HayFin boosts commercial lending potential
by Gill Montia
Story link: HayFin boosts commercial lending potential
Commercial lender, Haymarket Financial, is reported to have secured investments totalling €450 million from Lord Rothschild, Sir Ronald Cohen and Future Fund, an Australian sovereign wealth fund.
The London-based firm, which trades as HayFin, was established in 2009 by a team of banking professionals, backed by TowerBrook Capital Partners.
Its Direct Lending business specialises in providing [...]
UK corporate borrowers look East
by Gill Montia
Story link: UK corporate borrowers look East
UK and European corporate borrowers are beginning to consider the Asia-Pacific (A-P) markets to seek finance, according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The accountancy firm suggests that Asian banks are increasing the scope of their lending and expanding market share as European lenders face a continued liquidity squeeze.
PwC debt advisory partner, [...]
UK banks form business lending taskforce
by Gill Montia
Story link: UK banks form business lending taskforce
The UK’s leading High Street banks have formed a taskforce that will “identify barriers to businesses securing finance and make constructive suggestions about how the issues may be addressed”, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has reported.
The move follows heavy criticism of the banks by politicians and trade organisations who claim the economic recovery is as [...]
Insolvency figures show improvement
by Gill Montia
Story link: Insolvency figures show improvement
New figures from the Insolvency Service show the number of individual insolvencies in England and Wales falling 3% in the second quarter of 2010, compared with the previous three month period, to 34,743.
The total does, however, remain 5% higher than a year earlier, comprising 14,982 bankruptcies (down 20.6% year-on-year); 13,466 Individual Voluntary Arrangements (up 10.2% [...]
Open season on small business relationship managers
by Gill Montia
Story link: Open season on small business relationship managers
The European Financial Management & Marketing Association (Efma) has questioned the need for banks to employ small business relationship managers.
In a recently published Efma/Finalta report, the body urges banks to review how they are using such managers and whether real value is being generated.
According to the study, approximately 50% of small business customers are [...]
BBA defends criticism over lending to business
by Gill Montia
Story link: BBA defends criticism over lending to business
With UK banks expected to report strong half-year profits this week, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has defended accusations that its members are not lending enough to business.
All UK banks benefited from implicit government guarantees at the height of the financial crisis and yesterday, Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, warned that the Government “would [...]
HSBC named as Pinnacle skyscraper backer
by Gill Montia
Story link: HSBC named as Pinnacle skyscraper backer
HSBC is reported to be close to finalising a deal for a £600 million finance package that will enable the completion of the Pinnacle skyscraper on London’s Bishopsgate.
The building, which has been nick-named the Helter Skelter, is an Arab Investments project that needs to raise a further £130 million from a consortium of other [...]
Aldermore speeds up SME lending decisions
by Gill Montia
Story link: Aldermore speeds up SME lending decisions
Aldermore is claiming that it gives 97% of its business customers an “in principle” decision on a loan within 48 hours of receiving a completed application.
The SME lender says that other UK banks are currently leaving some small business customers hanging on for lending decisions for weeks, costing both money and jobs.
Chief executive, Phillip [...]
Banks reject one in three firms seeking loans
by Gill Montia
Story link: Banks reject one in three firms seeking loans
One in three firms that applied for finance between the start of the year and June were declined by their banks.
New data from the Institute of Directors (IoD) also suggest that banks’ lending criteria have become more restrictive with regard to the amount of security requested.
In a survey of 899 IoD members, 39% of respondents [...]
EU to improve depositors’ guarantees
by Gill Montia
Story link: EU to improve depositors’ guarantees
The European Commission has tabled new rules to protect customers of banks, investment firms or insurance companies that go bust.
The move forms part of efforts to restore confidence in financial services by offering an EU-wide minimum guarantee for depositors when institutions fail.
The current UK maximum under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme is £50,000 per individual [...]
