Northern Rock cuts its repossession numbers

The nationalized mortgage lender Northern Rock has recently announced that it has managed to cut its mortgage repossession numbers as a result of the housing boom seen over the summer period. The bank has also seen stabilisation of the number of mortgage customers on its books that are in arrears with their mortgage repayments. Read more

Taxpayers pay bonus for Rock employees

Over recent months the government has been using taxpayers’ money for a variety of purposes, sparking concern amongst opposition parties and the public with regards to how the public purse is being used. Read more

Savers worry about where to put their cash

The world of finance has been thrown into complete turmoil over the past year, not just for borrowers and lenders but also for those looking for a safe place to stash their hard earned cash. It seems that until around this time last year we all had a pretty good idea of where we wanted to put our cash in order to make it work for us, but since the chaotic situation with Northern Rock threw the banking world into turmoil many of us have no idea what to do with our savings, and seems to be running from one bank to another clutching our precious cash in the hope that we will finally find a safe resting place for it. Read more

Northern Rock forced to cut savings accounts

Just a year ago Northern Rock was being branded the victim of the first run on a British bank in almost 150 years, and customers were flocking to get to the bank and take out their cash amidst rumours that the bank was on the verge of collapse. However, since this time the bank has been nationalised and since falling into government hands now offers a 100% guarantee on savings deposits for customers – a guarantee that had previously only been available on National Savings & Investments. Read more

Another bank gets nationalised

Earlier this year the financial headlines were filled with news about the government taking over the stricken bank Northern Rock. Over the past few days the government has used the same legislation that was used in the Northern Rock takeover to rush through the nationalisation of another troubled bank, Bradford & Bingley. According to reports the government will be taking on the £50 billion loan book of the troubled bank, much of which has been lent to buy to let investors, whilst the Spanish owned bank Santander, which also owns Abbey, takes on the savings account side of the business, said to be value at £20 billion. Read more

Northern Rock benefits from HBOS takeover

This time last year Northern Rock was fast becoming known as one of the first major victims of the global credit crunch in the UK, with rumours that it was on the verge of collapse and savers rushing to withdraw billions of pounds in savings within a few days. The bank became the victim of the first run on a British bank in nearly one hundred and fifty years. Earlier this year Northern Rock was nationalised as a result of the problems that it had experienced. Read more

A fall in consumer confidence in banking

A recent survey has shown that there has been a significant fall in consumer confidence when it comes to banking in the UK, with much of this decrease being blamed on the recent turmoil and chaos with Northern Rock.

As a result of this overall, confidence in banking and finance in the UK has taken a tumble state researchers from Teamspirit, which carried out the survey. According to the results most sectors of the banking and finance industry have been affected by this fall in consumer confidence.

One industry professional stated that the recent Northern Rock situation had had a profound effect on consumer confidence in banking and finance, stating: “The Northern Rock situation has contributed to the low levels of trust that the British public has in companies that look after their money.”

The survey involved polling around 2500 people, and showed that fewer than half of consumers trusted banks and building societies, and just a quarter now trusted online banking. The number of people that still trusted building societies was slightly higher than banks, with around 48% stating that they still had trust in building societies. Around 46% now have confidence in high street banks, and just 25% are confident when it comes to online banking.

The recent credit crunch that has spread from the sub-prime sector of the United States has also affected the level of consumer confidence in banking and finance, according to officials, with financial markets in the UK and around the world facing turmoil as a result of repercussions of the credit crisis sparked in the United States. Banks and lenders have now had to raise interest rates on many areas of lending, which has further affected both confidence and affordability in terms of finance.

Tom Smith
3rd November 2007

FSA investigating banks’ stability

Following the recent turmoil in the financial markets, which has spread from the sub-prime sector in the United States, the Financial Services Authority is to launch an investigation to review the stability of mortgage lenders. Read more