UK mortgage approvals enjoyed a steady increase in October as post-referendum growth continues November 29, 2016 Mortgage approvals in the UK rose to their highest point since March 2016 as the market continues last month's growth. Approvals had fallen steadily from May until August this year. According to the Bank of England, 67,518 mortgages were approved in October – up from the 63,594 approved in September. This adds up to £12bn of [...]
Alternative lending’s leading founders and chief executives give their predictions for the sector in 2017 January 12, 2017 The road was slightly bumpy for alternative lenders last year. Authorisations for the Innovative Finance Isa were delayed, there was further Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) probing, disappointing results hounded a good handful of the UK’s largest platforms and Goldman Sachs made its foray into the market with in-house platform Marcus. But provided the regulator continues [...]
London house prices have another year of rapid growth as they climb 9.4 per cent in 2015 February 16, 2016 London house prices climbed 9.4 per cent last year, figure released by the Office for National Statistics this morning show. While it is some way below 2014's growth of 13.3 per cent, it is still rapidly outpacing earnings. The strong growth in London and the South helped drive nation-wide house price growth of 6.7 per cent. Prices [...]
Is Ireland Brexit-ready? Inside Dublin’s bid to win financial services power from London January 30, 2017 Riding the airport shuttle bus through Dublin’s financial services centre on a sunny January afternoon, and looking forward to a pint of Guinness at the journey’s end, the prospect of the City of London losing jobs to Ireland doesn’t seem too upsetting. Located to the east of the city on the River Liffey, the financial [...]
City Moves for 19 January 2017 | Who’s switching jobs January 19, 2017 GFT Technologies Christian Ball has been appointed head of retail across the Atlantic region at GFT, a provider of business, technology and design consulting to global banks. Christian brings extensive experience with him to spearhead GFT’s retail banking team and is joining the firm from Meniga, one of the top-performing fintech companies in Europe. In the [...]
After a torrid time for sterling, is the UK economy heading for trouble? October 10, 2016 Andrew Sentance, senior economic adviser to PwC and former member of the Bank of England’s MPC, says Yes. It is not just Brexit which is undermining sterling at present. The UK has a large balance of payments deficit. The government still has a large deficit – and Philip Hammond seems more relaxed than George Osborne about [...]
Imagination Technologies’ warning from Apple: What the analysts say as share price crashes 70 per cent April 3, 2017 Imagination Technologies has gone from potential takeover target by Apple to being warned by the tech giant that its technology will be dropped from future devices. The UK company, which derives around half of its business from its licensing to Apple, indicated that it believes that Apple does not have the capabilities to create its [...]
Don’t compare Marine Le Pen to Brexit and Trump: The Front National doesn’t have a chance February 27, 2017 The two-month countdown to the French presidential election has ushered in an air of nervousness among investors who are worried about being wrong-footed by another populist upset in Europe. The fact that Marine Le Pen, the candidate of the far-right National Front, is borrowing on familiar themes of putting France First and pledging to hold [...]
Bank lobby boss Anthony Browne says it’s time to stop grieving over Brexit November 22, 2016 The head of the British Bankers' Association (BBA) last night declared “the time for grieving is over” in the wake of the Brexit vote. “We should stop looking back, roll up our sleeves and look to the future,” said Anthony Browne, speaking at the BBA’s annual dinner at Mansion House. Read more: Sir Martin Sorrell: Brexit [...]
Nationwide pulls out of commercial real estate lending as it reports falling profits November 18, 2016 Nationwide announced plans to pull out of commercial property lending as it reported falling profits today. The figures Statutory profit for the six months to September came in at £696m, down from £802m. And underlying profit was reported at £615m, down from £801m. Nationwide said gross mortgage lending was up 17 per cent to £17.5bn [...]