Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 at 1:12 pm
The Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank Of England has decided to let the bank rate remain unchanged this month following their meeting today.
This is likely to come as a relief to many people who have seen interest rates rising steadily over the last year. Some economists seem to think there may be yet more rises to come in the future but the full effects of the previous rises have not yet worked through into the economy as yet. It would seem very likely that once they do they will slow consumer spending and remove some of the inflationary pressures on the economy.
Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Following a statement of good practice released by the Financial Services Authority in January it has put pressure on banks and financial institutions to stop increasing exit fees on mortgages that are different to the original contract. The FSA now reports that it finds that most major lenders have opted either to charge a fee that cannot be varied during the lifetime of the mortgage, or to remove the MEAF altogether; and other lenders will charge a MEAF which reflects the administrative costs when the customer exits the mortgage. The MEAF should only be varied for valid reasons clearly explained at the outset.
We can, no doubt, expect other alternatives ways for the lenders to make money will now be expanded.
This really shouldn’t be needed. Why would the FSA be required to make sure the lenders do as their contracts state? What good is the law if it large financial organisations can do whatever they like and if they get caught out they just change their working practices? They don’t even appologise. The only conclusion one can make is that politicians don’t care. If they did they would be looking to jail the CEO’s of companies that knowingly ignore the rule of law to prevent such abuses
We had the case today, of British Airways today getting a huge fine for breaching competition law. When are we going to see the financial companies being penalised?
