Archive for January, 2010
Legislation to reform mutuals held back: Co-operative News
Last summer’s ‘Reforming financial markets’ white paper had a lot say about mutuals, with a complete section relating to them, including proposals for ‘a modern legislative and regulatory framework’ for credit unions, industrial and provident societies and friendly societies.
The gyst of the paper’s focus on mutuals was that while there was strong support for them [...]
Banking gets competitive: Belfast Telegraph
Virgin Money for the first time now has a banking licence, having bought an obscure regional bank, Church House Trust. From this small start Virgin intends to become a major player in the banking industry across the UK – exploiting the widespread disillusion in the big banks.
But this is merely the playing out of a [...]
Business owners ‘turning to counsellors’: Belfast Telegraph
Owners of struggling businesses and badly performing investments have turned to stress counselling to get them through the recession. Londonderry stress management counsellor Gerry McCanny reports an increase of 60% to 70% in business people seeking his help.
“It’s people who might not want to see themselves as vulnerable,” explains McCanny. “They need a special environment [...]
Questions of Cash: ‘Credit card transfer left me with fees and interest to pay’: The Independent
Q. I have an MBNA BMI credit card. In October and November I transferred £4,400 to it from other credit cards, paying a 3 per cent transfer fee. I have since paid-off my monthly transactions, leaving what I thought was an interest free balance to ride. But MBNA allocates payments received against the interest free [...]
Credit union hopes dashed: Belfast Telegraph
Credit unions’ hopes of offering a wider range of services have been dashed for the forseeable future. Proposals to treat credit unions in Northern Ireland equally with those in Great Britain have been dropped from the UK Government’s legislative programme.
The Reforming Financial Markets white paper published in July said that the Government was “minded to [...]
Cover up in the cold snap: MoneyTalks: Belfast Telegraph
Homeowners are being advised to take urgent action to protect their homes from severe weather damage, with the Met Office warning that the freezing cold is likely to continue.
Halifax Home Insurance says that one in six of its current claims is for burst pipes, compared to just one in ten earlier in the winter. Electrical [...]
Questions of Cash: ‘Using Barclays’ exchange rate wasn’t worth the gamble’: The Independent
Financial advisor banned: Belfast Telegraph
A Bangor mortgage advisor has been banned and his firm fined for providing false information to lenders, which gave rise to at least 16 fraudulent mortgage applications being submitted.
James Ian Shanks, a partner of Case Funding Centre, has been banned by the Financial Services Authority from conducting regulated activities, including the arranging of mortgages, [...]
When push comes to shove: Local Government Chronicle
Local authorities will not make sufficient progress in achieving cost savings through shared services unless they are forced to do it, a report from business advisory firm Deloitte argues..
“Having worked around shared services for several years, I am convinced making it compulsory is the only way you’ll get real value out of these projects,” says [...]
Co-op takes a lead - others must follow: Co-operative News
It is easy to forget that along with all its other activities, the Co-operative Group is also a powerful shareholder in many of the UK’s leading companies. A new report from Co-operative Asset Management not only reminds us of this, but also makes clearer how it exercises its vote at companies’ general meetings.
With the controversy [...]
