Tuesday 9 December 2008

UK Banks are "conflicted"

"To different degrees (UK) lenders are facing conflicting pressures to recapitalise against possible future losses, service government’s preference shareholdings at 12 per cent, pay a premium to access the Bank of England Special Liquidity Scheme, show forbearance to borrowers in arrears, follow base rate moves down to help their existing borrowers, keep savings rates high to support existing savers, and provide competitive rates to new borrowers and savers to maintain economic activity in a recession. And they are supposed to ensure their long term financial stability to help the UK economy rebuild itself when we are out of the recession."

Michael Coogan, director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders

I understand your confusion, Michael.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brown and the gang thrive on confusion.

It isn't meant to make sense.

Anonymous said...

Alice
You need to reference the source of this quote and ensure it is attributable.
Anon

Anonymous said...

Alice
You need to reference the source of this quote and ensure it is attributable.
Anon

Anonymous said...

No problem. It's all there in the CML press release.

http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/media/press/2044

CML seeks greater clarity as the lending slump continues.

JKA

Mark Wadsworth said...

Excellent summary.

Those who didn't take the taxpayer's shilling (Nationwide, HSBC and Barclays) ought to plough on regardless, and the other banks may as well throw in the towel, just put themselves into voluntary liquidation and be done with it.

DBC Reed said...

The Guv seems to want the banks to lend more partly to shore up property prices for the next election.GB wants to point to the green shoots of rampant house price inflation ( as normal)to keep the bribed-silly over-mortgaged masses on side electorally.The banks have to use their extra-parliamentary power to frustate all the political
parties.

Anonymous said...

Don't expect house prices to tank whilst Brown is in power.
The real drops will occur after he is gone.
Brown knows that without house price re-inflation, he is finished, so he will try every last trick in the book (and more besides,) to acheive that end.
Anyone with a brain, knows that this is just not sustainable and all Brown is doing now, is papering over some pretty big cracks and appeasing the masses NOW with tax cuts and cash handouts to buy votes.

Anonymous said...

The only way any of this makes any sense is if you consider that Brown is doing everything he possibly can to force all banks to national control.

He knows that by lowering interest rates people will eventually pull their money from the banks and invest elsewhere- often abroad in the cases of companies, pension funds and the wealthy. With a decreased deposit base and dried up money markets, the banks have two choices reduce lending to a minimum or approach the government for more help. Brown is deliberately pushing the banks towards this latter policy.

There are two things we can be sure of within the next 5 years - more high street banks will be nationalised, plans for our entry into the Euro will be well underway!

Anonymous said...

Although you could certainly view the situation as being contrived in order to force the UK into the Euro, I disagree that it is contrived for the simple reason...

Gordon Brown is an staggeringly incompetent buffoon.

Nick von Mises said...

If Brown couldn't prevented the meltdown he would have. But as noted he's a buffoon.

Eventually the public will realise the government isn't in control of this and never was, that the Great Moderation was a sham.

Our best hope is that the real economy recession deepens to offset a likely stock market rebound through to February, so that the Goblin King can't claim things have turned around and call a snap election

Mark Wadsworth said...

Markbaldy says "Don't expect house prices to tank whilst Brown is in power." He is 'in power' and they are tanking!

Rick - good points!

Anonymous said...

What a mess!