The Royal Bank of Scotland’s attempt to recapitalise with a share issue has had a very small uptake from the market. The government will now take up the shares and will own around 58% of the RBS group, which includes NatWest Bank. The government will pay around ¬¨¬£15 billion for it’s stake in the group. [...]
November, 2008
A Game of Monopoly?
So, once again the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds is ‘all but done’. How many times have we heard that? For weeks we have seen headlines saying the takeover has gone ahead only for a later report saying terms have yet to be agreed. Throughout the see-sawing reports I have found myself wondering whether the [...]
Ker-Plonk!
I thought for a moment I was dreaming when I saw, amongst the reports of doom and gloom and mounting debt, a news article saying that red wine prices are falling! However, as I thirstily read on, I sadly realised that it wasn’t going to make quite the difference to me that I thought it [...]
It’s all gone Pear!
I was relieved to see that maybe the first seeds of common sense may be at last germinating in the erstwhile sterile consciousness of the European Commission for Agriculture and Rural Development as they are relaxing their crazy shape and size rules on 26 fruit and vegetable products. Yes, it’s emancipation time for the curvy [...]
Unemployment – highest since 90′s
Britain’s unemployment figures rose to their highest level since the late 90′s, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. Their report revealed that in the three months to September, unemployment in Britain reached its highest level since 1997. Official Labour Force Survey findings showed a rise of 140,000 in the third quarter of [...]
Alistair Darling
Alistair Darling has been Chancellor of the Exchequer since 28 June 2007. During September 2007 there was a run on a British bank, Northern Rock. Ultimate authority for deciding on financial support for a bank with debt problems rests with the Chancellor. The 2007 subprime mortgage crisis had caused a liquidity crisis in the UK [...]
Armistice Day – Our World War 1 casualties
We owe an enormous debt to our heroes from World War 1 dwarfing the pain of the current liquidity crisis. The number of World War I casualties both military and civilian was over 40 million with about 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded including 9.7 million military deaths and about 10 million civilian deaths. [...]
Non Performing Assets
Non-performing assets are loans made by a bank or finance company on which repayments or interest payments are late. If they are not serviced for some time banks usually treat assets as non-performing. If payments are late for a short time a loan is classified as past due. Once a payment becomes really late (usually [...]
On the Ball?
I was somewhat bemused to be notified of a planned Five-a-Side Football Tournament, terminating in a Summer Ball, to be set up by and for the credit collection industry with proceeds going to a charity called Sherbert, set up by the credit collection industry, to relieve poverty amongst people who have been subject to enforcement [...]
Watch out for burglars on Bonfire Night
Bonfire Night is an annual celebration on 5 November to celebrate the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 in which a number of conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Children traditionally request a “penny for the guy” to buy fireworks, although in recent years this custom has widely [...]
Williams Formula 1 Team in debt
Has Formula 1 hit the headlines for the right reasons? Losses at Williams were recently announced at £21.4m for 2007 compared to a deficit of £27.7m the previous year. Williams are the only team in the sport not to be owned either wholly or in part by a car manufacturer or billionaire. The 2007 and [...]