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 [...]
Debt firms snap up UK student loans for £160m November 25, 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 [...]
14 buyers fight for each house sold in London November 24, 2013 MORE than a dozen potential buyers are now battling for each property coming onto the market in London, according to an estate agent releasing new figures today. Barnard Marcus reports that there are now 14 people trying to get on the housing ladder for every new instruction to sell in the capital, pushing prices even [...]
Rise in remortgaging continues into autumn as market heats up November 24, 2013 REMORTGAGING is becoming increasingly popular as the housing market begins to heat up again, with lending figures still climbing. Figures released by LMS today show remortgage lending increased by 27.7 per cent during the year to October. Both the number of loans issued and the average loan amount have risen over the same period, up [...]
Fall in US home sales picks up pace in October November 20, 2013 The number of completed transactions on home sales in the US fell 3.2 per cent in October, with the existing home sales index coming in at 5.12m. The reading follows September's drop of 1.9 per cent, to 5.29m. Analysts had expected a fall of 2.6 per cent to 5.15m. Paul Diggle, property economist at Capital [...]
UK mortgage lending hits five year high November 20, 2013 Gross mortgage lending in October has risen to £17.6bn according to Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) data. This represents an increase of 36.6 per cent year-on-year and nine per cent month-on-month and was the highest monthly gross mortgage lending seen since October 2008. The housing market is being supported by improving consumer confidence, increasing employment [...]