The Royal bank of Scotland, which is a state-controlled bank, has put its insurance business called Direct Line on sale. The division has been out for sale since the bank had taken public money in the financial crises. The sale was forced by the European Union as a punishment for the bank. Further, as per the reports, the deadline for the sale and the offloading of Direct Line has been set till the end of the year 2012 by the EU.

The Bank of England is mulling over plans to impose stricter restrictions on home buyers in order to prevent another credit crisis, the Bank of England's Deputy Governor Charlie Bean said.

Mr. Bean said that imposition of stricter restrictions would prevent people from taking out risky home loans. He added that Risky lending could be slashed so that potential buyers would have to put down deposits in the range of
10-25 per cent to receive a mortgage.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has urged the Bank of England to maintain key interest rates at their record low of 0.5 per cent to ensure a stable economic recovery.

The leading business group also suggested that the Bank should also consider injecting more money into the economy because fiscal-tightening measures could slow the pace of recovery.

The BCC’s message emerged as it increased its GDP growth forecast from June prediction of 1.3 per cent to 1.7 per cent for the current year. The group also raised its GDP growth forecast from 2 per cent to 2.2 per cent for 2011.

The Deputy Governor of the Bank of England has indicated that the bank was going to put in aggressiveness while using the powers that have been planned by the Government, so as to side away any given future monetary catastrophe.

Charles Bean said that the bank had almost lost its supremacy at preventing the ‘Great Contraction’ of 2008, since the control of interest rates did not hold its own place, which, if it had, would have helped in a number of ways.

A group of skittish business people have decided to inject 10 million pounds in to the Airdrie Savings Bank to expand its business in UK. The group of businessmen which includes Sir David Murray, Sir Tom Farmer and Brian Souter has taken this step in order to help the bank to expand its business and to lend more for the small businesses.

The Credit Agricole bank of France has reported a sharp rise in its profits in the first six months of this year despite of the impact of debt crisis of Greece on the bank.

As per the report, the net profit for the French bank has grown up to 849 million euros in the first six months in this year. This profit was seen despite of a 379 million euros loss in its Greek banking operation, Emporiki.

The net profit of the Credit Agricole bank stood at 379 million euros in the second quarter of this year which was up by 90% compared to the same time period of last year.

With the restructured savings by households, there is a probability that there would be persistent expansion, for the banks have augmented the lending business and the Companies have become all the more ready to hire.

There is finally someone who claims that they have got all the tools to avert the U. S. economy from dawdling back into recession. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has asserted that “The issue at this stage is not whether we have the tools to help support economic activity and guard against disinflation. We do”.

Royal Bank of Scotland ended its multi-million-pounds sponsorship of The Open Championship, the world’s top golf tournament after nine years.

The move reflects the pressure RBS facing due to the public money it owe to the taxpayer. It may be noted here that the taxpayer had pump billions of pounds to bail the bank out at the peak of economic crisis in 2008.

The sponsorship of The Open Championship was costing the bank around 1.5 million pounds per year.

The London branch of the Societe Generale bank of France has been fined with 1.575 million pounds as it failed to provide correct transaction reports of the bank accounts of its customers.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has said that the French bank Societe Generale had not submitted correct information for its 80% of transactions in last two years.

FSA has described this fault of the Societe Generale as a serious breach. On the other hand, the bank has said that it had already taken some necessary steps to correct the fault.

The report by the Mortgage Bankers Association has highlighted that on the whole there has been a fall in the delinquencies and the foreclosures. Further, the loans of 90days+ pools have also dropped. As per the MBA, the decline has been due to lesser loans that have been issued, the home buyer tax credit, the amendments and the bank repossessions.

Further, it is also feared by the MBA that in case the prevalent employment scenario does not improve and gain some momentum, an increase in the new delinquencies could be witnessed.

Andrew November, a former fixed income specialist, has been selected as Director of equities by Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, a fund management business, for carrying out its equities operation.

The responsibilities of Mr. November will include guiding and directing the teams in managing portfolios of the UK and international equities. In short, he will shoulder the task of investment philosophy and procedure.

There have been concerns of British banks following the flawed rules, which erupted with the complaint of Tim Bush, a Senior Accountant and a member of the Urgent Issues Task Force.

Taking a step as a part of cutting 2,000 jobs all across the United Kingdom, the Royal Bank of Scotland will be seen closing a call centre located in Cardiff.

The Tyndall Street office is likely to close by the middle of the year 2012 and the 257 staff members have been informed about redundancies and that relocation could be taken up as an option.

The changes, when in effect, will see the shutting down of 14 of the 27 offices across the UK.

Recently, Royal Bank of Scotland Chief Executive Stephen Hester said in a panel session at the Glasgow University, “If a man has pneumonia you don’t cut off his leg”. He said the same on the issue of regulations and the economy.

Post his comments, the Chief was lashed out by the Opposition politicians last night.

Staff at the Royal Bank of Scotland has been advised to work from home, fearing further attacks by climate activists on its headquarters.

On Sunday, two women were reportedly arrested following an attack on the Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) Edinburgh headquarters by the climate change protesters.

The attack, launched by protesters, showcases agitation towards RBS' investment in oil industry developments across the world. The attack was launched after they marked a day of "mass action" against the bank.