Car production sees 90pc rise in March as confidence rises April 22, 2010 LENDING to British firms fell at a slower pace in February than January but still recorded the second biggest annual percentage drop since records began, figures from the Bank of England (BoE) showed yesterday. There was better news for the housing market, however, with mortgage approvals rising for the first time since November and lenders [...]
Flow of lending to UK firms remains weak, warns BoE April 22, 2010 LENDING to British firms fell at a slower pace in February than January but still recorded the second biggest annual percentage drop since records began, figures from the Bank of England (BoE) showed yesterday. There was better news for the housing market, however, with mortgage approvals rising for the first time since November and lenders [...]
Mortgage lending increases April 19, 2010 TOTAL mortgage lending surged 24 per cent in March on the previous month and is three per cent higher than in the same period of 2009, the latest figures from the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed yesterday. This puts gross mortgage lending at £11.5bn last month and the CML said that the increase in [...]
Bankers must look hard at pay if they want to win back the public’s support April 14, 2010 JUDGING by public and media sentiment over the past couple of years, the fairground arcade staple of whack-a-mole will at some point be replaced by the sport of whack-a-banker. The credit crunch blame-game does not appear to be dissipating. A particular bone of contention between the banks, politicians and the public is the issue of [...]
House prices fall as lending levels pick up April 13, 2010 HOUSE price rises in the UK have started to slow, while mortgage lending continues to rise. According to data published yesterday by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), house prices only rose by 2.9 per cent during the quarter ending February 2010, a fall compared with the previous quarter when prices rose by [...]
Former WaMu boss says bank seizure unfair April 13, 2010 THE former chief executive of Washington Mutual yesterday accused the US government of unfairly seizing the bank in September 2008 and selling it for the bargain price of $1.9bn (£1.2bn) to JP Morgan. Kerry Killinger said the failed lender “should have been given a chance to work its way through the crisis” in testimony prepared [...]
Kensington handed £1.2m fine April 12, 2010 MORTGAGE lender Kensington, part of South African bank Investec, was yesterday fined £1.2m for treating its customers unfairly, City watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said. Kensington, bought by FTSE 100-listed Investec in 2007, is paying back a further £1m in fees and charges it levied on borrowers, the regulator said in a statement. The [...]
What the Sound of Music tells us about bubbles April 11, 2010 NOW stay with me on this one – sometimes, insights into the financial markets come from unlikely sources. In my case, I was reminded of the dilemmas now facing policymakers while enjoying a yodel down memory lane, watching The Sound of Music. It was when I reached one particular verse that it came to me: “How [...]
Greenspan defends record April 7, 2010 FORMER Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan came under fire for failing to take measures to prevent the financial crisis yesterday, but defended himself by arguing banks – not regulators – were to blame. In a heated appearance at the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in Washington, Greenspan insisted reckless mortgage lending and the securitisation of home [...]
SEC bolsters rules on loan securitisations April 7, 2010 WALL Street regulators yesterday proposed issuers of mortgage-backed securities and similar instruments disclose more about the underlying loans and keep five per cent of the credit risk in some circumstances, in an effort to avoid a repeat of the financial crisis. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule responds to the debacle involving securities packed [...]