Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, , in a landmark speech made on Tuesday night, reiterated his calls for the UK banks to be split into two separate entities, one handling utility and the other financing risk capital ventures. He emphasized his argument by stating that “a delusion” to think tougher regulation would prevent a future financial crisis that would be no less severe than the current one. His remarks strengthened the certainty that the economic crisis has prompted the UK government as well as countries across the world to re-evaluate their financial regulatory frameworks

King’s call for a break-up of banks comes from an ever-increasing theory that the UK banks had considered themselves to big to fail , and has made the Governor less than popular with the key figures in the move for domestic and international banking reform.

The Treasury and the Financial Services Authority have consistently rejected the theory of splitting up the banks whilst internationally, the proposals of the Group of 20 have been principally aimed at increasing both the quantity and quality of the banks’ working capital to ensure that the future of banking would be more stable.

In his speech, King raised a few eyebrows by his use of Churchill a style oratory, the speech was delivered at a meeting held in Edinburgh, intended to highlight and discuss the burden banks had placed on taxpayers. The Governor used the theme of one Churchill’s most famous speeches to deliver the message “Never in the field of financial endeavour has so much money been owed by so few to so many. And, one might add, so far with little real reform.”

financial

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Tags: Bank, Bank of England, Banking, British Economy, British Pound, capital venture, Credit Crunch, Currency, Economics, Economy, Financial News, Financial Services Authority, financing risk, Mervyn King, Money, Money Management, Recession, Taxpayers, Treasury, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession

A new deadly computer virus is doing the rounds and this one, which goes by the name of Clampi, is proving to be a headache for literally thousands of on-line banking customers.

The Clampi virus is spreading quickly throughout both the UK and US, and has a particularly invidious way of effecting people’s computers.

The virus, what’s known in the jargon as a Trojan, has been created by hackers intent on stealing people’s personal banking details. It effects people’s computers after they visit certain websites and then sits quietly waiting its chance. Then, once the computer users accesses their personal banking website, it activates, and captures such vital information as login and password details.

Once harnessed, these details are then sent back to the waiting hackers, who using them to commit on-line fraud scams.

The Clampi virus courts some 5,000 financial websites; ones which include British and American banks, but also mortgage lenders, on-line shopping sites, casinos and email service providers.

And although the Clampi virus has been around since 2005, only now is it really beginning to make its presence felt. In the US for example, thousands of dollars of fraudulent transactions are already being blamed on the Trojan.

Computer security experts are warning that the Clampi virus represents a complex threat and one which people should take very seriously indeed. They warn that it is just beginning to seriously target UK banks and there is potential for wave after wave of attacks. But only now are the experts fully aware of its devastating potential.

With the US under attack from the Clampi virus, it is believed that over 1,000 computers in the UK have been penetrated. And those computers running Microsoft Windows based operating systems are especially vulnerable to the Clampi virus.

Computer security experts are urging everyone to be particularly careful of falling victim to the virus. They advise all computer users to be on their guard against links embedded within emails from people not known to them, or likewise unfamiliar emails with attachments; but, also be cautious of social networking sites, instant messages, blogs, or websites that they come across during a surf. Innocent appearing websites are one of the most popular ways that such Trojans are distributed around computer networks. The general rule is, say the boffins, never download anything from any site unless you can completely vouch for its credentials.

What’s more, the experts are warning everyone to not only run a good anti-virus software programme, but also keep it up to date.

For more information on this and other computer viruses, help protecting your computer and staying safe on the web visit http://www.computer-protection.co.uk/

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Tags: anti-virus software, Bank, Banking, Clampi, Clampi Virus, Computer Virus, Current Account, hackers, Microsoft Windows, Money, Money Management, on-line banking, on-line fraud, personal details, Trojan, UK Banks, UK Credit Cards

Whilst it is easy to gain the government and the banks for the financial quagmire that the UK succeeded in sinking itself in, the public also have to be levied a portion of the blame. As a leading financial analyst proudly proclaims, it was the shopping centres and the credit cards that did it as much as anything else. The banks and credit card seemed driven to provide unlimited credit, and the government turned their backs and pretended that it wasn’t happening. And the British public at large had a great time running up debts on their credit cards that they had no chance. And in some cases, no intention of repaying.

There are people who will be saddled with debts for at least the next decade, and will be paying fairly exorbitant interest on those debts as a lesson on how to use credit cards in the era which is hopefully not too far away. The end of the first great economic turn down of the 21st century.

Let’s face it. Having a credit card at your disposal is very convenient. And make no mistake about it, the majority of people whose lives became very difficult through misuse of the powers and responsibilities that being issued with a credit card entails, will continue to use them in the future.

