Revealed: Hampshire Trust Bank more than doubles new lending in 2016, after it launches commercial mortgages business March 19, 2017 Hampshire Trust Bank more than doubled the value of the new loans it wrote in 2016, City A.M. can reveal. The challenger bank racked up loan originations of £393m in its 2016 financial year, up 132 per cent compared with £169m at the end of 2015. The boost is partly thanks to the lender launching a commercial mortgages [...]
Bank of England steps up to push along Co-op Bank rescue plans, amid worries buyers might be shying away from the struggling lender March 19, 2017 The Bank of England's regulatory team has begun making plans of its own for Co-op Bank, as they become increasingly impatient with the troubled lender's sale. The Co-op Bank, which is currently 20 per cent owned by the wider Co-operative Group, revealed last month it was looking for a buyer for the whole of the business. [...]
Deutsche Bank kicks off its €8bn rights issue on Tuesday as German lender attempts to bolster its capital March 19, 2017 Deutsche Bank announced today it is due to press go on its €8bn (£6.9bn) rights issue on Tuesday, as the German banking giant tries to shore up its capital. The Frankfurt-headquartered lender announced a slew of plans to improve its capital position earlier this month, including, in addition to the rights issue, holding onto its Postbank division, streamlining [...]
OneSavings Bank reckons the Co-op Bank sale may fail and is ready to restart talks if it does March 16, 2017 Challenger OneSavings Bank will reignite its interest in buying part of Co-op Bank because it expects the beleaguered lender’s sale of itself to fall through. Co-op Bank previously opened its books to OneSavings, which today reported better than expected annual results. Negotiations were put on ice when Co-op Bank put itself up for sale, after its US hedge fund backers [...]
New stamp duty rules annihilated buy-to-let mortgage borrowing in January March 14, 2017 The amount borrowed by prospective landlords fell 16 per cent in the year to January, as strict new rules on buy-to-let homes took their toll. Figures by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed would-be landlords borrowed £800m to buy new homes in January, down from £1.4bn the year before, and £900m in December. The [...]
Co-op Bank stems losses to £477m but says legacy problems and lower for longer interest rates led to sale March 9, 2017 Co-operative Bank today said legacy issues and low interest rates had dragged on performance and prompted the lender's owners to put the bank up for sale. Although the bank reduced annual losses of £477m from £611m in 2015, it took a further £60m hit from its merger with Britannia Building Society and was slapped with an £82m charge following [...]
RBS’ chief exec Ross McEwan just got awarded shares worth £1.2m in the loss-making bank March 8, 2017 Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive was awarded £1.2m worth of shares this afternoon, as benefits from the loss-making lender's long-term incentive plans (LTIPs) were paid out. Ross McEwan, who took over at the helm of the taxpayer-backed bank in October 2013, was vested a total of 512,509 shares under the incentive scheme at £2.389 a pop, [...]
Barclays is cutting more than 180 jobs as it shuts the doors on its mortgage unit in Wales March 8, 2017 Barclays is cutting more than 180 jobs, as it shuts down its mortgage centre in Wales. "Barclays is working hard to meet customer needs and keep the customer at the heart of what we do," a spokesperson for the bank said. "Part of this work is ensuring that our contact centre site processes are working [...]
Deutsche Bank to raise €8bn through rights issue, as it announces a slew of restructuring plans March 5, 2017 Deutsche Bank revealed today it plans to bolster its capital by around €8bn (£6.9bn) through an issue of new shares. The German lender also revealed a slew of restructuring plans, including keeping its Postbank division, streamlining its business model to focus on three key units of private and commercial banking, asset management and corporate and investment banking, and listing [...]
There are now 11 house-hunters for every property on the market February 27, 2017 The UK's housing crisis is getting worse, new figures have suggested – with 11 house-hunters vying for every property on the market. Research by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) suggested an average of 425 prospective buyers were registered to each estate agent branch in the UK in January, 10 per cent higher than [...]