House price recovery continues but will soon begin to slow, says Halifax November 3, 2009 BRITISH house prices rose 1.2 per cent in October, leaving the annual decline at its smallest in one-and-a-half years as a lack of supply and higher demand buoyed prices, mortgage lender Halifax said yesterday. House prices were 1.5 per cent down in October compared with a year ago, the smallest annual fall since March 2008. [...]
TIMELINE: HOW BRITAIN’S BANKING SECTOR WENT SOUR November 3, 2009 21 February, 2008Britain passes legislation allowing the government to nationalise Northern Rock after rejecting two private bids. Northern Rock is nationalised months after the Bank of England stepped in to provide support. 21 AprilThe BoE unveils the Special Liquidity Scheme to swap banks' risky mortgage assets for at least £50bn of government debt. 18 SeptemberLloyds [...]
Northern Rock break-up is good for competition November 1, 2009 Leaving the debate over who should be the first “President of the EU” aside, the EU Commission’s recent decision to allow the break-up of Northern Rock into separate “good” and “bad” banks was a major step forward to restoring healthy competition in the banking sector. Restructuring Northern Rock and selling off its viable parts will [...]
Bank plan could cost 40bn November 1, 2009 THE Government may have to find a further £40bn to fund the continuing restructuring of Lloyds, RBS and Northern Rock, it emerged yesterday. The biggest injection will be into RBS, which might receive as much as £26bn as a result of participating in the government’s toxic insurance scheme. Lloyds Banking Group will need up to [...]
FSA imposes massive fine on GMAC-RFC for overcharging October 29, 2009 THE financial services authority (FSA) slapped home loans provider GMAC -RFC with the biggest ever mortgage-related fine seen in the UK yesterday, accusing it of overcharging and dealing unfairly with customers in arrears. GMAC-RFC will have to pay a 2.8m fine, and repay 7.7m in unfair or excessive charges to 46,000 customers. It’s the biggest [...]
NAB caution dents hopes of cash return for its investors October 28, 2009 NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK (NAB), which owns Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, dampened hopes that the nation’s lenders will return surplus capital to investors anytime soon yesterday. It said it needed a cash buffer to protect it against economic headwinds and bad debt charges. The cautious outlook from Australia’s largest bank showed it will be a while [...]
BARGAIN BANKER October 28, 2009 THE government confirmed that it had hired one of the City’s top deal-makers yesterday – on an income believed to be no more than a tenth of what he earned at UBS. Robin Budenberg joined UK Financial Investments (UKFI) for a bonus-free, pension-free bargain salary of just £155,000. Friends said the banker, who they described [...]
Rock gets go-ahead to split October 28, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling ruled out the prospect of a quick sale of Northern Rock yesterday, despite winning backing from the European Union to split the troubled lender into a “good” and “bad” bank ahead of a sell-off. EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes approved the government’s proposals to split the Newcastle-based bank, led by chairman Ron [...]
Recovery in UK house prices continues to gain momentum October 28, 2009 THE rebound in UK house prices gathered pace in September according to the Land Registry’s latest monthly report, which revealed that house prices rose 0.9 per cent on August cutting the annual decline to just 5.6 per cent. The Land Registry’s figures are the latest evidence suggesting that UK house prices are firmly on an [...]
Number of US banking failures surges through the 100 mark October 25, 2009 THE number of US banks going bust has passed 100 this year, the highest rate of failure in 17 years. The subprime crisis continues to wreak havoc, with US regulators shutting seven more banks over the weekend. Three banks in Florida alone were wound up bringing the total of failed lenders to 106 in 2009, [...]