Application fraud rises as credit crisis bites
by Gill Montia
Story link: Application fraud rises as credit crisis bites
Cifas, the UK’s fraud protection body, has reported a rise in the number of fraud cases reported by its 270 member organisations, in the first three months of the year.
The figure increased 10% on the same period of 2007, to 52,286.
During the quarter, cases of lying on application forms rose by 13%, to 21,780. The […]
BBA opposes FSA attack on tied advice
by Gill Montia
Story link: BBA opposes FSA attack on tied advice
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has criticised new measures being proposed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) that could curtail or even outlaw tied advice, such as advice given by a bank based on the range of products its provides.
The BBA believes that consumers could lose out under the proposals because they would be caught between […]
Online banking grows in popularity
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Online banking grows in popularity
A third of the UK’s online users avail themselves of internet banking, according to Comscore.
In January of this year, 11 million people utilised at least one banking service online, with Lloyds TSB gaining the most hits, attracting 2.8m users.
Although RBS Group had more visitors (2.9m) they visited less often than the 6.8 visits averaged by […]
World Bank and UN tackle global food crisis
by Richard Kilner
Story link: World Bank and UN tackle global food crisis
Yesterday the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced that the UN and World Bank were to create a joint task force, chaired by himself, to combat the globally soaring price of food.
The World Bank will provide a swift financial facility to channel funds to those countries most in need, with UN agency chiefs co-ordinating the […]
Wall Street Systems acquires Aleri Global Banking
by Gill Montia
Story link: Wall Street Systems acquires Aleri Global Banking
Wall Street Systems, the treasury and trading software company, has agreed the acquisition of Aleri Global Banking (AGB), for undisclosed terms.
AGB is a subsidiary of Aleri Inc and has been providing software to banks and financial service firms for over 20 years. It currently processes over $10 trillion worth of transactions each month.
The firm’s products […]
Bank of China profits up 85%
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Bank of China profits up 85%
The Bank of China has seen its first quarter profits soar by 85%.
The bank attributes the impressive increase to strong growth in fee and interest income coupled with a lower rate of tax.
Over the course of the first quarter an increase in net interest income of 18.7% was recorded, hitting 40.8bn yuan.
Fees and commissions rose […]
Deutsche Bank makes first quarter loss
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Deutsche Bank makes first quarter loss
Today German firm Deutsche Bank recorded a loss of €141m for the first quarter.
It is the first time in five years that the bank has made a loss, and contrasts starkly with the €2bn profit made last year over the same period.
The loss was due to writedowns amounting to a total of €2.7bn worth of […]
HBOS outlines £4bn rights issue
by Gill Montia
Story link: HBOS outlines £4bn rights issue
HBOS has unveiled its plans for a £4 billion rights issue.
The group, which owns Bank of Scotland and Halifax, wrote down £2.8 billion in connection with the credit crisis in the first quarter of 2008 (compared with £736 million for the whole of 2007) as a result of a fall in the value of its […]
May launch for Faster Payments Service
by Gill Montia
Story link: May launch for Faster Payments Service
Apacs, the body that represents payment services providers, will be rolling out a faster method of transferring cash on the Internet or over the phone, on 27th May.
The Faster Payments Service has been designed to allow one-off transfers within one day, rather than the current three days.
However, the programme will get off to a slow […]
RBS makes 7,000 redundant in ABN integration
by Gill Montia
Story link: RBS makes 7,000 redundant in ABN integration
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has confirmed that up to 7,000 jobs will go as it continues the integration of Dutch bank, ABN Amro, which was acquired last year.
The bank is merging its investment and global banking divisions and a pre-redundancy consultation process is expected to begin this week.
Job cuts are expected to be […]
Moneysupermarket: check the small print on savings
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Moneysupermarket: check the small print on savings
Although frequent headlines describe the current financial turbulence, there is an upside.
In the UK today there are a plethora of savings accounts providing good rates of interest, according to price comparison site moneysupermarket.com.
However, the website’s savings chief Kevin Mountford warns that a number of these accounts offering impressive interest rates are contingent upon also opening […]
World Bank: Palestinian economy damaged by Israel
by Richard Kilner
Story link: World Bank: Palestinian economy damaged by Israel
Yesterday the World Bank forecast that the economy of Palestine would perform poorly this year.
The prediction comes despite billions of dollars of overseas aid, and the World Bank singles out Israel’s policy of limiting Palestinian trade as the central reason for the slow growth forecast.
In Gaza, following the violent Hamas takeover, Israel has put into […]
HBOS set to raise £4bn in rights issue
by Gill Montia
Story link: HBOS set to raise £4bn in rights issue
HBOS is reported to be planning a £4 billion rights issue, the details of which are likely to be announced to its 2.1 million shareholders this week.
The group’s Halifax business is the UK’s largest mortgage lender and the bank is known to have concerns about the downturn in the housing market.
This week, housing intelligence firm […]
BoSC negotiates stake in Kenmore
by Gill Montia
Story link: BoSC negotiates stake in Kenmore
Bank of Scotland Corporate (BoSC) is reported to be negotiating the acquisition of around 40% of Kenmore, the Scottish property company.
Kenmore is an Edinburgh-based developer and property fund manager that operates in the residential and commercial sectors.
BoSC has recently increased its interest in property development; it owns stakes in Cala and Tulloch and earlier this month […]
Mizuho Financial closes London securitisation office
by Gill Montia
Story link: Mizuho Financial closes London securitisation office
Mizuho Financial Group (MFG), Japan’s second largest bank, is closing its London securitisation business.
Speaking in Tokyo, an MFG spokesman said that current market conditions made it impossible to continue with securitisation work in the London markets.
MFG has so far written down £2.78 billion on mortgage-backed securities and is in the process of a global […]
World Bank gives $6m to Rwanda
by Richard Kilner
Story link: World Bank gives $6m to Rwanda
Yesterday a further $6m grant was approved by the World Bank to be channelled into the Rwanda Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project.
The money is in addition to the initial investment of $40m, made seven years ago for the International Development Association.
The CEDP’s aim is to lessen poverty through the promotion of the private sector in […]
Barclays refuse to rule out rights issue
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Barclays refuse to rule out rights issue
Barclays, the third largest bank in the UK, has neither confirmed nor ruled out the possibility of a rights issue in order to raise capital.
Recently the Royal Bank of Scotland was forced to ask for billions of pounds from shareholders through such a mechanism, after earlier statements indicating such a course of action would not […]
Morgan Stanley sued over James Brown’s estate
by Gill Montia
Story link: Morgan Stanley sued over James Brown’s estate
Wall Street investment bank, Morgan Stanley, is facing a law suit over the management of the estate of soul artist, James Brown.
The trustees of Mr Brown’s estate are accusing the bank of being complicit in allowing David Cannon, a previous manager of Mr Brown’s finances, to steal up to $12 million over the ten years […]
Banks urged to concede defeat on unreasonable charges
by Gill Montia
Story link: Banks urged to concede defeat on unreasonable charges
Consumer group, Which?, is urging High Street banks to reimburse customers who are reclaiming unauthorised overdraft fees.
Yesterday’s ruling in the High Court did not settle the case brought by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over penalty charges, but it gave the OFT the right to assess whether the terms and conditions under which the […]
FSA warning on personal data security
by Gill Montia
Story link: FSA warning on personal data security
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has warned UK financial institutions that they must do more to ensure that customers’ personal data does not fall into the hands of identity thieves.
The regulator has recently reviewed the data security systems of 39 firms including banks, building societies, insurance companies and financial advisers.
One case has been referred for […]
