It’s not all bad: Britain is becoming safer despite recession July 19, 2012 REMEMBER the view, widespread on some parts of the political spectrum, that recessions and poverty are what cause crime? Well, it’s nonsense. We’re in the middle of a nasty double-dip recession, high levels of unemployment, a national pay cut, falling wealth, still high inflation, an agenda dominated by corporate scandals – and yet crime is [...]
Retail split may come early for an eager Lloyds July 22, 2012 LLOYDS could announce this week that it plans to accelerate the ring-fence separation of its retail banking arm from its investment banking operations, it was reported yesterday. The bank already has fewer investment operations than the UK’s other major banks, which could allow it to split into two parts well ahead of the expected 2019 [...]
Labour: Changing banks should be as easy as switching phones July 8, 2012 TOP BANKS’ grip on the market would be broken if consumers could change banks as easily as they change mobile phone networks, Labour leader Ed Miliband will say today. He will also call for the big five high street banks to sell off up to 1,000 branches, allowing two smaller institutions to join the big [...]
Banking group’s pledge should make law firms sit up and think May 24, 2012 With its commitment to hire 3,000 staff to expand its legal business, Co-op has come out fighting in the race to shake up the UK’s stagnating legal market. The comparatives are hardly scientific, but top firm Clifford Chance employs 3,200 legal advisers worldwide, so the Co-op’s goal would certainly bring it alongside the big boys [...]
Horta-Osório to return to Lloyds as it prepares to sell branches to Co-Op December 14, 2011 António Horta-Osório will return to Lloyds Banking Group as chief executive on 9 January next year, the bank has said, after taking two months of medical leave. Lloyds said the board had “completed a rigorous process, including obtaining independent medical advice, to assess António’s ability to return and effectively lead the group.” “The independent medical [...]
NBNK and Co-op in final round of Lloyds auction November 23, 2011 NEW British bank venture NBNK and the mutually owned Co-operative Group have been short-listed by Lloyds as prospective buyers of the 630 retail bank branches which it has been told to sell, sources with knowledge of the situation said. Lloyds said yesterday that it had received three formal offers for the assets and had decided [...]
Is M&S’s decision to offer current accounts for a fee a sign that no-charge banking is dying? July 18, 2012 YES Stephen Whitehouse “Free banking” in the UK is nearing an end. Regulators view the current banking model as unfair to consumers and might well force the end of the UK phenomenon of free in-credit banking. Our research suggests that customers are willing to pay for services that add real and lasting value to their [...]
Top grades at A-Level decline August 16, 2012 THE NUMBER of students achieving the top grade at A-Level has fallen for the first time in 21 years, new figures showed yesterday, as more than 300,000 candidates picked up their results. Business groups heralded the drop in A*s and As from 27 to 26.6 per cent, saying it helps employers separate high-flyers from the [...]
Co-op bids on smaller Lloyds asset package than NBNK November 9, 2011 THE CO-OPERATIVE Group insisted on a drastically slimmed down package of assets when it put in its second-round bid for 632 Lloyds branches yesterday. City A.M. understands that the Co-op has demanded that Lloyds narrow the funding gap between the loans and deposits of the package by significantly more than its rival bidder NBNK had. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 12, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Co-op nears cut-price Lloyds deal The Co-operative Group is close to agreeing final terms with Lloyds Banking Group to buy 630 of its branches in a deal expected to be struck at a steep discount to the previously mooted £1.5bn price tag. But Lloyds, 40 per cent owned by the government, would be [...]