What you need to know before the open – 29/11 November 29, 2013 European markets saw another positive day yesterday, despite concerns over the strength of recovery in the euro area. The Dax continued to make record highs during trading. Data-wise, German retail sales missed expectations this morning, whilst UK house prices have climbed at their fastest rate for three years. French consumer spending fell 0.2 per cent in [...]
Fastest rise in UK house prices since July 2010 November 29, 2013 (Nationwide) The Nationwide UK house price index rose by 0.6 per cent in November, taking the annual rate of increase to 6.5 per cent – the biggest seen since July 2010. October's month-on-month increase was 1.0 per cent, whilst year-on-year the index rose 5.8 per cent. November's figures follow the news yesterday that the Bank [...]
Debt firms snap up UK student loans for £160m November 29, 2013 DEBT MANAGEMENT group Erudio was yesterday revealed as the buyer of £890m worth of student loans that have been sold off by the government. Erudio Student Loans, a consortium made up of Arrow Global and CarVal Investors, paid £160m for the portfolio. The deal will see it take control of the government’s remaining 17 per cent [...]
Carney sets out plan to stem housing boom November 28, 2013 BRITAIN’S resurgent housing market risks becoming a danger to the economy, Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned yesterday as he and the Treasury stopped the cheap funding on offer for mortgages, instead favouring sustained support for small business loans. Mortgage rates have plunged since the Funding for Lending scheme was launched in August 2012 [...]
The top seven changes from Carney’s report November 28, 2013 1 This is the first sign of tightening – or at least withdrawing stimulus – from the Bank of England since the crisis began, showing some parts of the economy heating up. 2 The Funding for Lending Scheme has been scrapped for mortgages. That means banks will no longer get access to cheap funding when [...]
S&P says mortgage-related cases may cost US banks up to $105bn November 27, 2013 THE largest US banks may need to pay out up to an additional $105bn (£64.5bn) to settle legacy mortgage-related issues, but have a capital cushion that would help them absorb these losses, according to a report by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s. Eight of the top US banks, including JP Morgan Chase and Bank of [...]
Finance is inevitably complex but its regulators can stop chasing their tails November 27, 2013 FINANCIAL regulation becomes ever more onerous, as it chases its own tail. More and more, regulation mandates “best advice”, codes of ethics, legal punishment for directors if businesses go bust, mandatory offering of simple products, fines for companies if financial products decline in value instead of rise, and caps on charges and interest rates. This [...]
The bank leverage ratio is sensible – but we should be wary of Balkanisation November 27, 2013 MARK Carney and George Osborne, the two most powerful men in the British economy, swapped letters on Tuesday about the tools they needed to create a stable banking sector. They agreed that the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee will consider whether the Bank should be able to set the amount of money UK banks [...]
It’s open season on banks again November 26, 2013 BANKERS faced a series of fresh attacks yesterday, as Labour pushed for tougher licences for bankers and the chancellor opened the door to harsher lending controls. Labour won a vote in the House of Lords last night to force bankers to face regular checkups from regulators, and risk losing their licence if they do not [...]
Rock bottom rates may be here for even longer November 26, 2013 INTEREST rates could stay at rock bottom for even longer than the Bank of England has promised, senior official Charlie Bean told MPs yesterday. The Bank has said it will consider raising rates when unemployment falls to seven per cent. But if inflation is at or below its two per cent target, the Bank could [...]