However the rules of the game will be different. Anyone who has found themselves under an immense burden of debt would never have enjoyed the experience, and will never want to repeat it. And even if they did, the banks will have imposed such a strict system of checks and balances that the chances that it will happen will be miniscule. Credit cards were meant to replace cash and cheques, and when viewed in that light, they do an excellent job. A responsible person with a credit card should only use that card to cover around 40% of their monthly financial outlay, and should stagger payments amounting to no more than a quarter of their monthly credit card bill.

These are very simple rules, but if adhered to, will prevent a repeat of the most uncomfortable experiences that too many people have gone through in the last couple of year.

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Tags: Bank, Banking, Budget, Credit, Credit Crunch, UK Credit Cards

There must be no small number of UK citizens who are slowly sinking in a sea of debt and asking themselves” what did I do wrong?”

After all what did they know about Bear Stearns, subprime mortgages, toxic debt and global debt running into trillions of whatever currency you care to mention.

All that most of them wanted was to own their own home like Margaret Thatcher promised, a reasonably nice car in the drive way, 2.5 children smartly dressed with perfect teeth and all that was modern in the way of household appliances. What did it matter to a fair percentage of them that they couldn’t afford to pay for them? The nice man at the bank kept on lending them more money to support this lifestyle, so why not keep up with the Jones family next door, who secretly were trying to keep up with you.

When all of a sudden the bubble burst, UK citizens were left in a state of shock and it seems that no-one is really capable of helping them. Unemployment is on the rise, house repossessions too. Many basically innocent people are facing a genuine risk all that they have built up will disappear. And is often the case, those individuals who are less deserving of government advice and assistance are getting it before them

So why are the government seemingly falling over themselves to protect the banks and more obviously the bankers who played a major part in the financial downfall of the UK.

A simple answer is that the Britain needs to have a banking system, the question is how large and far reaching does it have to be and who should be running it. These are issues that may be well above the understanding of the man in the street. However these appear to be the pressing issues for Messrs Brown and Darling for the time being. It almost seems inevitable that at least two of the major UK banking groups will gradually move into public hands and there are those that say this is not a bad thing, at least for the foreseeable future.

What the Government is trying to achieve s to stabilize the banks as much as possible, and they are using the taxpayers’ money to do so. The toxic insurance scheme means that the Government is insuring shaky loans that the banks took on when they were greedy for profits and their managers were not just hungry but ravenous for bonuses. And the public will have to pay their bill and for years to come.

This is the situation that the United Kingdom finds itself in, and some experts say it could continue for up to ten years, although not at the same level of severity that we are going through today.

There are those that say that the UK Government are not doing enough to helping the man in the street to really understand what is going on, and what is likely to happen in the future. President Obama, who knows how to lay the internet like a violin, hastened to order the establishment of a web site to explain to the US public what was going on. Brown and Darling should rapidly follow suit.

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Tags: Bank, Bank of England, Banking, British Economy, Credit Crunch, Current Account, Economics, Financial News, FTSE, Money Management, Money Markets, Recession, UK Banks, UK Recession

If you can compare the current global financial crisis to a giant tidal wave carrying all before it, then it might be encouraging to take note that in the tail drift, tiny glimmers of hope are beginning to rise above the surface of the calmer waters while no one was looking. Financial experts ( what would we do without them) are blithely predicting that the World’s leading financial institutions are yet to lose the other half of their asset value, and until they do, the real financial recovery cannot begin to take place.

However there the first signs of a minor recovery in consumer spending among those who have realized that we are in the beginning of the biggest buyers market of all time, and there are bargains to be had, especially in the property market.

Figures issued yesterday showed that mortgage approvals in December 2008 jumped by 27 per cent from the previous month (22,051 from 17,339). This upturn in the property sales, mostly in the second hand sector, is being regarded as a cautious step in the right direction, although November 2008 approvals were among the lowest in recent history. In the “boom years” of the property market, e banks were handing out 80,000 mortgages in an average month, with almost a 100% approval rate. In other words, you turned up at your bank, you asked for a mortgage and you got it. In today’s uncertain climate, the approval rates are much lower, although the banks seem reluctant to release specific figures.

Figures released yesterday also showed that re-mortgage approvals were on the up by just a few hundred in December, along with increased activity in the buy-to-let and equity release mortgages sector of the property market.

These figures show a level of cautious optimism against the backdrop of what was a horrendous year for the UK mortgage industry. Total lending for 2008 came to £170 billion, down almost 25 per cent from the previous year, with the number of loans approved for house purchase down by more than fifty per cent.

