BoE: Mortgage approvals rise

The Bank of England reveal:

"Total net lending to individuals rose by £0.6 billion in March. The twelve-month growth rate was unchanged, at 0.9%..."

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Barclays profits rise 47%

Barclays Q1 Interim Management Statement reveals:

"Group profit before tax for the three months ended 31st March 2010 was £1,820m (2009: £1,239m), an increase year on year of 47% (£581m)..."

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Strict lending criteria hits 'High End' residential mortgage market

Investec Specialist Private Bank says:

"Increased lending restrictions from banks and building societies has resulted in a growing number of high net worth individuals finding it difficult to secure mortgages of £1million or more..."

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FSA: Seven charged with insider dealing

The Financial Services Authority today charged seven people with 13 charges in respect of conspiracy to deal on inside information obtained by the defendants from two major investment banks:

"One defendant has additionally been charged with an offence in relation to money laundering..."

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RBS fined £28.5m

According to the Office of Fair Trading:

"The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has agreed to pay a fine of £28.59 million after admitting breaches of competition law between October 2007 and February or March 2008.."

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Norwich & Peterborough report £1.3m profit

Matthew Bullock, chief executive of N&P, said:

"Our business is largely removed from the wholesale debt markets and the riskier elements of lending. But so profound was the crisis that we were impacted in several ways..."

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Link Loans return to secured market

Link Loans will be open for business on Thursday 11th March 2010:

"Secured loans lender, Link Loans, has been relaunched with new equity funding from the RBS Special Opportunities Fund, managed by RBS Equity Finance (a division of RBS Asset Management Limited), and new debt funding from RBS Financial Institutions..."

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ISA rules unfair say 84% of UK savers

New research from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks reveals:

"84% of savers in the UK believe current rules on Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) are unfair and penalise risk-averse savers..."

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Banks still cashing in on low base rate

Moneysupermarket.com says:

"One year ago this month the Bank of England ended six months of dramatic rate cuts to try and stave off the effects of the recession, leaving Bank of England Base Rate at a record low of 0.5 per cent..."

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Over 3 million UK borrowers don't know their mortgage rate

According to Post Office Mortgages:

"Despite the Bank of England base rate being at an all time low, at least three million UK borrowers (28 per cent) do not know the rate of interest at which they are currently repaying their mortgage..."

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HSBC: Are mortgage rates on the way up?

On the twentieth anniversary of mortgage rates hitting a record 15.4%, HSBC ask: are rates on the way up?

"It's a tricky task to predict the exact point, or even a close estimate, of when rates may rise. However, with the current base rate at 0.50%, it is fair to assume the future for rates can only be up, report HSBC..."

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BoE: Total net lending to individuals rose by £2bn

The Bank of England's Lending to individuals: January 2010 report, reveals:

"Total net lending to individuals rose by £2.0 billion in January. The twelve-month growth rate ticked up to 0.8%..."

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Royal Bank of Scotland announces £3.6bn of losses

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group have today released their Full Year Results 2009:

"2009 operating loss narrowed to £6.2 billion from £6.9 billion in 2008, with loss before tax falling to £1.9 billion from £8.3 billion in 2008..."

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Savers pay £13bn extra tax

According to research by Clydesdale & Yorkshire Banks:

"Since the launch of ISAs in 1999, savers have invested approximately only one sixth of what they potentially could in ISAs, meaning millions have been paying tax on their returns unnecessarily..."

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Barclays bank report £11.6bn profits

This morning, Barclays bank announced a 92% rise in full-year profits to £11.6bn:

"Barclays delivered profit before tax of £11,642m in 2009, an increase of 92% on 2008. Excluding a gain of £6,331m realised on the sale of Barclays Global Investors, profit before tax was £5,311m..."

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Northern Rock reduces selected mortgage rates

Northern Rock will reduce some of its mortgage product rates today:

"Selected residential 2 Year Fixed rates will be reduced by as much as 0.40%, and selected residential 2 Year Trackers will reduce by 0.10%..."

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