14 September 2007 – Northern Rock begins receiving financial support from the Bank of England in the form of a £27 billion loan to stop it from collapse.
17 February 2008 - Northern Rock taken into public ownership and £27 billion loan is transferred from the Bank of England to the Government.
September 2008 – HBOS and Lloyds TSB announce they are to merge
13 October 2008 – The Government pumps £37 billion into Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB in return for shares in the banks. RBS gets £20 billion while the now Lloyds Banking Group gets £17 billion (split between the then Lloyds TSB and HBOS). With 26 million households in Britain, the bailout of these banks is equivalent to £1,500 for every home in the country.
19 January 2009 – The Government announces it will underwrite the risky loans of any banks who apply for help in an Asset Protection Scheme
26 February 2009 – RBS applies to Asset Protection Scheme for £325 billions of assets to be insured by Government, in return it pays a fee of £25.5 billion in shares.
7 March 2009 – Lloyds Banking Group applies to Asset Protection Scheme for £260 billion of assets to be insured by Government. It pays the Government a fee of £15.6 billion in shares.
11 June 2009 – Lloyds Banking Group buys back some of the shares owned by the Government, reducing the Government’s stake in the bank to £14.7 billion.
3 November 2009 – Lloyds announces it will not need the Asset Protection Scheme. The bank raises capital of £21 billion by selling more shares. The Government says it will buy £5.7 billion stake in bank.
RBS said it would reduce the amount insured under the Asset Protection Scheme to £282 billion. The Government pumps £25.5 billion in cash into RBS and said it would provide a further £8 billion if needed.
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Banks bailout - time to give back our money!
I am sure most of us remember last year when banks needed some financial assistance from the taxpayer via the Labour governement who expects the long term cost to the taxpayer of the bank bailouts to be between £20 billion and £50 billion.
But it could be as high as £1 trillion if all the guarantees and insurances were used in full.
And thats just in the UK. President Obama annouced his intentions to try to get some of the US funds back from banks trading in the US by creating a 0.15% bank tax - this is expected to clawback $90billion back from the banks over ten years and back into taxpayers pockets stateside. Full story available here courtesy of The Independant
Back in the UK, Alistair Darling say No! Not in Britain will we use this method. He is very good at saying no, but not so great in explaining exactly how he plans to get back the billions of pounds that the banks borrowed.... Full Story courtesy of The Telegraph
How and When will the government hold the banks to account for not meeting the committments they made when they borrowed over £20 billion from British taxpayers?
They can afford to pay out billions in bonuses for their 'successes', so why not pay your debts as well Mr Lloyds, Mr Royal Bank of Scotland and others?
But it could be as high as £1 trillion if all the guarantees and insurances were used in full.
And thats just in the UK. President Obama annouced his intentions to try to get some of the US funds back from banks trading in the US by creating a 0.15% bank tax - this is expected to clawback $90billion back from the banks over ten years and back into taxpayers pockets stateside. Full story available here courtesy of The Independant
Back in the UK, Alistair Darling say No! Not in Britain will we use this method. He is very good at saying no, but not so great in explaining exactly how he plans to get back the billions of pounds that the banks borrowed.... Full Story courtesy of The Telegraph
How and When will the government hold the banks to account for not meeting the committments they made when they borrowed over £20 billion from British taxpayers?
They can afford to pay out billions in bonuses for their 'successes', so why not pay your debts as well Mr Lloyds, Mr Royal Bank of Scotland and others?
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Charlie Brooker at his best
Courtesy of the Guardian - you got to love Charlie Brooker!! some of his best writing...
There's no hope left for Labour – apart, perhaps, from hopelessness itself Brown might as well go for broke with his election pledges – free croissants it is
Charlie Brooker The Guardian, Monday 11 January 2010 Article
So then. Following a half-hearted coup attempt, which turned out to be the equivalent of Hoon and Hewitt trying to assassinate their target by firing a rubber band at his head as he walked past the tuckshop – bookmakers say there is currently 25% less chance of Labour winning the general election than there is of Kevin Keegan inexplicably giving birth to a horse on St Swithin's Day. The Conservatives don't have to do much except wait patiently, gliding toward 6 May like a baleen whale with its mouth flapping open, lazily preparing to inhale an acre of krill. Unless David Cameron holds a live televised press conference at which he pulls his fleshy mask off to reveal he's been Darren Day all along, they've got it in the bag.
Even a preposterous advertising campaign can't dent the Tories. All over London, billboards depict Cameron looking you in the eye with an expression of genteel concern, accompanied by the slogan "We can't go on like this". To the observer, the overall effect is that of a man trying to wriggle out of an unfulfilling sexual relationship without hurting your feelings. Or maybe a boss who's called you into his office for a passive-aggressive talking-to. Would you vote for that? Not normally, no. But when the opposition is a flock of startled, shrieking hens, your range of options shrinks drastically.
But perhaps there's still a glimmer of hope for Labour. I recently watched several episodes of a high-quality US comedy-drama serial called Breaking Bad. The storyline revolves around an underachieving, debt-ridden 50-year-old chemistry teacher who discovers he's got terminal cancer. But wait, it gets funnier. Realising he has absolutely nothing to lose, he decides to become a crystal meth dealer in an insane last-ditch attempt to provide financial support for his family when he's gone. Cue plenty of pitch-black hi-jinks.
