Recent events suggest that the financial system in general, and the banking system in particular, still have serious issues to resolve before we, the general public, can be confident that all the outstanding misselling issues have been resolved; that the biggest banks have dealt adequately with their misselling liabilities and that they are properly capitalised and ethically run, complying with their duty to their customers and to the regulator to treat their customers fairly.
Let us start with the alleged missale of interest rate hedges and the more exotic variants, such as interest rate caps and collars. These products are intended to protect the customer against interest rate risk. In principle, therefore, they can meet customers’ needs as they provide greater certainty over future loan repayments. However, these products can also be very complex and, therefore, susceptible to misselling.
The full article can be read over on Money Marketing.
Rogue PPI Texts Come Under Scrutiny
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has raised fears about the activities of a claims management company while upholding complaints against it relating to text messages about compensation.
The ASA said Data Supplier, based in India, had not responded to its enquiries about the texts which were found to have breached its code.
One of the messages, judged to be in breach of the rules, said: "We have been trying to contact you regarding your PPI (payment protection insurance) Claim, we now have details of how much you are due, just reply CONFIRM and we will call you back".
The second text said: "Our records indicate you may be entitled to £3750 for the accident you had. To claim for free just reply CLAIM to this msg. To stop text STOP."
Three complainants, two of whom received the first text and one who received the second, challenged whether they were misleading and could be substantiated, because they had not recently had an accident or did not believe that they were eligible to reclaim PPI payments, and suggested that the texts breached the advertising code because they were unsolicited.
For more on this story visit the Sky News website.
HSBC Fined £1.2bn
HSBC has confirmed it is to pay US authorities $1.9bn (£1.2bn) in a settlement over money laundering, the largest paid in such a case.
A US Senate investigation said the UK-based bank had been a conduit for "drug kingpins and rogue nations".
Money laundering is the process of disguising the proceeds of crime so that the money cannot be linked to the wrongdoing.
HSBC admitted having poor money laundering controls and apologised.
"We accept responsibility for our past mistakes," said HSBC group chief executive Stuart Gulliver in a statement.
For more on this story go to the BBC News website.
WFAC Mo Bro's Bid Farewell to Facial Fuzz
As the global charity campaign Movember drew to a close last week, We Fight Any Claim (WFAC) staff said a fond farewell to their charitable facial hair after successfully raising a huge sum of money for the charity.
Nine members of staff took part in the Movember challenge by growing moustaches throughout November, raising £1,174 for Men’s Health Charities. The nine members of staff to successfully complete the Movember challenge were Craig Griffiths, Simon Evans, Sam Morgan, Luke Johns, Gareth Haycock, Danny Read, Howard Davies, Kyle Roberts and Rob Stephens. Staff based at the Cwmbran call centre, supported those taking part in Movember by donating their weekly Dress Down Friday contribution to Movember.
For more on this have a look over on our media page on our website.
Yahoo Search Terms Highlight PPI Concerns
The most asked questions on Yahoo! UK search in 2012 reveal an insecure but practically minded populace - who may not have been aware of the meaning of the word pleb until this year.
The top question asked by users of the Yahoo search engine in 2012 was "How to make money", followed by "who unfollowed me?" from nervous Twitter users eager to find out who had stopped following them on the social network.
More prosaic concerns such as "When do the clocks go back?" (fourth), "How to write a CV" (fifth) and "When is Easter?" (sixth) also appeared in the top ten.
Perennial challenges - losing weight (third) - mixed with more modern questions - "What is my IP address?" - and financial concern of the PPI mis-selling scandal by high street banks brought "How to claim PPI yourself" into tenth place.
The full list can be seen here.
The top question asked by users of the Yahoo search engine in 2012 was "How to make money", followed by "who unfollowed me?" from nervous Twitter users eager to find out who had stopped following them on the social network.
More prosaic concerns such as "When do the clocks go back?" (fourth), "How to write a CV" (fifth) and "When is Easter?" (sixth) also appeared in the top ten.
Perennial challenges - losing weight (third) - mixed with more modern questions - "What is my IP address?" - and financial concern of the PPI mis-selling scandal by high street banks brought "How to claim PPI yourself" into tenth place.
The full list can be seen here.
Why Protection Insurance is Important
Financial protection has been given a bad name by the poor value offered by payment protection insurance. But for many people, the reassurance that cover brings cannot be overestimated.
Alan Lakey, a leading financial protection expert, says too many people are overlooking cover in favour of long-term savings or paying for school fees and holidays.
They expose themselves to potential future financial upheaval, warns Lakey, founder of Highclere Financial Services in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. ‘Whether people are saving into a pension or Isa, both vehicles rely on continuing income to keep feeding them,’ he says.
‘If income ceases, so do the savings. So the first step is to ensure that in the event of ill health or accident the flow of income can continue.In effect, protection planning is the foundation of all other financial planning and without sound foundations the aspirations may crash down like a dodgy building.’
Read more here.
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