In the US, slightly against expectations, house sales were also on the rise in December, a sure sign that buyers were taking advantage of the serious reduction in the prices of property caused by the credit crunch.

Sales of second hand properties rose by 6.5% in the month. Bearing in mind that December is usually one of the weakest months of the year for property transactions, this upturn shows that a gradual recovery may be beginning to get under way in the United States.

Second hand property prices fell by 15.3% in December from the previous years. One disturbing note to this optimism is that almost half of transactions that took place in December fell into the category of “distress sales”, where the seller needed to dispose of their property under pressure and was forced to reduce the price considerably.

Experts are now waiting till spring to see if this trend will continue, especially in the second hand market.

Other signs that the UK consumer is increasingly taking their share of responsibility in getting the country out of its largely self imposed mess are that the collective balance due on credit card debt in December 2008 fell by £218 million while outstanding balances on overdrafts and bank loans fell by £135 million in the same month.

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Tags: Credit, Mortgages, UK Bank Accounts, UK Banks, UK Credit Cards

It was difficult to dispel the feelings of despondency in UK financial circles yesterday as more and more eyes were being cast on America and today’s inauguration ceremonies for new President Barack Obama. It was difficult to dispel the feelings of despondency in UK financial circles yesterday as more and more eyes were being cast on America and today’s inauguration ceremonies for new President Barack Obama. One help but get the feeling that if was down to Gordon Brown, President Obama should skip the ceremonies and celebrations that follow the swearing in and get right down to help solve the global financial crisis.

The feeling that there is a shortage of good ideas about in the UK to stop the banks from sliding into nationalisation was very obvious as Brown and Darling’s latest plan to kickstart the banks seemed to get off to a very flat start.

The announcement of phase two of the bank’s recovery plan did provide some short lived optimism. However hope for a rapid financial turnaround were quickly dashed as reports of share collapse for all the leading banking groups, especially RBOS began to flow in. However UK government officials hastened to chip in by saying that the plan to boost business confidence and free money for lending by the banks was for the good of the business community and not just the banks.

PM Gordon Brown was said to be losing patience with the banks and especially upset with RBOS and their irresponsible and excessive lending. The prime minister expressed his feelings in no uncertain terms, by announcing: “I am not going to stand idly by and let people go to the wall because of irresponsible mistakes of a few bankers.” City experts said that the latest financial package could cost the taxpayer hundreds of billions of pounds.

The benchmark FTSE 100 slipped 38.59 points to 4,108.47, as the pressure to sell mounted, wiping out any trace of Friday’s 25.95- point gain. The loss means that the index has closed down in eight out of the past nine sessions.

Volume on the FTSE 100 were at record highs, with 1.87 billion shares trading hands, although the index dig succeed in slipping 38,59 points to 4,108.47. There were obvious signs of pressure to sell and Friday’s 25.95 point gain was soon eaten up on a wave of selling. When the FTSE 100 index shut up shop for the day, it was eight day out nine that it had closed on a downer.

Responsible as ever was the banking section, with the unwilling star of the show being RBOS that fell by an astounding 66.57 per cent (23.1p at 11.6p) Lloyds LSB did better, down a mere 33.94 per cent (33.4p at 65p), with Barclays fairing the best of the bunch falling only 10.2 per cent (10p at 88p)..

Elsewhere, Wolseley the construction materials group lost 9.06 per cent of their share value ( 31.25p to 313.5p) The fall was brought about by press reports that the group was trying to raise as much around 500million pounds in rescue capital.

The FTSE 250 closed at 6,215.49, down 34.11 points. Leisure and entertainment groups were key contributors to the downturn. Enterprise Inns fell 21.14 per cent (9.25p to 34.5p). Reasons given were that the bank’s tight lending policy is due to have a major effect in the group’s liquidity in the short term.

Punch Taverns, also reckoned to be chronically undercapitalized, also took a tumble, down 16.67 per cent (6.5p to 32.5p).

Private sector building group Taylor Wimpey saw their share value lose 16.88 per cent (3.25p to 16p). Losses were in the light of warnings that the 2009 credit outlook for the western European construction and homebuilding companies continued to look increasingly.

Trade was muted worldwide as markets felt the effects of the lack of trading on Wall Street due to the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday in the U.S, although futures suggested that Wall Street would trade higher after the holiday. Dow futures rose 52 points, or 0.6 percent, to 8,295 and S&P500 futures gained 6.5 points, or 0.8 percent, to 855.10.

