BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

[Tizer]

It reminds me of the name that was always on the Reader's Digest letters with offers and competitions - was it something like Tom Champagne?

[Stanley]

The area head of Rentokil round here used to Mr Bug........

[Tizer]

When I worked in cereal science we met up with more Groats, Barleys, Millets and Rices than we would expect!

[Stanley]

I have a friend who is a Jesuit priest. When he finished training he insisted on going back to his home in the Philippines so he could be ordained by Cardinal Sin.

[Tizer]

Coincidentally I saw a comment in the paper last week about a religious group that wanted to recruit more choristers. It ran an advert that must not have been checked - it read: `If you like to sin please come and join us!'

[Pluggy]

The technical term is Aptronym for people whose professions or character match their name. Fairly rare in real life but common in fiction (Think Wacky races or anything by Ian Fleming).

Many bible characters are aptromyms in its native Hebrew or Greek which point to it being fiction rather than literal.

Hmmm biblical scholarship in a Banks conspiracy thread do I get the prize for most off-topic post ever ?

[Tizer]

Hmmm biblical scholarship in a Banks conspiracy thread do I get the prize for most off-topic post ever ?

Yes, especially when you've mixed it with Wacky Races and Ian Fleming!

[Stanley]

Lovely post Pluggy and I didn't know that word.... Off piste is good!
Did you see THIS BBC report and Panorama last night about the poor buggers who had mortgages with Northern Rock and have been ripped off by the American private equity sharks who bought the debts? Do we think the government will do anything about it? Why wasn't the sale document watertight? Don't bother answering, it would have lowered the price.

[Tizer]

I know I'm repeating myself but I think selling debts should be outlawed. If you choose to borrow money from someone then the debt should not be transferable to someone else unless you approve of it. You should at least be given the opportunity to choose someone else to replace the initial creditor.

[Tripps]

I think selling debts should be outlawed

I agree. I thought I was the only one to hold that view. When you go into a debt - a major factor is the 'previous' of the lender. For that to change there should be consent on both sides. However - fat chance.

[Stanley]

Under accountancy rules, unpaid debts are quite rightly classed as an asset and for that reason their sale can't be abolished without injustice to say a firm in administration. However, I totally agree that the present position is unfair to the debtor and would like to see far more stringent conditions imposed on the buyer. Some companies of course regularly sell debt as a way of cleaning their accounts up. Hence the activities of High Court Bailiffs. Another closely related field wide open to abuse is the matter of a land company selling leases. There are some terrible cases of leaseholders being held to ransom for exorbitant 'management charges'. This also needs urgent attention.
The assumption used to be that debt-holders were honourable people and not prone to sharp practice. I'm afraid we can forget that in today's society!
I see the problem in the current case of the Northern Rock mortgage holders as being entirely due to very badly drawn-up contracts. They contained a clause intended to assure the debtors that the interest rates would revert to current levels but no sanctions to enable this to be enforced. This omission made the sale price more attractive to the buyer and suited the liquidators. More dosh for the Lads!

[Tizer]

£75 million...!!!
`Persimmon boss to leave after 'distraction' over pay' LINK
`The boss of Persimmon Jeff Fairburn is to leave after a row over his £75m pay award. Persimmon said he left by "mutual agreement and at the request of the company". It said the issue was having a "negative impact" on the firm's reputation and on "Jeff's ability to continue in his role". Last month Mr Fairburn walked away from a BBC interview when asked about his pay. "I'd rather not talk about that," he told a BBC reporter when asked in October about the pay award....
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With the US elections and Brexit it's a good time to sneak out bad news. I saw this as a tiny piece hidden in The Times but I hadn't seen it elsewhere until I found this in an online search. Note that it is the European Banking Authority, not simply the UK regulator...
`Barclays Fares Worst in Europe Bank Stress Tests' LINK
`Barclays Plc was the worst performer among 48 banks in Europe’s toughest stress test yet, underscoring the vulnerability of U.K. lenders to weak growth, credit losses and Brexit. Fellow British lender Lloyds Banking Group Plc didn’t fare much better in the test, with a key measure of financial health falling sharply in the most adverse scenario envisioned by supervisors. The British banks fared worse than German lenders such as Deutsche Bank AG and counterparts in Italy, which are grappling with a slump in the nation’s bonds amid turmoil sparked by its populist government...'

