STRICTLY BUSINESS BRIEF ENDS VINCE CABLE’S DANCING DREAM June 28, 2011 THERE is something bothering business secretary Vince Cable – and it’s not the separation of retail and investment banking, the Greek debt crisis or even waging war on Rupert Murdoch. No – Cable is concerned his demanding day job could mean he never fulfils his dream of returning to Strictly Come Dancing for a full [...]
House prices dip 0.4pc in May June 28, 2011 House prices in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in May, data from the official Land Registry showed. Average residential property prices were 2.2 per cent lower than a year ago at £161,823, the Land Registry said. The only region in England and Wales to buck the downward trend was London which saw [...]
One country gets it on bank reforms June 28, 2011 BELIEVE IT or not but Denmark has emerged as Europe’s pioneering financial reformer. We need to learn from it. Fjordbank Mors, a small lender, has just been allowed to go bust; taxpayers are not having to shell out a penny and the world hasn’t come to an end. Senior bondholders at Fjordbank Mors are taking [...]
Lenders slash mortgage rates to the lowest levels on record June 27, 2011 MORTGAGE interest rates have plummeted to an historic low, as lenders expect the Bank of England to persist with its loose monetary policy. Both tracker and fixed rate mortgages have slipped to their cheapest levels since 1988, when the website Moneyfacts began collecting the data. “An imminent rise in the Bank base rate now appears [...]
One country gets it on bank reforms June 27, 2011 BELIEVE IT or not but Denmark has emerged as Europe’s pioneering financial reformer. We need to learn from it. Fjordbank Mors, a small lender, has just been allowed to go bust; taxpayers are not having to shell out a penny and the world hasn’t come to an end. Senior bondholders at Fjordbank Mors are taking [...]
RETAIL BANK OF THE YEAR | The Shortlist day seven June 27, 2011 Retail banking in Britain is in the throes of monumental change this year, as the big-name players grapple with the reforms being drawn up by the Independent Commission on Banking. The shifting landscape has also allowed newcomers to gain a foothold in the market, giving our list of top retail banks this year a fresh [...]
House prices drop in June June 27, 2011 House prices in England and Wales have edged lower this month to show their biggest annual fall since October 2009, a monthly survey from property data company Hometrack showed. Average house prices dropped by 0.1 per cent in June, continuing a pattern of modest falls so far this year and taking the year-on-year decline to [...]
Big Chinese lenders see stocks drop on fears of capital requirement tightening June 21, 2011 SHARES of major Chinese lenders China Construction Bank (CCB) and Agricultural Bank of China (AgBank) fell to multi-month lows yesterday, hit by potentially souring loans, an economic slowdown and tighter capital requirements. CCB printed a nine-month low of HK$6.43 (£0.50) in early trading, down 2.7 per cent. AgBank was down 3.8 per cent to a [...]
Calls for more UK housing as prices hold up June 20, 2011 BRITAIN needs more houses to avoid shortages in the near future, a group of economists is expected to announce tonight. Even if net migration levelled out, the UK would still require more housing, the Centre for Economic Performance will state at a lecture in London. “Unfairly perhaps, migrants will nevertheless get a lot of blame,” [...]
JP Morgan loses Lowman June 14, 2011 US banking giant JP Morgan’s mortgage chief David Lowman has left the bank after it overcharged active US military personnel on their home loans. His departure comes just four months after another executive was drafted in to manage the lender’s mortgage unit over him. Lowman, who joined JP Morgan from Citigroup in 2006, had been [...]