The Bradford & Bingley, Co-operative bank and First Direct have today raised the cost of their fixed rate mortgages as Banks find it increasingly difficult to raise finance to fund mortgage deals. The Co-op saw the biggest rise as they increased their rates between 0.7% and 0.9%. The move by these three banks now takes the average cost of a fixed rate mortgage to over 7%. (more…)

HBOS’s £4bn rights issue looks under pressure as once again the shares dipped below the 275p issue price. UBS has raised concerns that the Banks mortgage arrears will increase over the second half of the year. Also a US hedge fund has declared its short position in the stock, showing that it has bet that the share price will fall. (more…)

The FTSE fell 104 points (1.78%) to end the day at 5,723.30 amid fears that the UK economy is heading for even tougher times. Leading the charge south were the banking stocks with HBOS closing 11.64% lower at 258p. This leaves the share price lower than existing investors have been offered shares as part of the £4bn rights issue. Royal Bank of Scotland was also hit, falling 9% to close at 212.25p. (more…)

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will annouce that over 90% of its shareholders have signed up for its £12bn rights issue. With growing negativity in the banking sector following recent bad news, including a poor set of results from the Bradford & Bingley, there had been concerns that investors would shy away from the rights issue. (more…)

Following what happened to Northern Rock, Alistair Darling has been quick to stress that depositors money is safe at the Bradford and Bingley. The announcement came as the mortgage bank with a significant exposure to the buy-to-let sector announced an £8m pre-tax loss for the first four months of the year. The result compares to a £108m profit for the same period last year. (more…)

Bradford and Bingley chief executive Stephen Crawshaw, is to step down from the roll for health reasons - a serious cardiovascular condition. He will be replaced by the Chairman Rod Kent until a longer term successor is found. (more…)

Scottish Widows has been accused of giving negligent advice that has resulted in total losses of around £300m for 100 pension schemes. A dossier of evidence has been sent to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for them to review by an organisation called the Actuarial Review Company (Arc). (more…)