[Stanley]

I have been following the Persimmon story as well Tiz. Osborne's disastrous 'help to buy' policy has had many adverse consequences and this is one of them. What strikes me is that the company have lost a man who was evidently good at his job and who, I suspect, was as surprised as anyone else when the possibility of the £100million bonus was raised (he gave £25million back). I hesitate to join in the almost universal excoriation of him but reserve that for the other directors who set the policy and have admitted it was a mistake. As far as I know they are all still in post....
The EU Bank Stress Test. Good work Tiz. I heard a brief mention of it on R4 a few days ago but nothing since. What I have heard repeatedly is money market insiders on BBC business news voicing apprehension about the amount of dodgy loans that are out there, more than those that were a precursor to the 2008 melt-down.
What happens when a Bear Market breaks the longest continuous rise in stock prices in history? Is Brexit going to be the trigger?

[Tizer]

Persimmon bosses were in trouble in June too....LINK

[plaques]

The Persimmon Bosses only took advantage of a very poor scheme concocted by George Osborn and the Tory government. Any scheme that distorts the market by giving discounts can almost be guaranteed not to be totally transferred to the purchaser but a large slice will go to the seller. This was seen in the early days of house improvement grants where the seller would inflate his price because an improvement grant was available. Unfortunately, the Government will not put themselves in the dock and accept the blame for taking tax payers money and handing it over to companies who are all to willing to say "Thank you very much".

[Stanley]

Thanks for the link Tiz, I'f forgotten that episode.....
Dead right P. Fancy 'cunning wheeze' policies skewed by party ethics are always a mistake but the politicians don't seem to have got the message. I think I'm right to say that help to buy is still in force and skewing the market.

[Tizer]

Help to Buy is turning into a nightmare for many of those who took it. It is only available on new houses which encouraged young and/or less wealthy buyers to buy new rather than second-hand. This skewed the market and was a boon to the housebuilding companies. They knew the buyers were getting a subsidy so they pushed the prices up well above the normal market price. Since Help to Buy began the general housing market has been stagnant and those who used the scheme are now often the owners of houses that are worth less than when they bought them.

[Stanley]

Another good example of the Law of Unintended Consequences. I put Cameron's Catastrophe in the same class.
If I have understood correctly the BofE has been conducting a second stress test on banks. Simulating hacking attacks to see if they are well defended. I wonder if we will ever see the conclusions.....

[Tizer]

They'll be published at 07.00 on 5th December 2018 - the BofE says so. I don't often put links to the Bank on here! BofE

[Wendyf]

I don't understand why you can't delete a post Tiz, anyone should be able to delete their own posts and you should be able to delete any post you want to!

[Tizer]

Thanks for that Wendy. I went back and looked again - and realised I'd tried to do it the wrong way. I'd clicked Edit Post and there's a tick box at the bottom below the text window saying Delete Post. I tried that and it said I couldn't do it. Now I realise the X in the original post can be clicked to do the deleting. You've put me back on the right track, thank you!

[Wendyf]

Good!

[Stanley]

She's good isn't she! But her hedges are neglected at the moment!

[Tizer]

Give her a break, you can't expect her to look after us and to lay her hedges at the same time!

[Stanley]

She picked up her shears yesterday on the way to her widdershins walk. (It rained.....) I have more onions than I can poke a stick at in exchange. Colin was very supportive as usual.
While the bankers report healthy profits and more High Street closures the poor groan under the burden of Austerity. 'Sound management of the economy'?