Financial
Ask Financially Offers new Credit Cards Guide and Calculator to Beleagured Credit Card Holders Being stung again with interest rate rises.
Credit card holders can only look on as credit card giants Capital One and ABN Amro India (currently being purchased by HSBC from The Royal Bank of Scotland) recently announced interest rate increases, of up to 7% for some existing customers. Capital One’s increases will come into effect after customers receive their March statements, continuing [...]
UK factory inflation hits 14-month high
(TELEGRAPH) - So-called factory gate inflation rose by 0.3pc during the month, pushing the annual inflation rate to 4.1pc from 3.8pc in January, which was the highest level since December 2008. The monthly rise was slightly ahead of the 0.2pc increase expected by [...]
WPP head sees flat growth for 2010
(FINANCIAL TIMES) - Sir Martin Sorrell derided media bosses who welcomed “flat as the new up” when he spoke at a Financial Times conference this week, but he was more phlegmatic yesterday in guiding that growth at his WPP group would be flat in 2010.
“In fact, we’ve been surprised by the degree [...]
HSBC chief receives £300,000 to cover cost of Hong Kong switch
(TIMES ONLINE) - HSBC yesterday defended its decision to give Michael Geoghegan, the bank’s chief executive, a £300,000 living cost allowance to ease his relocation to Hong Kong.
The sum, revealed in HSBC’s annual report published on Monday, comes in addition to his £1.15 million (HK$13.5 million) salary for 2010 and on [...]
Metro Bank gets official go-ahead in UK High Street
(BBC) - A proposed new High Street bank, Metro Bank, has been given a banking licence by the Financial Services Authority
The bank plans to open two branches in central London in the next three months.
It aims to expand to more than 200 in Greater London within ten years.
The bank says it [...]
SunGard Identifies Ten Trends for 2010 in Post-Trade Processing of Securities and Derivatives
SunGard Identifies Ten Trends for 2010 in Post-Trade Processing of Securities and Derivatives
Burlington, MA (Vocus) March 2, 2010 -– Tony Scianna (http://twitter.com/TonyScianna), executive vice president of SunGard’s brokerage and clearance business, said, “As financial institutions strive to do more with less, there will be continued emphasis on eliminating manual processes to reduce risk and enhance [...]
Pay rise for Skipton boss Cutter fuels outrage over broken pledge
(MAIL ONLINE) - He might not be in the same multi-million pound pay league as Lloyds Bank’s Eric Daniels or Royal Bank of Scotland’s Stephen Hester, but David Cutter, controversial boss of Skipton Building Society, is certainly enjoying a lucrative recession.
Last week, mutual Skipton revealed profits for 2009 of £57.6 million, [...]
HSBC boss to take share bonus to mollify public
(THE INDEPENDENT) - Michael Geoghegan, HSBC’s chief executive, is believed to be ready to announce that he will take his bonus in shares rather than cash in an effort to assuage public anger over bonuses when the bank reports its full year results tomorrow.
And Peter Sands, the chief executive of Standard [...]
How to beat the big bank squeeze
(TIMESONLINE) - The state-backed banks are squeezing retail customers to help ease their path to recovery.
Royal Bank of Scotland, 84%-owned by the taxpayer, has been accused of leaning on mortgage customers through higher margins on lending, while Lloyds has boosted returns from current accounts with higher charges.
Announcing its annual [...]
Skipton defends mortgage rate increase
(BBC) - Skipton Building Society has denied wrongdoing after breaking a pledge not to raise mortgage rates to more than 3% above the Bank of England base rate.
The North Yorkshire-based mutual could face a legal challenge from borrowers after breaking its ceiling on its standard variable rate (SVR).
About 64,000 customers will [...]
