RBS’ mis-selling fine is certain to highlight American hypocrisy, Worldpay’s bid invitation and no rush for the new Ofcom chair July 7, 2017 It was hard to suppress a laugh last week at the sanctimonious angst of corporate America at the fine doled out by Brussels over Google’s anti-competitive behaviour by favouring its shopping service over those of rivals. Those Europeans, came the wailing from across the Atlantic, are extracting money from flagship US companies with little justification. [...]
The new voice of British banking: UK Finance launches today with new board members revealed July 3, 2017 The British finance industry will be publicly represented from today by a single new body, UK Finance, after the merger of six separate lobby groups. The new body, which officially starts operations today at Angel Court, behind the Bank of England, will represent over 300 British firms providing credit, banking, markets and payments services. The [...]
Are car loans a slow-motion car crash? June 29, 2017 The car industry understandably attracts a lot of attention in the financial press. Although the sector is small compared to giant sectors like financials and technology, cars are culturally relevant in a way that banks are not. The auto industry is involved in areas of exciting technological change, such as electric cars and autonomous driving. [...]
UK house prices: The best and worst areas for buy-to-let investments in the UK revealed June 15, 2017 Luton is the best place for buy-to-let investments in the UK, according to a new study. The Bedfordshire area has enjoyed a 7.37 per cent increase in rental price growth, according to a research by specialist mortgage lender LendInvest which looked at each postcode area around England and Wales. The research looked at a combination [...]
RBS closes in on £3.6bn settlement over US mortgage bond mis-selling June 12, 2017 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is close to agreeing a multi-billion pound fine with US authorities over the mis-selling of mortgage bonds, according to reports. Discussions are understood to be at an advanced stage between the state-backed lender and the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), according to reports by Sky News. A settlement is [...]
Big four UK banks on the mend after racking up £66bn of charges in six years, says S&P Global report June 8, 2017 The UK’s big four banking groups have racked up £66bn of conduct and litigation charges in the last six years, a new report out today has estimated. But analysts at S&P Global Ratings expect 2016 will “prove to be the last year in which charges remain at the outsized levels we have seen recently”. The [...]
ING’s rolling out its fintech app Yolt more widely in the UK after beta testing, taking on homegrown startups June 1, 2017 Dutch bank ING is making more waves in the UK market with the wider roll out of its smartphone app Yolt. Launching today on Andorid and Apple after several months in beta which signalled the return of ING to the UK market, the lender is taking on fintech startups with the money management app. Yolt [...]
London house price growth grinds to a halt as the capital becomes the second slowest region in England and Wales May 15, 2017 London was the region with the second slowest house price growth in England and Wales last month, a survey out today shows. Although up 1.4 per cent annually, average house prices in Greater London fell 0.1 per cent month-on-month in April. Prices decreased by £750 to £610,418, according to the latest England and Wales House [...]
British banks threatened by rise in consumer credit the Bank of England warns April 4, 2017 The rapid growth of lending to consumers risks weakening the resilience of British banks, according to the Bank of England body tasked with maintaining the UK’s financial stability. Weaker underwriting standards could “reduce the resilience of lenders to shocks”, the Financial Policy Committee said, according to the minutes from its latest meeting. The FPC said [...]
Secure Trust Bank launches into UK mortgage market, focusing on those working in the gig economy March 20, 2017 Secure Trust Bank is today launching a UK mortgage offering focusing on those individuals who might struggle to bag a loan from a high street lender. The Solihull-headquartered challenger is honing in on the self-employed and the gig economy. Those people working in these fashions might struggle to prove their income to a bank and therefore [...]