In a startling revelation it has been revealed that the cost of cleaning up ID theft in UK has soured to around £2.7 billion a year with some issues taking up to 200 hours to unwind. It has also been revealed that the average ID theft now nets criminals in excess of £1000 and there are real concerns this figure is set to spiral higher in the short to medium term. It seems that criminals are now using the Internet more and more to load Trojan horse coded programs onto individual computers, allowing them to record key presses, note passwords and log usernames.
In a surprise move it has been revealed that Barclays bank has expressed an interest in acquiring Citigroup's offshoot Egg which is rumoured to be for sale at around £400 million. This is an operation which was originally set up by Prudential and then sold to Citigroup back in 2007 for £575 million. However, the American giant has now decided that the online Egg operation does not form part of its core business in the future and the operation will be sold.
Despite the fact that the UK government, and indirectly UK taxpayers, have significant stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds bank, Northern Rock and the "bad bank" of Bradford and Bingley the UK government has no direct control over these operations. While on the surface these may seem like state-run banks they are effectively banks run at an arms length distance from the UK government - which owns all or has a significant stake in the companies in question. But is it now time for the introduction of a commercial state run bank?
This weekend's revelation that a number of major stores in the UK saw their electronic payment systems down for anywhere up to 3/4 of an hour is a major blow for those who have been pushing the electronic payment model of the future. It also shows that many of us in the UK depend wholly upon credit cards and debit cards to cover our everyday costs and if the systems are in any way compromised we are very often left high and dry.
Northern Rock and the Bradford & Bingley will be merged together by the UK government in an attempt to increase the pace at which UK taxpayers can expect to receive repayment of the loans offered by the government during the credit crunch. In effect the two "bad banks" from Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, which contain potentially toxic mortgage arrangements, will be brought together under a new holding company which should reduce the cost base and strengthen the business going forward.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today confirmed that over the last six months, on average, an unbelievable 7,143 complaints were made against UK banks each and every day. A total of 1.3 million grievances have been logged over the last six months with the likes of Barclays Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest amongst the worst offenders with regards to the percentage of complaints upheld and surprisingly Spanish outfit Santander has received most complaints regarding customer services.
The Irish government has today confirmed that it fully expects Irish banks to honour their obligations because a failure to do so would seriously jeopardise the government's ability to raise finance in the future. There is no doubt that concern regarding the Irish banking situation continues to grow and with Anglo Irish Bank's senior debt downgraded by three notches today it is easy to see why some investors are running scared.
A survey by the Confederation of British Industry and PricewaterhouseCoopers has confirmed that the UK financial sector continues to improve with profitability increasing for the fifth quarter in a row. However, despite the fact that the growth figure was the fastest quarterly increase since June 2007 it would appear to have fallen short of forecasts from analysts. So what does this mean for the future?
Michael Geoghegan, the chief executive of HSBC, announced plans to leave the company in December amid reports of a boardroom bust-up. It would appear that Stephen Green's decision to relinquish his role as HSBC chairman has caused something of a major upset in the boardroom. If the rumours are correct, Michael Geoghegan threatened to resign if he was not considered for the role of chairman although this role has now gone to Douglas Flint and Stuart Gulliver will take over the role of chief executive next year.
As Santander gets ready to bring on board up to 2 million new customers from the takeover of the Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest high street banking outlets the BBC has reported that Royal Bank of Scotland customers can still remain with the bank if they so wish. Under the terms of the Santander takeover of the various banking outlets, Royal Bank of Scotland is not able to encourage customers to remain with the bank with those who wish to remain with the company need to act immediately.
