Business Confidence Hits 10 Year High

Business confidence in the UK is at its highest level in the last 10 years, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

The news comes as the UK economy is set to grow faster than any other Western economy, as disclosed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) this week.

According to a recent evaluation by the CBI, there is a strong economic pick-up in growth in the UK, supported by a predicted growth of 1.4% for this year. Production output was 2.2% higher in September 2013 compared with September 2012 according to the Office for National Statistics, offering credibility to claims by the CBI of a “slow and steady” economic recovery.

HSBC has also this week announced a profit surge of 30% in the three months to the end of September. Pre-tax profit for the bank was reported at £2.8bn and the bank cited “reasons for optimism with some evidence of a broadening recovery” in response to their figures.

The Co-Operative bank, who have now revealed their rescue plan (after the discovery of a £1.5bn hole in its balance sheet, caused by bad loans and the 2009 merger with Britannia building society) which will see the Co-op retain just 30% of shares in the bank, announced plans earlier in the week to reduce its branch network by at least 15% by the end of 2014. While the plans are set to enhance the bank’s internet and mobile services, there will be significant job losses as a result of the decision.

Group executive of Co-Op bank Euan Sutherland commented to the BBC “We do need to take the overall costs down, unfortunately [that] will hit jobs”. Sutherland also added that he was “optimistic” about the future, stating “We have taken a major step forward towards achieving our plan to secure the future of the bank”.

While there are encouraging signs of recovery for the UK economy in the statistics released this week, the news that Co-op is likely to cut jobs while losing control of its banking arm remains to remind us of the fragility of the UK banking sector.

Several UK banks are currently being investigated for currency trading manipulation including HSBC, Barclays, RBS, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and UBS all of whom have confirmed contact with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regarding their potential role in the latest banking scandal.

Despite claims of “optimism” in the future of the UK economy as well as promising statistics in production output and business confidence released this week, it’s difficult to forget the LIBOR rigging, mis-selling of PPI, money laundering and now tax manipulation scandals which remain to hinder the confidence of consumers all over the country.  

We Fight Any Claim is a claims management company committed to reclaiming compensation on behalf of our customers who were mis-sold PPI by their bank. Call 0844859000 or alternatively fill in an online claim form if you’d like our help and expertise in reclaiming mis-sold PPI.  

Banks Unsure over PPI Claim Deadline

Late last week we learned that the major British High Street banks were meeting to further discuss imposing a deadline for consumers across the UK to claim compensation for PPI that was mis-sold to them by their banks and others.

Sky News reported that

 "Britain's banks will on (last) Thursday hold crunch talks about a campaign to secure a deadline aimed at bringing the curtain down on one of the industry's worst ever mis-selling scandals.

I understand that executives from the major high street lenders have scheduled talks for Thursday about whether to press ahead with a "time-barring exercise" that would bring an eventual end to millions of compensation claims for mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI) policies.

The discussions, which are being co-ordinated by the British Bankers' Association - the industry lobbying group - will be held against a backdrop of opposition from leading consumer affairs groups.

Sky News revealed last month that a number of the big banks had serious misgivings about the initiative, which would involve a huge advertising campaign to raise awareness of PPI mis-selling being launched sometime next year. A deadline for claims several months later would be designed to provide certainty about the final bill for the banking industry, which has reached more than £15bn and is set to rise further.

Key to the decision about whether to press ahead with the campaign will be the stance of Lloyds Banking Group, which had by far the biggest share of PPI policy sales, and which has so far set aside £6.7bn for compensation claims.

Industry sources said that Lloyds executives were sceptical about the merits of the initiative unless it had the backing of consumer groups. HSBC's support is also said to be wavering, although Barclays is understood to be enthusiastic about the idea."

For more on this story visit the Sky News website.

HSBC Sets Aside a Further £1.5bn for PPI

HSBC has reported a £13.7bn pre-tax profit for 2012 as the bank was hit by further misselling provisions of £1.5bn and its £1.2bn fine from US regulators last year.

The bank saw profits fall 5.5 per cent last year, down from £14.4bn in 2011.

The bank has set aside an extra £1.5bn in 2012 to cover compensation payments for the misselling of financial products, including £1.1bn to cover costs related to the misselling of payment protection insurance and £397m to cover costs relating to the misselling of interest-rate swaps. In total, HSBC has set aside £1.6bn to settle PPI-related claims.


HSBC also had to pay a £1.2bn fine from US regulators last year to settle a money-laundering inquiry.

For more on this story visit Money Marketing.

Banks Brace themselves for more PPI provisions

According to a report on Sky News over the weekend, the Banks in the UK are once again preparing to put aside a further £1 billion in provisions to compensate consumers who were mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).

The report says:

"Britain's biggest banks are poised to add hundreds of millions of pounds more to their collective bill for mis-selling Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) in the coming weeks even as they accelerate efforts to persuade the regulator to impose a deadline on claims.

I understand from senior bank executives that the major lenders could add more than £1bn in aggregate to the industry's tab for PPI when they report full-year results during the next six weeks.

The figures are still being finalised and so represent preliminary estimates only. But if borne out, the figure would take the bill for the four largest UK banks (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland) to beyond £11bn, further cementing its status as one of the biggest British mis-selling scandals ever.

Bankers say that the latest wave of compensation is being used in talks with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as evidence that a deadline for claims is essential if banks are to continue rebuilding capital levels while growing lending to the real economy."

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.

More Capital Needed for UK Banks

Major UK banks may need to raise more capital as protection against possible future losses, the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee has said.

Bank governor Sir Mervyn King said there were "good reasons" to think current capital ratios did not give an accurate picture of financial health.

His comments came as he presented the Bank's Financial Stability Report.

The report suggested that the 'Big Four' UK banks need £5bn-£35bn of new capital.

The full story, reported on BBC news, also goes on to mention that adequate capital levels are also needed in the face of rising costs related to banking scandals.


This year, HSBC and Barclays were respectively hit by penalties over money-laundering and the alleged rigging of the Libor rate.

Meanwhile the banks have set aside billions of pounds to cover claims for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling.

"In recent years, UK banks have also underestimated and underprovisioned for costs for conduct redress, notably for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling," the stability report said.