Mortgage approvals plummet to their lowest level for 18 months July 30, 2012 MORTGAGE approvals plunged to their lowest number in a year and a half in June, according to Bank of England data released yesterday. Only 44,192 loans for home purchase were waved through by lenders last month, down from 50,544 in May and significantly below economists’ forecasts. While two extra bank holidays falling in June might [...]
LONDON WEEK AHEAD July 29, 2012 RESULTS season continues with a slew of banks, energy and leisure firms due to update this week, while the Bank of England’s monthly decision on interest rates is due on Thursday. Today’s biggest news comes in the form of interims from under-fire banking giant HSBC and household goods behemoth Reckitt Benckiser. The Bank is set [...]
Co-op to break dominance of top tier banks July 19, 2012 MILLIONS of Lloyds customers are set to become Co-op clients under the deal announced yesterday, making the smaller bank a new “challenger” to the UK’s dominant big five. Under the deal, set to be finalised by Christmas, the Co-op will issue £350m of subordinated debt in the coming months as an initial payment for the [...]
Fed poised to offer stuttering economy monetary support July 17, 2012 The Federal Reserve stands ready to offer additional monetary support to a US economy that has slowed significantly in recent months, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers. He told the Senate Banking Committee the recovery was being held back by tighter financial conditions due to Europe’s debt crisis and uncertainty surrounding US fiscal policy. Financial [...]
Coalition needs to do more to kick-start ailing property sector July 15, 2012 BRITAIN’S planning and property tax laws should be ripped up and banks should be forced to offer more mortgages in order to boost the country’s moribund real estate market, the country’s largest property services group argued yesterday. The number of house sales remains near historic lows, with figures from LSL suggesting June was the second [...]
Returns diminish as central banks act July 15, 2012 FIVE years on from the start of the financial crisis, have markets become immune to central bank action? Three recently unveiled another batch of stimulus: the Bank of England increased its asset purchase programme by £50bn; the European Central Bank cut its marginal lending rate, cut interest rates by 25 basis points and, perhaps most [...]
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, [...]