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 [...]
Winter chill on house prices after second consecutive fall says Halifax February 7, 2018 House prices in the UK fell for the second successive month at the start of the year, pulling annual growth to its lowest level since June last year. The 0.6 per cent fall in house prices reported by Halifax came as a surprise to analysts, who had expected the index to edge up in January. [...]
What is the Vollged Initiative and does it spell the end of fractional reserve banking? February 5, 2018 The 2008 financial crisis jolted many of us out of our comfort zones, leading to the argument for a complete overhaul of the monetary and banking system. This very concept has recently been petitioned in Switzerland. Switzerland, that scion of banking, may vote to end the bedrock philosophy underlying modern finance. More than 100,000 Swiss [...]
London startup Ahauz is helping millennials buy a home with an innovative new Help to Buy-style scheme January 31, 2018 Forget ditching coffee and avocados, a new startup which describes itself as the “bank of mum and dad for everyone” is aiming to help more young people get on the property ladder with an innovative take on the Help to Buy scheme. Ahauz is set to start offering first-time buyers help by offering a loan [...]
Challenger bank Paragon boosts mortgage lending despite crackdown on buy-to-let loans January 23, 2018 Mortgage specialist Paragon has pulled a rabbit out of the hat once more, as it has boosted mortgage lending by 84 per cent year-on-year despite a government crackdown in its core buy-to-let market. The challenger bank increased its buy-to-let mortgage book by 85 per cent to £342.9m, battling through stricter underwriting rules introduced by the [...]
Wells Fargo has cashed in on Donald Trump’s tax reforms January 12, 2018 US banking giant Wells Fargo said today it benefited to the tune of $3.35bn (£2.46bn) in the fourth quarter of last year, after Donald Trump slashed corporation tax. The lender said although it had incurred costs of $370m on adjustments to leveraged leases, low income housing and tax-advantaged renewable energy investments, as well as a [...]
Banks expect significant tightening in consumer lending in first quarter says Bank of England survey January 11, 2018 British banks are planning to rein in their lending to consumers further over the first quarter as regulators’ efforts to raise lending standards start to bear fruit. Lenders expect a “significant decrease” in the availability of unsecured credit – such as consumer loans and credit cards – in the first quarter of this year, according [...]
What’s up with mortgage rates? December 20, 2017 Last month, we saw economic policy turn a corner, with the first base rate rise in the UK since the start of the financial crisis. Savers now see the light at the end of the tunnel after being burdened with pitiful interest rates for years. Yet in the same breath, if you’re a homeowner, you’ll [...]