This week’s top five stories:
1) “No clear benefit in fast track” – Legal & General explains Abbey move
Legal & General Network’s Ben Thompson says his firm’s decision to exit Abbey for Intermediaries’ fast-track facility is because the service no longer offers any benefit to their customers or advisers.
2) Prisoners of the mortgage war
Interest-only: No-one gets left behind.
3) Mortgage rates to rise as Euro crisis hits UK
Homeowners will be hit by fresh increases in mortgage rates as the storm in the eurozone hammers Britain’s financial system.
4) Bishop slams ‘usurious’ payday loans
A senior Church of England bishop has hit out as the interest rates being charged by short term lenders such as Wonga, describing them as “usurious”.
5) The Insider: Office politics
We have to participate in a twice yearly ritual.
Here are some key stories you may have missed:
Fraud Working Group launches ahead of SHIP rebrand
Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP) has launched a group to consider the impact fraud has on equity release, and to offer further protection to consumers.
TV celebrity champions government housebuilding scheme
Kevin McCloud, presenter of Channel 4’s Grand Designs, is to take a role as architecture specialist to support a government initiative looking to double the number of self-built houses.
Ex-GMAC mortgage lender bankrupted by toxic loans
In the US, a mortgage subsidiary of Ally Financial, which was GMAC, has been placed into bankruptcy after finding itself unable to handle the amount of bad loans on its books.
