Libor myopia risks missing the big picture of regulatory failure July 10, 2012 PRICES keep markets sane. The information they provide connects the decisions made by traders, investors and managers to reality. Markets become delusional, and can fail spectacularly, when those price signals are interfered with and distorted. What we have sadly learned with the recent scandal at Barclays, and other major banks, is that the distorted price [...]
CITY VIEWS | IF SWITCHING TO A NEW BANK WAS EASIER, WOULD YOU CONSIDER IT? July 9, 2012 GARY COOK ATKINS I would if it were easier. I think I’ve switched banks twice in about 30 years and it was difficult. I switched after I found a better deal – I think it was the mortgage incentive that persuaded me. I would consider switching out of the big five high street chains, if [...]
Barclays isn’t the only one engaged in the manipulation of interest rates July 9, 2012 IT HAS recently emerged that a UK bank has been manipulating a key interest rate. The only disappointment I have is that people are wasting so much energy on the wrong bank and the wrong interest rate. The Bank of England has far more influence over the banking system than Barclays – it is, after [...]
Taylor Wimpey predicts stable outlook for UK house market July 4, 2012 TAYLOR WIMPEY said yesterday the UK housing market remained “stable” despite wider uncertainty in the Eurozone and the global economy, as it continued to grow sales. In a first-half trading update, Britain’s second largest housebuilder said it sold 5,083 homes in the six months to 1 July, up from 4,707 the same time last year, [...]
Businesses lose out as bank lending slumps even further July 3, 2012 LENDING to businesses dropped in May, according to banking industry data published by the Bank of England yesterday. Equity fund-raising also dipped, as did commercial paper issuance. Consumers were also hit – although credit rose slightly overall, mortgage approvals remained low and the overall market is sluggish. Net business lending fell £1.7bn in May, reversing [...]
Fitch: Banking union may fail without big changes July 2, 2012 EUROZONE plans for a union-wide banking union need major improvements if they are to work effectively, or even succeed in being implemented at all, credit ratings agency Fitch warned yesterday. Political leaders want to create a single banking supervisor, probably under the European Central Bank (ECB), with the aim of breaking the damaging link between [...]
CITY VIEWS | SHOULD THE BANK OF ENGLAND CUT INTEREST RATES? July 2, 2012 PHILIP WASLING ADM INVESTOR SERVICES I think on balance they should keep the interest rates where they are. I don’t think it will stimulate spending at all. It’s not suddenly going to pour money into people’s pockets, unless mortgage rates come down on the back of it. TIM MILLS FIDELITY I can’t see the benefit [...]
LONDON REPORT July 1, 2012 ALL eyes this week will be on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which is on Thursday expected to inject another £50bn into the British economy. The decision is likely to be influenced by last week’s news that the double-dip recession is deeper than first thought. The Office for National Statistics said the [...]
WALL ST THE WEEK AHEAD July 1, 2012 US stocks finished the first half of the year with a bang as investors welcomed news that the Eurozone is a step closer to solving its 30-month-long debt crisis. Now for the question: Is this rally strong enough to last for more than a day? The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted their best daily [...]
From boom to bezzle: this banking scandal will run and run June 29, 2012 CAN it get any worse for Britain’s banks? Well, yes. Much, much worse. Not only is Barclays merely the first firm to settle when it comes to the despicable Libor scandal – others are also being investigated – but the FSA is about to announce that it will penalise a number of banks for a [...]