Banks face a grilling over foreclosures November 14, 2010 BANKS under fire over their foreclosure practices face twin hearings in Congress this week, at which they will come under renewed pressure to find ways to keep borrowers in their homes. The hearings tomorrow and Thursday will include the first appearances by executives from major US lenders like Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase since [...]
Home repossessions tumble November 11, 2010 THE number of homes repossessed by lenders in Britain fell to a two and a half year low in the third quarter, data showed yesterday, but courts issued more orders to reclaim homes, suggesting there may be a rise ahead. Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showed that 8,900 homes were repossessed in the [...]
Home repossessions down 5pc November 11, 2010 The number of homes repossessed in the third quarter fell five per cent to 8,900, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has said.
Barclays November 9, 2010 DESPITE Barclays having avoided a taxpayer bailout, there’s plenty of fodder for populist banker-bashing in its third-quarter results. Pre-tax profits were down 76 per cent and £1.6bn has been set aside for bonuses. These headline figures ignore the impact of mark-to-market fluctuations in value and the fact that investment bank staff numbers are up 2,000. [...]
Lloyds sheds 420 jobs and has cut 22,500 since buying HBOS November 9, 2010 BAILED-OUT lender Lloyds Banking Group yesterday announced it would shed a further 420 jobs, taking the total number of job cuts since it bought rival HBOS two years ago to 22,500. The latest round of redundancies come as Lloyds, 41 per cent government-owned after accepting taxpayer-funded support during the financial crisis, closes personal loans unit [...]
Lloyds axes a further 420 jobs November 9, 2010 Bailed out lender Lloyds Banking Group said it would shed a further 420 jobs, taking the total number cut since it bought rival HBOS two years ago to 22,500. The latest round of redundancies come as Lloyds, 41 per cent government-owned after accepting taxpayer-funded support during the financial crisis, closes personal loans unit Black Horse [...]
Commerzbankmisses target as losses leap November 8, 2010 Germany’s second-biggest lender Commerzbank missed forecasts for third-quarter profit yesterday as losses on commercial mortgages and the costs of integrating Dresdner Bank offset strong corporate lending. Third-quarter net profit of €113m (£97.5m) was below the €164m average estimate in a analyst’s poll, though Germany’s economic rebound turned it round from a loss of more than [...]
Don’t ignore the ticking time bombs November 7, 2010 THERE are always two sides to every story. In the main, as I have long been arguing, the global economy has bounced back. Friday’s strong job figures in the US – payrolls are up 400,000 in the past three months – severely embarrassed the bears and supporters of QE2, as did most of last week’s [...]
Market cools as property prices tumble November 4, 2010 AVERAGE property prices have fallen 1.2 per cent in the last three months, according to the latest Halifax house price index. The closely watched index from the Lloyds Banking Group-owned lender showed house prices rose 1.8 per cent in October which helped to partially reverse the 3.7 per cent decline from the previous month. But [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 2, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES ITV BLAMES REGIME FOR NEED TO CHASE RATINGS ITV could invest more in arts, factual programming and drama were it not for regulations, its managers told a Lords committee. Archie Norman, chairman of the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, and Adam Crozier, chief executive, told the communications committee that ITV had been driven into [...]