RBS to pay $275m to settle US mortgage lawsuit February 19, 2014 RBS has agreed to pay $275m (£164m) in cash to settle a US class action lawsuit brought by pension funds accusing it of misleading investors in the sale of mortgage-backed securities (MBS). The case was brought in 2008, and concerned the packaging and sale of 14 MBS deals known as “Harborview”. The lender was accused [...]
Green light for Paragon to join banking market February 18, 2014 RADICAL new rules to bring more competition into the banking market paid off yesterday as Paragon Bank became the first lender to get a new licence under the system. It is only the second new licence to be awarded in more than 100 years – the first was Metro Bank in 2010. Paragon Bank will [...]
Stamp duty is feeding the growing bubble in London’s house prices February 16, 2014 SUPPORTERS of financial transaction taxes (FTT), often known as Robin Hood taxes, claim that they can make markets safer. But a look at London’s frothy housing market makes this argument difficult to sustain. FTTs remove liquidity from markets, making bubbles more likely to form. And it looks like London house prices are booming thanks to [...]
Housing boom as deals near pre-crisis high February 13, 2014 HOUSE sale volumes hit their highest level in seven years in January, and are now just four per cent below the average seen in the boom years of 2000 to 2007, according to figures out today from LSL Property Services. Last month 73,000 properties changed hands, rocketing up 67 per cent compared with last January. [...]
Surveyors say house shortage is lifting prices February 12, 2014 A SHORTAGE of homes is forcing up house prices across the whole of the UK, according to a leading survey published this morning. The alarming figures follow a separate data release yesterday which showed mortgage-lenders ramping up loans to first-time buyers who are anxious to get on the housing ladder. Demand in the market appears [...]
Lending to first-time buyers rocketed 37pc at end of 2013 February 12, 2014 Better economic conditions and Help to Buy prompted more and more Brits to take steps to become home owners at the end of 2013, according to new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Lending to first-time buyers jumped 37 per cent in December from a year earlier. Paul Smee, CML director general, said [...]
New regulation to put brakes on mortgage lending in year ahead February 11, 2014 A TRIPLE whammy of regulation is likely to significantly restrain growth in the mortgage market, which remains subdued in comparison to pre-crisis activity. According to research released by the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) today, the onset of three new regulatory schemes will significantly dampen the mortgage market. The Mortgage Market Review begins this year, [...]
Challenger Handelsbanken joins boom in mortgage loans February 5, 2014 BRITISH profits at Handelsbanken soared in 2013, the Swedish lender said yesterday, driven by strong increases in business and mortgage lending. Overall lending in the UK increased 17 per cent on the year to £12.26bn. Mortgage lending jumped 29 per cent to £3.58bn, while business lending increased 13 per cent to £8.68bn. As a result [...]
Rate hike fear drives up cost of mortgages January 30, 2014 BANKS are already starting to hike the rates on five-year fixed mortgages, new data has revealed, following hints from Bank of England governor Mark Carney that rates will rise in the coming years. Figures seen by City A.M. show the five-year swap rate, used to calculate the loans, hit 1.7 per cent this month, up [...]
Brussels tries to ban prop trading in UK and Europe January 29, 2014 BANKS face a ban on proprietary trading in the UK from 2017 under European Commission proposals published yesterday, a major shock to lenders who had not expected an outright ban. The proposals will force big banks to set up separate arms for any activity which is not standard retail or commercial banking, and could even [...]