Sterling was mixed against other major currencies early Tuesday with rates as follows:

pound/US dollar 1.39167
Pound/Euro 1.07596 EUR
Pound/Japanese Yen 125.901

Oil prices continued to languish with light sweet crude for February delivery down 36 cents at $36.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile exchange by early afternoon in Singapore.

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Tags: Alastair Darling, Bank, Bank of England, Banking, Barack Obama, British Pound, Economics, Economy, Finance, Financial News, FTSE, Global Credit Crisis, Gordon Brown, Money, Money Markets, Recession, UK Banks, UK Recession

Bank shares on the slide after HBOS revealed bad debts on lending have risen to £1.7bn in the 11 months to the end of November.

The figures could worsen, as they were £1.2bn in September and just £700m in June.

“In light of the worsening economic climate, trends in retail impairment charges are likely to come under further pressure,” HBOS warned.

HBoS shareholders are due to vote today on the merger with Lloyds TSB – and the result looks like a foregone conclusion to go with Government brokered deal.

The shares fell 10% at 78.7p ahead of the meeting in Birmingham.

Lloyds TSB shares also fell by more than 9% to 143.3p.

Royal Bank of Scotland, 58% owned by the state, has dropped 11% to 58.8p.

Barclays, which has turned down government help and raised money from the Middle East instead, is down almost 7% at 150.4p.

Credit card firms and the Government have agreed new consumer safeguards.

The Government had threatened to refer the credit card industry to the Office for Fair Trading if it did not agree to a new code of conduct.

Over the past year, most credit card firms have increased rates despite sharp reductions in the Bank of England base rate.

Cardholders now face an average interest rate of 17.7% on credit cards – more than eight times higher than the base rate – up from 16.6% last year.

The FTSE closed 31 points up last night, climbing 4367 to 4388.

In the US the DOW was down 185 points overnight at 8565, from opening at 8750. Wall Street reacted to the gloom that the Bank of America is laying off up to 35,000 staff, and, the US Senate has failed to reach a bailout deal for the motor industry.

Sterling hit a record low against the euro of 89.39 pence and fell slightly against to $1.4886 against the dollar.

• Alliance & Leicester
• Barclays
• Capital One
• Child Trust Fund
• First Direct
• HSBC
• Post Office
• Tesco Savings

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Tags: Bank, Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Credit Card, HBos

Credit card firms are being urged to follow the recent cut in interest rates.

Business secretary Lord Mandelson is meeting the firms’ bosses later today to encourage them to drop their rates.

“The government is deeply concerned that borrowers aren’t getting a fair deal,” said Consumer Affairs Minister Gareth Thomas.

Credit card firms have always said their interest rates are competitive.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has also slated banks and building societies for failing to pass on the recent savage interest rate cuts to borrowers.

Speaking yesterday to the Commons Treasury select committee for the eighth time in the past year, King said that Britain was in “exceptional and difficult times” and that he was in “no doubt that the single most pressing challenge” to domestic economic policy is to enable the banking system to lend normally. “That is more important than anything else at present,” he said.

MPs heard that many banks and building societies are failing to pass on the full rate cuts will force the Bank’s monetary policy committee to rethink its approach in December.

“Following the 1.5 percentage point cut some banks withdrew their tracker mortgages. They are now introducing them, but with a higher spread from the base rate than before,” said King.

“This means that we must cut bank rates by more than we would otherwise have done, and we will take this into account when we calibrate the correct cut in bank rate.”

King said that the government financial support of the banks might not have come to an end. “Maybe the banks will need more capital, in which case that should be considered. We have seen that happen in the United States,” he said.

The British Bankers’ Association has announced mortgage lending plunged 52% in the year to October.

• Alliance & Leicester
• Barclays
• Capital One
• Child Trust Fund
• First Direct
• HSBC
• Post Office
• Tesco Savings

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Tags: Credit Crunch, Interest Rates, Mandelson, Mortgage, UK interest rates

If you really want to save money, then possibly the best approach is to take a long hard look at your lifestyle, see where your hard-earned money is going and then see if you can make some savings.

And there are so many ways you can do this, but lets have a look at some of the best ways to make a difference.

Firstly, where does your money go? You get paid and first with their hand out is the Government. Now, most people pay tax via the Pay As You Go scheme, meaning that your tax is calculated for the tax year and you pay per month. Not much you can do about that you might think, but when it comes to paying tax, have a quick look to ensure you are not paying too much. Employers and tax inspectors are known to make the odd mistake. Also, many people now claim tax benefits (such as working tax credits, child tax credits), so just make sure they’ve got you right and that you are claiming for all the benefits you can.

