United Kingdom
Favoured Rock bid would repay £11 billion
The preferred bid for Northern Rock, led by the Virgin group of companies, would repay £11 billion-worth ($22.7 billion) of the beleaguered mortgage lender's Bank of England debt.
Poor data raises chances of UK rate cut
Worse-than-expected growth and woeful housing statistics have increased the likelihood that the Bank of England will move to cut rates next month.
Consumption and income link strengthens in slump
Private consumption is more sensitive to changes in disposable income during recessions, research published by the Bank of England finds.
Lomax on current monetary policy issues
Rachel Lomax, the deputy governor responsible for monetary policy at the Bank of England, delivered the following speech on Thursday night:
UK's Gieve surprises with rate cut vote
Sir John Gieve, the deputy governor at the Bank of England responsible for financial stability, was one of two dissenters who voted for a rate cut at the monetary policy committee's November meeting, minutes published on Wednesday reveal.
A troubling lesson of Northern Rock
The Northern Rock crisis has revealed a fundamental change in the nature of bank runs, says Robert Pringle, the editor of Central Banking journal.
UK regulator sticks to stance despite Rock run
Britain's head regulator defended the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) principles-based approach, saying that it offers the "best chance" of balancing "the benefits and risks of innovation."
Further fall in Northern Rock shares
Northern Rock shares dropped further on Tuesday from 104p ($2.14) to 95p at the close after losing almost a fifth of their value on Monday. The drop follows comments by the British chancellor and rumours that one of the bids tabled for the troubled…
Northern Rock stock falls on bid comments
Shares in Northern Rock, the mortgage lender, plummeted 19% on Monday after it revealed takeover bids were worth less than the company's stock market value at the Friday close.
Mervyn King and Northern Rock
The question of Mervyn King's reappointment as governor of the Bank of England has become inextricably linked to the saga of Northern Rock, says Robert Pringle, the editor of Central Banking journal.
US subprime conditions set to worsen - Kroszner
Randall Kroszner, a governor of the Federal Reserve, warned on Friday that conditions in the US mortgage market had yet to reach rock bottom. Speaking in New York, Kroszner said that there were two reasons why he believed market conditions would worsen:…
We're half-way to normal, says UK's King
Presenting the Bank of England's Inflation Report for November, Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank, said that key indicators of stress in financial markets had recovered partly from the levels reached in August and September but that the situation was…
Scrap agencies' role in Basel: ex-UK rate-setter
Basel II needs to go back to the drawing board before it is even out of the blocks because of rating agencies' influence in the framework, says Willem Buiter, a former member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, now a professor at the…
UK business group backs SWF rules
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the United Kingdom's largest business association, has said that sovereign wealth funds should be subject to the same code of self regulation that is being proposed for private equity firms.
Stability needs reliable systems: BoE's Jenkinson
The resilience of wholesale payment, clearing and settlement systems to both operational and financial shocks remains a key requirement of financial and monetary stability, says Nigel Jenkinson, the executive director responsible for financial stability…
Bank of England holds rates at 5.75%
The Bank of England's rate-setting board voted on Thursday to keep its benchmark bank rate at 5.75%.
City wants to keep King
City of London bankers and economists have said they want Mervyn King, the beleaguered governor of the Bank of England, to serve a second term.
UK will come out of this stronger: King
Britain will have the best regulatory regime in the world by mid-2008 as a result of the Northern Rock crisis, according to Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England.
UK regulator set to clamp down on hedge funds
The Financial Services Authority, the British financial regulator, said on Monday that it will formally assess hedge funds after an initial survey found market abuse prevention in some funds to be poor.
Old Lady could get more privacy under new rules
The Bank of England could soon be able to rescue troubled lenders in secret as a result of the recent Northern Rock crisis.
UK funds unlikely to have helped in crisis
Alistair Darling, the UK chancellor of the exchequer, implied on Thursday that injecting funds into the money markets would have done little to lessen the impact of the subprime crisis in the UK.
New shocks may emerge, Old Lady warns
Holders of stock, commercial real estate and the US dollar could be the next victims of the banking crisis, the Bank of England predicted in the latest edition of its financial stability report.
UK business view used to judge economic impact
Kate Barker, a member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, will use business surveys and housing market indicators to judge whether the downside risks to the UK's inflation outlook have increased.
Bank of England reports on the crisis
The Bank of England has acknowledged that the recent banking crisis has revealed that the UK's financial authorities need to strengthen their crisis management arrangements.