database, for a house in London. HM Land Registry said today that it was part of a process to improve the use of technology in transactions making them “instantaneous where possible”. Instead of requiring the homeowner to sign a pen-and-paper contract in the [...]
The lessons of the financial crisis have not been learned March 19, 2018 Last week, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned that household debt levels are very close to their 2008 peak and, more worryingly, that many households have borrowed so much that they may be out of their depth. "There are a significant number of households that are in so deep that the slightest sign of rough [...]
Woodford-backed Atom Bank grabs £149m as Spanish bank BBVA ups its stake March 7, 2018 Challenger bank Atom, which counts rapper Will.i.am as a board adviser, has today grabbed £149m in its latest capital raising. Atom, which has previously secured backing from investors including Neil Woodford and Toscafund, has already brought in £1.3bn in deposits and lent £1.2bn in residential mortgages and business loans. BBVA, which invested £85.4m and has [...]
More job cuts “inevitable” says Royal Bank of Scotland finance boss March 1, 2018 It is "inevitable" that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will cut jobs in the coming years, according to the lender's chief financial officer. Ewen Stevenson today said the the cuts would focus on slimming down head office functions, as well as legacy data centres, but refused to address the size of the redundancies expected. Speaking [...]
Barclays Techstars accelerator adds Anthony Browne , ex-head of banking industry body BBA, as entrepreneur in residence February 14, 2018 The former boss of the British Bankers’ Association; the industry body which last year became UK Finance, has resurfaced at the tech accelerator of one of Britain’s biggest banks. Anthony Browne is joining Barclays Techstars as entrepreneur in residence where he will help advise fintech startups. “Financial technology is one of the most exciting and [...]
First-time buyers at 10-year high in 2017 but the mortgage market weakened in December February 13, 2018 The number of mortgages taken out by first-time buyers boomed last year to its highest level since 2006, buoyed by the Help to Buy subsidy. Banks lent money to 365,000 first-time buyers in 2017, an increase on the year before of 7.4 per cent, according to UK Finance, the lenders’ industry body. However, the December [...]