House prices are falling at their fastest rate in around 18 months, according to the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). In October, 55% of estate agents surveyed said house prices had fallen in the past three months. Just 4% reckoned they had risen. That’s a much gloomier result than September’s,…
LONDON (Reuters) – One morning in May, the chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, one of Britain’s biggest banks, called together his senior executives for an urgent briefing. Ross McEwan had just attended a meeting with officials at the financial regulator and had important news. “I think they’ve found something,” he said, according to…
From Wednesday 10th September we can be found right in the heart of Belfast, next to the City Hall in the Scottish Provdent Building. In future our preferred legal and taxation partners will only be a short stroll from these offices, making life that litte bit easier for client who have to travel from out of…
By Adrian Quine, Business Reporter Firms were sold fixed-rate business loans to protect them against interest rate changes, but banks secretly added a swap, which had the reverse effect. This led to firms going bankrupt. “Embedded swaps” are unregulated. The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) says any customer unhappy with a product should contact their bank.…
What has Banking Review Services been telling you for years!!!!!!!! The biggest impediment to economic recovery in Northern Ireland is “the banking situation”, according to Finance Minister Simon Hamilton. He said at a recent Westminster inquiry there was “anecdotal evidence” that firms were having “severe difficulty” getting finance that would allow them to invest and…
The Access to Finance Implementation Panel (AFIP) has been launched by finance minister Simon Hamilton and enterprise minister Arlene Foster. Its chairman will be Russel Griggs, a lead reviewer of the banks’ appeals processes. Hamilton said: “This panel will put a new focus on banking and access to finance issues here, particularly business lending. “For…
Pauric McGowan, professor of entrepreneurship & business development at Ulster Business School, discusses the future agenda for the relationship between banks and SMEs. A major study by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Ulster Business School (UBS) delved into the views of SME owner–managers on the key elements that make up their relationship with their…
Ronnie Patton, senior lecturer at the University of Ulster, explains why businesses may be better off looking for a CHEEP adviser than a cheap adviser in the following article from Ireland Business News. Recently I noted that many SME owner-managers have a limited relationship with their accountant or business advisor. This led to some enquiries…
Business confidence remains critical to driving the economy forward and companies in Northern Ireland have a part to play in shouting about their successes. That was the message from Kevin Kingston, deputy chief executive of Danske Bank, speaking at Insider’s Business of Finance Conference in Belfast. The theme of the conference was ‘Sources of finance…
