As bankers warn of crisis risks, is the Chinese economy a cause for concern? January 11, 2015 Clare Howarth is lead Asia Pacific economist at Oxford Economics, says Yes. Chinese producer prices have been falling for almost three years, as growth slows and industry struggles with excess capacity. Falling oil prices have pushed producer price inflation (PPI) down faster in recent months, but are also partly a consequence of the cooling economy. [...]
Banks and City regulator deny £1bn PPI crisis June 5, 2014 THE CITY watchdog and the banking industry do not recognise the claim that banks have underpaid payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling victims to the tune of £1bn, the groups said yesterday. An analysis of figures, commissioned by the BBC from an undisclosed source, had claimed banks were failing to repay the fees charged to borrowers as [...]
Budget 2015: Banks bear brunt of pre-election tax increases March 18, 2015 Britain’s banks were targeted yet again for a tax raid yesterday, as the chancellor hit them with the biggest tax hike of any sector. George Osborne increased the bank levy for the ninth time since it was introduced in 2011, in a move which will raise an extra £4.4bn in five years. The tax, which [...]
RBS’ recovery hurt by German Coutts tax probe February 26, 2015 RBS’ SHARES took a tumble yesterday as the bailed-out bank warned of more legal costs to come, including a tax evasion investigation by German authorities into its private banking arm Coutts. The revelation came as the bank reported falling losses for 2014 as its cost-cutting programme outpaced the decline in revenues. It lost £3.5bn in [...]
As Lloyds resumes dividends, have UK banks now turned a corner from the financial crisis? March 1, 2015 Steve Davies is co-manager of the Jupiter UK Growth Fund, says Yes. Lloyds Bank’s return to dividend payments is a very significant step forward, and RBS may not be as far behind as people think either. The most encouraging news from Lloyds is that its capital position is now extremely strong, which not only gives [...]
Budget 2015: George Osborne plays to the crowd with a populist plan March 18, 2015 Despite the chancellor promising not to pull a rabbit from the hat, there were in fact plenty of Budget bunnies to be seen this year. With the UK now growing ahead of its major international competitors and an General Election coming up so soon, it’s clear that George Osborne felt confident enough to splash out [...]
Profits boom as Santander UK wins seven-day switching war February 3, 2015 Santander UK has converted its flood of new current account customers into a strong rise in profits, yesterday reporting an improvement across all its business lines. Profits rose 26 per cent to £1.4bn for 2014, as the number of current account customers rose from 2.1m to 3.3m – Santander gained one quarter of all customers who [...]
HSBC’s Stuart Gulliver set to face MPs on tax evasion February 24, 2015 HSBC chief Stuart Gulliver will face MPs today to give evidence on claims its Swiss private banking arm helped clients evade taxes. Initially it was only the giant bank’s chairman Douglas Flint who had been summoned to the Treasury Select Committee for a 45-minute session. But now both bosses are attending parliament, and they will [...]
Budget 2015: City hit by Google tax and bank levy hike March 18, 2015 The government's bank levy will be increased by 0.21 per cent, in an effort to raise £900m, the chancellor announced today. The measures were being taken so banks "make a bigger contribution to the repair of our public finances", George Osborne said during his Budget speech. Lenders will also be prevented from offsetting PPI compensation [...]
Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank chief exec quits before flotation January 6, 2015 CLYDESDALE Bank chief executive David Thorburn is standing down after four years at the National Australia Bank (NAB) subsidiary, the bank said yesterday. NAB is selling the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks, after poor performance in the UK. Last year, the group had to set aside £420m to pay for payment protection insurance (PPI) claims. But recruiting [...]