european banks
December 28th, 2006
Britons living abroad tend to open an offshore bank account to help with their banking arrangements. You will also need to open a local bank account in Spain, but if you retain financial transactions in the UK, or wish to benefit from higher interest rates, then an offshore bank account ...
Continue reading Offshore Banking For British Expatriates
September 5th, 2008
Fitch Ratings has downgraded six sets of Spanish mortgage securities issued by Banco Santander, heightening concerns that the damage from Spain’s property crash is spreading to the country’s strongest lenders. The loans were “sliced and diced” and packaged in an identical way to sub-prime mortgage bonds in the US, belying claims ...
Continue reading Concern Over Spanish Bank Securities
September 22nd, 2008
Wall Street is in turmoil and the rest of the world looks on with trepidation. Thousands of miles away, banks across Europe are being forced to face up to the fact that there is more pain to come for them. Deciding which will be the last bank to collapse in ...
Continue reading European Banks Also Face More Pain
October 9th, 2008
Following recent events with banks in the US and UK, what will happen should your bank fail? Here is a summary of the various deposit compensation schemes in place in Spain, the UK and Ireland. Under the European Directive on Deposit Guarantee Schemes, European banks must provide a minimum guarantee level ...
Continue reading Safe as Houses – Bank Deposit Guarantee Schemes
April 27th, 2009
The International Monetary Fund fired off the latest round of criticism, lamenting in a report that coordination between EU countries on the financial crisis had been "far from optimal." Seven months into the worst financial crisis in generations, Europe is still coming under fire both from at home and internationally for ...
Continue reading IMF Comment: Europe Must Try Harder
June 24th, 2009
The pound managed to add a cent over the week but made heavy weather of it. Having risen to €1.1850 on Tuesday it was down almost to €1.16 by Thursday. It recovered quite easily and when London opened this morning it was back up to €1.1850. Underlying sterling's resilience last week ...
Continue reading Euro Weekly Update: June 24th 2009
April 14th, 2010
Buyers are back looking for holiday homes. Mortgage broker Conti Financial Services, which specialises in overseas mortgages, reports a big increase in mortgage applications and the busiest month for over a year. The foul winter in the UK has probably helped concentrate buyers’ minds on that place in the sun ...
Continue reading Holiday Home Bargains in Spain
June 18th, 2010
European policymakers sought to quash talk of a euro zone rescue for Spain on Tuesday as the country's borrowing costs rose further in a debt auction ahead of an EU summit to discuss steps to fix the currency bloc. A German government official said he did not think Spain, which was ...
Continue reading Spain Seeks to Calm Fears Over Bailout
June 29th, 2010
The Spanish government has refuted reports that it will seek to dip into the EU/IMF's €750 billion emergency fund. However there remain calls for greater disclosure of Spain’s financial difficulties. According to Raj Badiani, IHS Global Insight economist “the country's unlisted regional savings banks need to come clean about property debt-related ...
Continue reading Greater Financial Disclosure Called for Spain
July 5th, 2010
A crucial indication of whether European banks can be taken off "life support" from central banks will come this morning as the European Central Bank (ECB) offers refinancing for a €442bn loan that has kept the system afloat for the past year. Analysts reckon that if the ECB admits that banks ...
Continue reading European Banks Await News on Refinancing Package
