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About redpanda

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  1. http://www.bbalibor.com/panels/gbp Please find a complete list below for all the 16 banks that currently contribute to the fixing of Sterling bbalibor. This panel was last reviewed in May 2012. Abbey National plc Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd Barclays Bank plc BNP Paribas Citibank NA Credit Agricole CIB Deutsche Bank AG HSBC JP Morgan Chase Lloyds Banking Group Mizuho Corporate Bank Rabobank Royal Bank of Canada The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Société Générale UBS AG
  2. I live in Singapore, I noticed this great offer being promoted on the cash machine when I went to get some money out today: Usher in another year of growth with up to 0.628% pa on your savings You wonder why they don't mind accepting a tiny yield?
  3. It's not Halifax, is it? I had this exact same thing before where they tried to charge me for going overdrawn when clearly I hadn't. I just threatened to close the account and they backed down and cancelled the charge, that normally seems to work.
  4. My arguments come with the depth that comes from having worked in financial services in both London and HK, which I suspect most of the people on this thread have not. That aside, you misunderstand what I am saying. My point is that this could well be a defining moment for the UK, as the one remaining industry in which the UK has any kind of pre-eminent position enters a decline. One of the largest companies in the world is moving away from the UK, it seems perverse to be celebrating that fact. So what if HSBC benefited from a low interest rate policy? Didn't every other bank, every other person who borrowed money in the UK, the US, the Eurozone, Japan, etc, etc, etc? Does that mean they are all demonized? Did they all act recklessly? Or was it mainly Northern Rock, Halifax and RBS, plus of course Gordon Brown, that got us into this mess? This is a really, really bad sign for the UK, granted a reasonably small number of HSBC head office staff will lose their jobs, the Treasury will lose some tax revenues, I suspect the pound might take a hit in the markets on Monday, but that is trivial compared to what this really means. It means the UK is no longer perceived as a good place to do business, it is another sign of the shift of power from West to East and the UK's diminishing standing in the world. If I were still living in the UK, I would be really worried about this, your choice I guess.
  5. And how exactly does this apply to HSBC who never took a penny of bailout money from the UK government and employs thousands of people in the UK?
  6. The UK was ruined by Gordon Brown and his fake economic miracle, it's very convenient for politicians to blame banks for everything that happened on their watch, and judging by the comments here it seems some people have swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Without financial services, in what industry does the UK have a competitive advantage any more to lead it out of the mess it is in? Pound shops and Cash Converters?
  7. It's beyond belief that some people here are lauding this as a great thing. One of the biggest corporations in the world that employs thousands of people and pays taxes in the UK (and never received any government bailout) is moving overseas. How is the UK ever going to dig itself out of the massive hole it has created without private enterprise to support it? This is a significant milestone in the inexorable shift of power from West to East and the UK's terminal decline into a second world state, what cause is there for celebration? Do you think the HK people are looking at this as a disaster that HSBC is moving to their shores? And for those who cannot be bothered to do any of their own research, HK is a Special Administrative Region of China, it operates under a completely different system with its own legal system, own currency, own tax policy etc, etc. There are no "capital controls" here, HK is extremely open to free enterprise, that's why it tops the Index of Economic Freedom (http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking). You think the Chinese are going to interfere in HK and kill the goose that lays the golden eggs? HSBC relocating its head office here is great news for HK and it will be welcomed with open arms. And there are plenty of UK expats and "yummy mummies" over here already and I expect more and more will follow as the UK continues its steady decline. I've yet to find anyone who didn't love living here, but then of course to make any informed comments on HK it would help if you'd actually lived and worked here first.
  8. Moved to HK just over a year ago and it's the best thing I ever did, don't think I'm ever going back. Amazingly convenient lifestyle, great nightlife, loads of Brits to hang out with (and no chavs ever make it as far as here either), great travel opportunities, better weather (except the odd typhoon which means you don't have to go to work), taxis so cheap you can travel everywhere by cab if you feel like it, lots of beaches (believe it or not), swimming pool and gym just downstairs, short ferry ride to Macau - and, of course, ridiculously low income tax, and no NI, no council tax, no CGT. I paid my first tax bill last month and the amount was laughable, about what I used to pay in a month in the UK. Somebody above said some expats can't afford to move back to the UK - absolutely, if I went back I would be throwing away about 40-50k a year to subsidise other people's mortgages or let them sit at home watching Bargain Hunt, I really can't afford to do that. Only problem is housing is definitely not cheap here, even by UK standards, but at least it's tax deductible. Singapore is a similar deal, just a lot hotter and better spoken English. The UK has been extremely blasé about the prospect of people moving overseas in greater numbers to Asia, Switzerland etc and the attitude seems to be "we don't want those people anyway" (e.g. financial services employees, hedge funds). The fact is that from my experience the people who are moving overseas tend to be the higher earners, and those tax revenues will be lost forever, leaving less and less money to subsidise those who choose not to work as a lifestyle choice, and whatever position the UK still clings onto in the world is already almost gone. I can only see things getting much worse over there once the cuts really bite hard. Sad really.
  9. They are re-building their balance sheet - article states pre-tax profit (i.e. after salary/bonus) forecast at 5.8bn v dividend of 570m, which equates to several billion of retained profit. Returns to shareholders are not just in the form of dividends but also in retained profit / increased share price. Some companies never pay a dividend but people still invest in them.
  10. Some brilliant reading :- …and lenders generally remain prudent Despite high levels of debt most lenders and borrowers remain more prudent than in the eighties. Most lenders appear to have learned the lessons of the past with the proportion of lending above 95% of the value of the property currently half the level of the eighties. At some stage this will limit the headroom for price growth particularly in London and the South East and naturally slow the market. Borrowers should not be encouraged to over-stretch themselves in spite of low mortgage rates and buoyant economic conditions.
  11. The thing is, that £700bn never really existed in the first place. What were we going to do, sell the whole country to realize the money? Let's all be glad that some sanity is finally returning to this country. I'm also totally in cash, ready to buy a place at a moment's notice. I haven't lost a bean, so some other poor mug's lost my £40k. I'm not concerned about inflation at all, who cares if things like bread etc get a bit more expensive when you're making £2-3k a month by simply not buying a house? The sweet spot to buy will come, but I doubt it will be this year. Just keep saving away, the time is gradually getting closer.
  12. A house is not a financial instrument and she's not giving mortgage advice so I doubt there's any legal implications here, AFAIK FSMA doesn't apply.
  13. And where can you get £1500pm rent on a £200k place? We are a long way from being near to that, if it ever happens, sounds more like the kind of things Inside Track used to claim. I remember being told once that about 9% was required to be a sustainable yield, so your % is probably about right. But for your model to work we need to be right at or near the bottom of the cycle. I think we're still a long way away from "a modest 2% a year" increase in prices, so my money's staying put for now.
  14. It's also illegal in this country too... http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/public/market_abuse.pdf
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