Savers in rural Britain are out-saving their counterparts in urban areas and stashing away more in relation to their earnings, according to latest research from Halifax. With an average balance of £9,202, rural savers are almost £1,300 (16%) ahead of their urban peers who have only managed to squirrel away an average £7,906. In addition, [...]
The latest Moneymood survey from Legal & General shows a shift in focus among savers towards short-term needs, such as putting petrol in the car to get to work. According to the research, the top two reasons for saving remain unchanged from last year, with saving for a rainy day a top priority (66%), followed [...]
Growing pessimism about household finances means that almost a third of Britons expect to cut back on their spending this year, according to new research by Ipsos MORI for the Resolution Foundation. In addition, around a quarter (23%) of adults questioned see their household finances worsening in 2012, with those on low to middle incomes [...]
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has decided to leave the Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged at 2.5%. Governor Alan Bollard said that sentiment in the financial markets had marginally improved during the last month, but warned that the global economy was still fragile. Governor Bollard added that the cost of international funding had increased [...]
The Policy Board of the Bank of Japan has announced that it has decided to leave rates unchanged at between 0% and 0.1%. The decision, which was unanimous, comes as the appreciating yen and slowing overseas economies led to Japan’s economic activity being approximately flat. Domestic demand has risen, but exports and production are essentially [...]
Growing pessimism about household finances means that almost a third of Britons expect to cut back on their spending this year, according to new research by Ipsos MORI for the Resolution Foundation. In addition, around a quarter (23%) of adults questioned see their household finances worsening in 2012, with those on low to middle incomes [...]
Mark Hyde Harrison has been elected as the next Chairman of the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), Britain’s biggest pensions trade body. He will succeed Lindsay Tomlinson whose two-year term of office ends at the NAPF Annual General Meeting in Manchester on 21 October 2011. Mark Hyde Harrison is Chief Executive of the Barclays [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is urging consumers to treat any schemes that offer the chance of unlocking money from pension savings early with “extreme caution”. Normally, money can only be taken from a pension when the plan holder is aged 55 or over, but pension unlocking schemes claim to allow individuals to gain access [...]
The Government has announced that legislation will be introduced in the Finance Bill to remove pension tax rules that currently mean members of registered pension schemes must buy an annuity by the age of 75. The new rules will take effect from 6th April 2011 and will allow those with defined contribution pensions to defer [...]
Barclays has appointed Frank Hofmann as head of cash management, Germany, within its corporate banking team. Mr Hofmann will be responsible for delivering cash management services to multi-national and large local German corporates, while also delivering local solutions for internationally active corporates in Germany. He joins from SEB in Frankfurt, having spent six years in [...]
Morgan Stanley has today announced the appointment of 210 managing directors. The bank has published a list of names beginning with Tim Abbott, ending with Risana Zitha and with Derek Laws appearing at the midway point. However, no further details of the appointments or the group’s strategy in making them are provided.
Banco Santander has reported that Francisco Luzon has announced his voluntary resignation as head of the Americas Division and an executive board member. Luzon will be succeeded as head of the Americas Division by Senior Executive Vice President Jesús Zabalza. Santander expressed its recognition of the extraordinary work that Luzon had done on its behalf [...]
Basel III rules on capital requirements risk jeopardising the provision of trade finance, with the greatest impact on Europe’s small and medium sized enterprises, Barclays claims. The lender’s global head of trade and working capital, Kah Chye Tan, is therefore urging regulators not to damage the ability of banks to allow SMEs to trade globally. [...]
Despite the last quarter of 2011 including the Christmas period, administrations in the UK retail sector increased by 27% compared with the previous three months, as 42 retailers went bust. According to research by Deloitte, last year saw an 11% overall rise in the number of retailers in England and Wales falling into administration, from [...]
Barclaycard has announced that all its newly issued corporate cards will be enabled to make contactless transactions. Claiming a UK first, the card provider says the move should make it easier for businesses of all sizes to track smaller transactions that are currently made using cash. Contactless technology allows cardholders to pay for goods of [...]
Morgan Stanley has today announced the appointment of 210 managing directors. The bank has published a list of names beginning with Tim Abbott, ending with Risana Zitha and with Derek Laws appearing at the midway point. However, no further details of the appointments or the group’s strategy in making them are provided.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, is working on the next stage of making the City a hub for trading in China’s currency, the renminbi, or yuan. The Chancellor, who is attending an Asian Financial Forum conference in Hong Kong, told the BBC: “London is perfectly placed to act as a gateway for Asian banking [...]
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has downgraded the sovereign credit ratings of nine members of the eurozone. France has lost its “AAA” rating, having been downgraded one notch to “AA+”. Long-term ratings on Austria, Malta, Slovakia, and Slovenia have also been lowered by one notch. Long-term ratings on Cyprus, Italy, Portugal and Spain have been lowered [...]
The Government has today published legislation aimed at strengthening financial regulation in the UK. According to Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban, the Financial Services Bill sets out a “clear, coherent and comprehensive regulatory framework” that should help mitigate against future risks to stability. In brief the Bill: 1. Gives the Bank of England [...]
Piper Jaffray Companies has announced that in the fourth quarter of 2011 it made a non-GAAP net income of $2.1m, equating to $0.11 per diluted common share. On a GAAP basis, the quarter saw a net loss of $116.4m ($7.38 per diluted common share), due to the non-GAAP figures excluding a $118.4m after-tax goodwill impairment [...]
KeyCorp has reported that in the fourth quarter of 2011 it made a net income of $201m, equating to $0.21 per common share. This is down from the corresponding period last year, when the firm recorded net income of $292m ($0.33 per common share), and down by a smaller margin from Q3 2011 when it [...]
SunTrust Banks, Inc. has reported quarterly net income of $152m, equating to $0.28 per average common share, in Q4 2011. This is significantly better than the $114m ($0.23 per average common share) of the corresponding period last year, but is down on the $211m ($0.39 per average common share) of Q3 2011. On an annual [...]
Bank of America Corporation has reported that in the fourth quarter of 2011 it made a net income of $2bn, equating to $0.15 per diluted share. This is a return to the black from the corresponding quarter last year when the firm incurred a loss of $1.2bn ($0.16 per diluted share). However, the quarterly profit [...]
