What the other papers say this morning – 20 November 2013 November 19, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Investors attack BoA settlement Bank of America’s plan to pay $8.5bn to compensate 22 institutional investors for soured mortgage-backed securities is a “Frankenstein settlement”, and should be rejected, a lawyer for a dissenting group of investors told a New York judge Tuesday. The claim came as lawyers for investors locked in combat over [...]
Payday lenders lobby banks to ease off on credit punishment November 19, 2013 PAYDAY lenders are pushing for banks to treat their borrowers more fairly when they apply for mortgages, City A.M. has learned, arguing some users of the short term loans are unfairly treated. Some lenders will not give mortgages to anyone who has recently used a payday loan as they fear the borrower is often short [...]
Mortgage sizes boosted as Help to Buy kicks off November 18, 2013 THE SIZE of the average mortgage swelled in October, reaching the highest level against house prices since January 2009, according to figures released by Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) today. In the month that the second phase of the government’s Help to Buy scheme of mortgage guarantees began, MAB says that the average loan-to-value (LTV) rate [...]
Banks urged to cut premium rate phone bills for customers November 18, 2013 CONSUMERS are being ripped off by high rate phone charges used by their banks and credit card providers, said consumer group Which?, in a new drive to cut or end the premium rate bills. It comes at Barclays and RBS announced they will offer free or basic-rate phone lines to customers. “With two of the [...]
Why it’s no time to be complacent about the UK’s inflation problem November 14, 2013 THE SURPRISE fall in the annual inflation rate in October to 2.2 per cent on the consumer price index and 2.6 per cent on the retail price index is obviously welcome news. However, it’s too soon to be complacent. It also reminds us that inflation has been consistently above the Bank of England’s 2 per [...]
$1.6 trillion: The shocking amount governments have gained from quantitative easing November 13, 2013 HALF a decade of rock-bottom interest rates and loose monetary policy have delivered an astonishing windfall to governments around the world, dramatic new research released today reveals. By contrast, older savers with significant assets have been hammered, losing out on huge amounts of interest. Younger households, which are net borrowers have benefitted. While contrary to [...]
The short-term outlook for the British economy is very bullish November 13, 2013 IT’S official: even the Bank of England now agrees that the economy is recovering. It has hiked its growth forecast for this year and next (to 1.6 per cent and 2.8 per cent) and has been forced to concede that unemployment is falling far more quickly than it had been expecting. In a drastic dilution [...]
Slip in number of US mortgage applications November 13, 2013 The number of mortgage applications in the US fell last week by 2.8 per cent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell 1.8 per cent in the week ending 13 November. Capital Economics has stressed that [...]
What you need to know before the open – 13/11 November 13, 2013 With Asian markets closing lower today, European markets are expected to follow suit, as investors await UK unemployment numbers later this morning. With Mark Carney's report following the data, the focus will be on the Bank of England's forecast for growth and unemployment, along with its plans for a rate hike. European opening calls [...]
Why it’s no time to be complacent about the UK’s inflation problem November 12, 2013 THE SURPRISE fall in the annual inflation rate in October to 2.2 per cent on the consumer price index and 2.6 per cent on the retail price index is obviously welcome news. However, it’s too soon to be complacent. It also reminds us that inflation has been consistently above the Bank of England’s 2 per [...]