Mortgage approvals lowest for 12 months.

The number amount of borrowing approved in August fell to the lowest level in more than a year.

The Bank of England confirmed in its most recent lending publication that approvals fell from 47,000 to 45,000 for the month of August 2010.

The number of

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UK Interest Rates remain unchanged

For the 21st Month in a row the Bank of England has maintained interest rates at 0.5%

The Monetary Policy Committee confirmed that although the level of inflation was above the agreed target, the economy was still to fragile to consider rate increases.

The MPC

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Bank bailout costs taxpayers £5 bn a year

A National Audit Office (NAO) overview of Britain’s bailed out banks show they cost the taxpayer £5 billion annually in interest.

The Treasury pays out £5 billion annually to cover the interest on the loans used to prop up banks, and although this is

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Clegg and the Banks Head to Head

Deputy leader from the coalition Nick Clegg has warned the UK’s banks how the government will not ‘stand idly by’ and let big bonuses be paid out.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Clegg gave his opinion on the banks failed tries to co-ordinate bonus cuts and

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Interest Rates will be low for some time

The recent report from the Bank of England showed that the members voted 7-2 in favour of keeping interest rates on hold for the time being. This is now the 27th consecutive month that rates have remained  at 0.5%.

The concerns over the economy and the

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Interest Rates Held at 0.5%

The Bank of England held interest rates at 0.5% for the 18th consecutive month. The BOE raised concerns about the slowdown in the UK economy as one of the primary concerns.

Although the rate is good for mortgage borrowers it does not bode well for deposit based savers.

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Lloyds TSB and RBS have been forced to sell off some major holdings within the two groups after lengthy discussions with the competition commission.

Lloyds, which is 43.5% owned by the government, confirmed its intentions to raise capital and stay out of the government based banking insurance

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Our article Banks and Financial Advice has been published. To read the article please go to http://www.squidoo.com/independentfinancialadvice

Thursday was a day of posturing as UK city bankers made an aggressive rebuff to the government’s recommendations on Banking Reform. The Walker Report recommends the restriction of executive’s powers and publication of top banker’s salaries. The report was commissioned in Feb 2009 by the

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Lloyds announced yesterday that all 164 branches of Cheltenham and Gloucester, the mortgage and savings division of the group will close.

The group has confirmed that C and G customers will to be able to manage their accounts at any of Lloyds TSB’s branches in addition to telephone and postal

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Taking on hundreds of billions of pounds of extra bank liabilities

They are the most far-reaching proposals yet to prop up the tattered banking system.
Yet it is far from certain that the government taking on hundreds of billions of pounds of extra bank liabilities will kick-start lending to firms

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Savers experience the lowest savings rates in more than 100 years

The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee cut its key rate by half a percentage point to 0.5 per cent on 5 March 2009 and unveiled a programme under which it will buy up to £150bn in government gilts and corporate

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Savers that have investments in instant access deposit accounts have seen their returns fall to record lows in recent weeks, it has been revealed.

The Bank of England’s recent report on savings showed that the average account was paying only 0.17% p.a at the end of February 2009.

Sine the BOE

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The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to reduce the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves by 0.5 percentage points to 0.5%.

In addition to the latest cut in interest rates they have also agreed to undertake a programme of asset purchases of £75 billion

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Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) topped the blue chip loser board mid-morning after a report emerged warning that the group may need to raise additional capital in order to participate in the government's toxic asset protection scheme.

RBS shares fell as far as 14%, before recovering

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