Right, where next does your money gravitate? Usually, it’s on the house in the forms of a mortgage, or rental payment. If it’s a mortgage, have a look at the rate you are paying. If you move it to another firm (and at the time of writing the re-mortgage market is a little sticky), then you could possibly reduce your payment by a significant amount. If you rent, are you paying a fair rent, especially, at the time of writing, the economy is heading from bad to worse. It may pay dividends to think of upping sticks and moving to another house, maybe close by, but with a more competitive rent. And even if you politely let your landlord know that you are considering this, it may well be that he re-negotiates your rent anyway.

So that’s tax and benefits and your property; now it’s the turn of the money spent on keeping yourself alive: utilities and food.

Your property is a fast consumer of money, so keep an eye on how much it takes to run it. Not much you can do about council tax, but when it comes to electricity, gas, or oil, you have two courses of action. Use less of the stuff and also think about switching suppliers and getting a better deal. If you’re on a water meter (and this is good if you are), then use less of it (fewer baths, more showers for example).

As to food, choose this time to go on a diet and eat less. And think about where you buy your food. Drop the up-market stores and supermarkets, and head for the bargain shops, which most probably have the same brands anyway, they just don’t have all the fuss, and you could save a fortune.

Next up is entertainment. Still going out on a regular basis to restaurants, the pub, or the cinema. Enjoying yourself in the U.K. is a costly business, so go out less and spend more time amusing yourself at home with food and drink from the supermarket, and a rented film.

Right, so that’s halfway, five things have been covered: 1. tax and benefits; 2. mortgage, or rent; 3. utilities; 4. food; and, 5. entertainment.

In the next five you can tunnel down into the specifics, starting with credit cards, but moving onto the telephone, the mobile, the insurances you have and finally, the creating money. 

Your credit card can be your best friend, or your worst enemy. Use with care. Start to pay it off and if you can, put it away in a drawer, or, more drastically, cut it up. You could always switch to a new card company for a better rate, but read the small print first. Don’t fall for the low, or no interest for six months and then, when you want to move again, find you can’t as things have got tougher.

Your landline telephone needs some respect. These things eat money like a London taxi cab. Look around for a better deal and don’t be so chatty on the phone unless, of course, someone has called you.

Mobiles have become indispensable, or so we think. Do you really have to tell the wife and kids that you’re on the train? Is the call, and the subsequent cost, really necessary? And if you are on a mobile contract, think about switching to pay-as-you-talk. You’ll be very pleasantly surprised how much money you’ll save.

Finally, look around the house. Can you raise some funds by say selling some of your unwanted possessions. Would a bit of trading on one of the online auction sites provide some cash. Also, look at some of the freelance work sites – could you at night do some extra work and earn some more money.

Okay, where’s there’s a will, there’s a way. If you really want to save money you can, you just have to exercise some self-discipline.

• Alliance & Leicester
• Barclays
• Capital One
• Child Trust Fund
• First Direct
• HSBC
• Post Office
• Tesco Savings

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Tags: Accounts, Credit Card, Mortgages, Savings, Tax, Tax Payer

There are many things that households can do to beat the credit crunch. Let’s look a few of them.

One woman, English teacher Kath Kelly (admittedly after a drunken bet) lived off just £1 a day for an entire year! She collected dropped change on the street, gave up her mobile phone and went to open lectures at Bristol University and ate the free buffets. She went into grocers and butchers at the close of business and picked up cheap food and shopped at jumble sales. Not only that, but she managed to hitch hike to her brothers house in France for a holiday in the middle of it all! She has a book out called “How I lived on just a pound a day”, published by Redcliffe at £6.99….or one week’s income.

Use cash back sites

Many sites will allow you to claim back some of the commission they receive. These are referred to as cashback sites. Some of the savings can be substantial so if you are making any online purchases, check with them first to see if you can get a better deal. Just Google UK cash back sites for a wide choice.

Drive a hybrid

We all have to make journeys of some description so how about turning in that expensive car for a nice economical hybrid? The cost of a hybrid will soon be offset by the substantially lower running costs, including reduced road tax!

Use a fuel search website

Search http://www.petrolprices.com/ any time you need to fill up and arrange a journey to get you close to the petrol station in question. Don’t under estimate the amount of money you can save over a year by using this type of website.

Get a cash back credit card

With Christmas coming, why not get a credit card that offers cashback? There are plenty of them about and they only need a little research. Some pay as much as 5% cashback and at Christmas when you could spend thousands, why not get the cashback and give yourself a nice little.

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Tags: Cash Back, Christmas Spending, Credit Crunch, Fuel, Fuel Costs, Hybrid, Kath Kelly, Petrol, Road Tax, UK Credit Cards