This is a strange recession. Few people expected that it would take the shape of a narrow ‘V’ and, despite the hope that recovery will continue there is still a residual fear that problems remain. Given the level of corporate debt and the depth of decline many people predicted that there would be more corporate [...]
The Independent has reported that the Institutional Shareholders’ Committee (ISC) is setting up an Institutional Investor Council, a new body that will investigate the fees charged by investment banks for underwriting rights issues and various advisory roles. The ISC is a forum that allows the UK’s institutional shareholding community to exchange views and, on occasion, [...]
Standard Bank has become the first South African bank to provide its customers with free anti-phishing software, which also serves to protect customers against online fraud via malware. Standard Bank has introduced Rapport anti-phishing software to its customers in a bid to help promote online security and to establish a secure online banking platform. Director [...]
Investment manager Brewin Dolphin has raised serious concerns over the Coalition Government’s proposals to raise Capital Gains Tax (CGT) in the June Emergency Budget. Brewin Dolphin has expressed the view that by raising CGT the Government will erode the grounds upon which investors risk their capital supporting businesses, and warned that it will seriously discourage [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has backed the proposed merger between the Skipton Building Society and the Chesham Building Society. In April more than 80% of both borrowers and savers with Chesham Building Society backed the possible merger with Skipton Building Society at the former firm’s Annual General Meeting. Chief Executive Paul Kilbride expressed his [...]
Nationwide Building Society has announced that its new advertising campaign will feature characters from the cult sketch show Little Britain. The adverts will feature comedy duo Matt Lucas and David Walliams and run from 16 May to 12 July under the slogan “Nationwide. Proud to be different”. The first of three commercials will feature Matt [...]
Callataÿ & Wouters, the core banking and multi-channel distribution solutions firm, has announced that one of its customers (National Savings and Investment (NS&I)) has won the Celent Model Bank Award 2010 for Innovation and Insight. The award triumph for NS&I follows the utilisation of Callataÿ and Wouters’ Thaler core banking infrastructure. The award is given [...]
French bank Crédit Agricole S.A. has reported its financial results for the first three months of 2010. The bank recorded net income (group share) of €470m in Q1 2010, more than twice the €202m made in the corresponding quarter last year. Gross operating income surged upwards 47.5% on a like-for-like basis, with risk-related costs down [...]
Nationwide Building Society’s latest Consumer Confidence showed a marginal rise in confidence, up by one point to 74 in April, 23 points higher than the same time last year. Interestingly, faith in the future declined for the second consecutive quarter but at the same time confidence in the present situation improved. The Expectations Index stood [...]
The new coalition government has announced that the parties are agreed “to end the rules requiring compulsory annuitisation at 75″. Under current rules, members of defined contribution company pension schemes and those with private pension savings must buy an annuity with their pension pot by the age of 75. Unfortunately for some, annuity rates plummeted [...]
Cattles has finally submitted restated accounts for 2008, showing a pre-tax loss of £745.2 million, compared with an estimated loss of £555.3 million. Last year, the troubled sub-prime lender admitted to the incorrect application of impairment policies at its Welcome Finance unit and embarked on a board-room clear out. A forensic review then exposed a [...]
HypoVereinsbank Group (also known as UniCredit Bank AG following a legal name change last year) has released its financial results for the first quarter of the year. The firm saw pre-tax profits surge upwards by €600m from €94m in Q1 2009 to €694m in the quarter just gone, the best result for HVB since the [...]
Dutch bank ING has reported that it achieved a €1bn underlying net profit in the first quarter of 2010, improving substantialy on the €236m net loss incurred in the same quarter last year. It also marks a huge step up from the Q4 2009 underlying net profit of €74m. ING also saw its net profit [...]
The Financial Ombudsman Service has recently highlighted the plight of people living in rural and more remote areas of the UK who “tend to know less” about their right to make complaints about financial firms than people living in urban locations. According to the watchdog, the rural economy traditionally involves low-paid and seasonal work and [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) faces an uncertain future as it remains unclear whether the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition Government will proceed with Tory plans to disband the regulator and transfer its powers to the Bank of England. Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, is known to be keen to scrap the existing tripartite system of [...]