BBA produces snapshot of activity
by Gill Montia
Story link: BBA produces snapshot of activity
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has come up with some interesting figures alongside it Annual Abstract of Banking Statistics for 2009, published yesterday.
According to the body, in every 10 minutes of every day of the year, 35,000 people used the Internet to check their bank account balance or statement online and 10 people opened a [...]
Lenders gloomy on mortgage funding
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lenders gloomy on mortgage funding
Lenders have reported that the availability of secured credit to households rose slightly in the three months to 9th June 2010 but is expected to fall back in the next three months, in part reflecting expectations that wholesale funding market conditions might tighten.
In its latest Credit Conditions Survey, the Bank of England has also reported [...]
Barclaycard enhances e-commerce with SmartPay
by Gill Montia
Story link: Barclaycard enhances e-commerce with SmartPay
Barclaycard is to launch a new payment processing system this summer, which should help its e-commerce customers better manage cross-border payments in the European Union.
Barclaycard SmartPay works by giving firms access to one single payment processing system that can be tailored to provide a range of language and currency settings.
The new method also embodies a [...]
OFT proposes reforms to insolvency practitioner regulation
by Gill Montia
Story link: OFT proposes reforms to insolvency practitioner regulation
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has recommended far-reaching reforms to the regulation of insolvency practitioners.
In a recent study, the watchdog found that secured creditors such as the banks that appoint insolvency practitioners, have a strong incentive to control fees and direct the activities of practitioners, in the 63% of cases where there are insufficient [...]
Government bolsters SME lending with new fund
by Gill Montia
Story link: Government bolsters SME lending with new fund
The Government is creating a new source of finance for fast-growing SMEs.
As announced in yesterday’s emergency Budget, support for small businesses with high growth potential will appear in the form of an Enterprise Capital Fund that will provide an extra £37.5 million in equity finance for qualifying firms.
The funding will be raised through a £25 [...]
BoE warned of real estate refinancing challenge
by Gill Montia
Story link: BoE warned of real estate refinancing challenge
The Bank of England has been warned that over £55 billion of commercial real estate loans and mortgages need to be refinanced this year, The Independent on Sunday has reported.
According to the newspaper, the Property Industry Alliance has alerted the Bank’s property forum to the danger of defaults in the real estate market, unless new [...]
Rise in personal and company insolvencies levels off
by Gill Montia
Story link: Rise in personal and company insolvencies levels off
The Insolvency Service has reported a 17.9% rise in individual insolvencies in England and Wales during the first quarter of 2010, compared to a year earlier.
However, the figure shows a welcome 8.4% drop on the final quarter of 2009.
Among the 35,682 individual cases, 18,256 indebted Britons opted for bankruptcy (down 10.7% year-on-year); 11,782 secured Individual [...]
New bank with IFAs in mind
by Gill Montia
Story link: New bank with IFAs in mind
Plans are being drawn up for a new bank that will target independent financial advisers, The Independent has reported.
The venture is being launched by a team led by Adam Habib, the former head of structured retail products at Lehman Brothers in London, who moved on in 2008 to become chief executive of Jubilee Financial Products.
Nat [...]
Experian launches commercial lending data sharing
by Gill Montia
Story link: Experian launches commercial lending data sharing
Experian has launched a new facility that it claims enables lenders to better manage the risk and control costs associated with commercial lending.
The group’s CAIS data sharing scheme allows major creditors engaged in commercial lending to share details of credit commitments undertaken by both limited and non-limited businesses.
Details of how borrowers are performing on repayments [...]
UK faces €42bn commercial property debt funding gap
by Gill Montia
Story link: UK faces €42bn commercial property debt funding gap
DTZ has calculated that commercial property investors across Europe are facing a debt funding gap of €115 billion in the next two years, as loans come up for refinancing.
According to the global real estate consultancy, the UK and Spain have the biggest funding gaps at €42 billion and €23 billion respectively, but smaller markets including [...]
