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Daily Banking News at Banking Times, the UK's leading independent banking news publication.
Updated: 35 min 22 sec ago
Taxpayer to see £5bn profit from APS
The Asset Protection Agency (APA) has confirmed that it is on course to make a profit of £5 billion for the taxpayer.
The Agency operates the Asset Protection Scheme (APS) that allowed Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group to offload toxic debt into a government-backed insurance scheme.
According to a report in The Daily [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
PPI and investment claims dominate FSCS workload
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) paid out £204 million to over 21,000 claimants during 2009/10, with over two-thirds of the payments made for Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) and investment claims.
PPI claims increased significantly during the year, to exceed 2,400, and the FSCS says it expects the volume of claims in this area to climb [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
KeyCorp reports return to profitability
KeyCorp has reported its financial results for the second quarter of the year, including net income from continuing operations attributable to common shareholders of $56m, equating to $0.06 per common share.
The result contrasts positively with the net loss of $394m ($0.68 per common share) the firm incurred in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks apologise for mortgages mistake
Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks have mailed 18,000 variable rate mortgage customers to apologise for a miscalculation regarding their payments.
The error means that the customers have been underpaying, and will now be required to close the gap between what has been paid and what ought to have been paid.
The banks have apologised for any inconvenience this [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Bank of Ireland refunds forgotten ATM cash
Bank of Ireland (BoI) is to refund over 43,000 of its own and other banks’ customers, all of whom failed to take their cash from its ATMs when making a withdrawal.
ATMs are programmed to gobble up uncollected cash and cards if they are not removed within a certain time limit.
However, over a four-year period, reclaimed [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Credit Suisse reports Q2 results
Credit Suisse has announced its financial results for the second quarter of the year, including net income of CHF1.6bn, a moderate improvement on the CHF1.57bn net income achieved in the same period last year.
Diluted earnings per share were CHF1.15.
However, net income fell from the CHF2.1bn earnt in Q1 2010.
Core net revenues were CHF8.4bn in Q2, [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Piper Jaffray announces Q2 results
Piper Jaffray Companies has announced that in the second quarter of 2010 the firm made a net income of $7.4m, equating to $0.36 per diluted common share.
This figure stands in the shadow of the $11.6m ($0.59 per diluted common share) the firm earnt in the corresponding quarter of 2009.
However, it is a tremendous improvement on [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
US Bancorp enjoys 63% rise in net profits
US Bancorp has reported that in the second quarter of 2010 it made a net profit of $766m, equating to $0.45 per diluted common share.
This is more than 60% higher than the Q2 2009 net profit of $471m, and 14.5% greater than the $669m net profit achieved in Q1 2010.
The bank also saw total net [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Wells Fargo announces Q2 results
Wells Fargo has reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2010, during which it earnt net profits of $3.06bn, a 20% rise from the preceding quarter.
The net profit was slightly smaller than the record breaking second quarter of 2009, when $3.17bn was earnt.
Diluted common earnings of $0.55 were achieved in Q2 2010, down [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Little benefit from Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme
The members of the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA), including the country’s leading clearing banks and independent financiers, have found the Government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme to be of little use to their clients, it has been announced.
ABFA’s Chief Executive Kate Sharp has said that the organisation’s survey indicates that the fund itself is flawed, [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Upton investors received £3.7m in compensation
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has secured £3.717 million in compensation for investors in an unauthorised collective investment scheme operated by Upton & Co. Accountants Limited.
A High Court ruling yesterday confirmed that the victims of the scheme should receive the money on a pro rata basis.
Upton has also agreed to make further monthly payments [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Britons borrow £12m to fund surgical procedures
In 2009 consumers took out nearly £12 million of personal loans to help pay for surgical procedures, according to research from Sainsbury’s Finance.
The lender has also discovered that £4.77 million of the total (800 loans) was used to pay for cosmetic surgery, while £6.80 million (980 loans) went towards other procedures, such as hip replacements.
Sainsbury’s [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Bank of America named Best Bank in the US
Bank of America won a magnificent seven awards from the Euromoney 2010 Awards for Excellence.
The pick of the awards for the financial institution was being named the Best Bank in the US in recognition of the steps it had taken to make financial life simpler for its customers.
The other awards were Best Global High Yield [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Aldermore speeds up SME lending decisions
Aldermore is claiming that it gives 97% of its business customers an “in principle” decision on a loan within 48 hours of receiving a completed application.
The SME lender says that other UK banks are currently leaving some small business customers hanging on for lending decisions for weeks, costing both money and jobs.
Chief executive, Phillip [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Bank customers urged not to reveal card details
Customers of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks have been urged not to give away personal and banking details in response to unsolicited e-mails or telephone calls.
The banks have, following calls from customers, stated they are not associated in any way with Royalty Travels.
Customers of the banks have indicated that Royalty Travels may suggest they have won [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Equity Bank records surge in profits
Equity Bank Group has reported that it achieved a growth in pre-tax profits of 46% for the first six months of 2010.
The bank made pre-tax profits of Kshs3.88bn, up from Kshs2.66bn during the same period last year.
Net profits saw an almost equal increase, rising by 44% from Kshs2.09bn to Kshs3bn.
Operating income rose by 40% from [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Dormant accounts to fund Big Society Bank
The Government’s plans for a “Big Society” involve raiding dormant bank accounts to fund community projects and charitable works.
Prime Minister David Cameron has launched two such projects in Liverpool today, in efforts to reinvigorate society and challenge the state-dependent attitudes apparently held but some.
Big Society schemes will be backed by the Big Society Bank, which [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Deutsche Bank announces senior hire for Asia
Deutsche Bank has announced the appointment of Henry Cai as chairman of Corporate Finance in Asia, and head of the Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB) in China.
Cai will be based in Hong Kong, and acquire a seat on the firm’s Asia Pacific Executive Committee.
He will join the firm on 4 October 2010 report directly to [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Citigroup reports Q2 results
Citigroup Inc. has reported that in the second quarter of the year it made a net profit of $2.7bn, equating to $0.09 per diluted share, down $1.7bn from Q1 2010.
It is also substantially lower than the $4.3bn net profits achieved by the bank in the same period last year ($0.49 per diluted share).
The bank also [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
Vince Cable accuses banks of “ripping off” customers
Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has accused High Street banks of “ripping off” their customers, the BBC has reported.
Mr Cable was reacting to research for a Panorama programme which claims that banks are charging up to 167% interest on unauthorised overdrafts.
Responding to the findings, Mr Cable said: “When we talk about restructuring the banks what’s going [...]
Categories: Banking and finance
The Bottom Line:If Mr Cable has his way...
"If Mr Cable had his way, all the big banks would be broken up and bonuses would be virtually eliminated - a sure-fire way in my view of guaranteeing an end to the UK’s ability to compete as an international financial centre. Let’s not forget that this is a man who is on record as saying that everyone who works in a bank has an ‘aristocratic lifestyle’ clearly demonstrating his lack of understanding of the sector." A tough line on bankers’ bonuses could make a brain drain of financial talent a distinct possibility, warns Paul Marsden. Read more