It's a good show. It's also a road map for Labour. The party's condition is similarly terminal, so it might as well go for broke by announcing a series of demented and ill-advised election pledges in an openly desperate bid to retain power. Who knows? It might just work. And if it's having a hard time choosing some make-or-break policies, I'll be only too happy to provide a list. Starting now.
Pledge 1: promise to govern while wearing spandex leotards like they do on Hole in the Wall if elected.
On the face of it, this sounds terrible. No one wants to see David Miliband rising to his feet in a silver bodysuit so tight you can make out every facet of his groin in topographic detail. They don't even want to read that description of it. But while it might be hard on our eyes, it would be uncomfortable and humiliating for the MPs. And think about it: they have to wear it every day for at least four years. They're not allowed to take them off either, so by the end of the term the House of Commons would reek. I'd vote for that. Come on, it would be funny.
Suggested campaign poster: Ed Balls in horribly tight leotard. Slogan: "SEE BALLS PUSH FOR GLORY."
Plesdge 2: Tudor-style execution of Simon Cowell.
This would be desperately unfair on Cowell, who would be arrested, held in the Tower of London, and beheaded on live television should Labour get back in. No matter how low your opinion of Britain's Got Talent, the man has clearly done nothing to deserve that kind of extreme treatment. But extreme treatment grabs headlines. And the recent Christmas chart triumph of Rage Against the Machine over Joe McElderry's X Factor single indicates a hitherto-untapped, steadily expanding groundswell of anti-Cowell discontent which a cynical and desperate party could exploit for its own nefarious ends. Barbaric and cynical, yes – but on balance marginally more humane than scapegoating an entire minority and establishing death camps or anything quite as horrible like that.
Poster: Photoshop of Cowell's head on pole. Slogan: "BRITAIN'S GOT PAYBACK."
Plesdge 3: free warm croissants on buses.
Yes it's lame, but it'll get people talking far more than yet another dull promise about education spending or the like. Not only can the voter imagine it actually happening, they can virtually smell it in their mind's nose. And that feels good during a cold snap. Come on, Labour. Go for it!
Poster: mouth-watering close-up of warm croissant. Slogan: "MMMM!"
Pledge 4: let the country exit with a bang.
Let's face it, no matter what we do the environment's knackered, the deficit's insurmountable, and Britain's Got Talent will return in the summer. The future's bleak, so rather than face it, why not encourage the entire nation to go out in a frenzy of nihilistic excess? Step one: legalise everything. Step two: sell all remaining national assets to the Chinese. Step three: spend everything we have on chocolate pudding, narcotics and sex toys. Step four: announce the beginning of a year-long mass public orgy during which absolutely anything goes and participation is compulsory. Step five: on New Year's Eve, we congregate naked around a massive bomb and nuke ourselves out of history for ever.
Poster: an explicit orgy photo. Slogan: "HEY, WE MIGHT AS WELL."
Anyway, there you go. One or more are probably worth a try. In Breaking Bad, the protagonist uses his grim predicament as the catalyst for a string of crazy actions that leave him feeling more alive than ever. Perhaps embracing an equally hopeless situation with similarly mad gusto is the only actual hope Labour has left.
There's no hope left for Labour – apart, perhaps, from hopelessness itself Brown might as well go for broke with his election pledges – free croissants it is
Charlie Brooker The Guardian, Monday 11 January 2010 Article
So then. Following a half-hearted coup attempt, which turned out to be the equivalent of Hoon and Hewitt trying to assassinate their target by firing a rubber band at his head as he walked past the tuckshop – bookmakers say there is currently 25% less chance of Labour winning the general election than there is of Kevin Keegan inexplicably giving birth to a horse on St Swithin's Day. The Conservatives don't have to do much except wait patiently, gliding toward 6 May like a baleen whale with its mouth flapping open, lazily preparing to inhale an acre of krill. Unless David Cameron holds a live televised press conference at which he pulls his fleshy mask off to reveal he's been Darren Day all along, they've got it in the bag.
Even a preposterous advertising campaign can't dent the Tories. All over London, billboards depict Cameron looking you in the eye with an expression of genteel concern, accompanied by the slogan "We can't go on like this". To the observer, the overall effect is that of a man trying to wriggle out of an unfulfilling sexual relationship without hurting your feelings. Or maybe a boss who's called you into his office for a passive-aggressive talking-to. Would you vote for that? Not normally, no. But when the opposition is a flock of startled, shrieking hens, your range of options shrinks drastically.
But perhaps there's still a glimmer of hope for Labour. I recently watched several episodes of a high-quality US comedy-drama serial called Breaking Bad. The storyline revolves around an underachieving, debt-ridden 50-year-old chemistry teacher who discovers he's got terminal cancer. But wait, it gets funnier. Realising he has absolutely nothing to lose, he decides to become a crystal meth dealer in an insane last-ditch attempt to provide financial support for his family when he's gone. Cue plenty of pitch-black hi-jinks.
It's a good show. It's also a road map for Labour. The party's condition is similarly terminal, so it might as well go for broke by announcing a series of demented and ill-advised election pledges in an openly desperate bid to retain power. Who knows? It might just work. And if it's having a hard time choosing some make-or-break policies, I'll be only too happy to provide a list. Starting now.
Pledge 1: promise to govern while wearing spandex leotards like they do on Hole in the Wall if elected.
On the face of it, this sounds terrible. No one wants to see David Miliband rising to his feet in a silver bodysuit so tight you can make out every facet of his groin in topographic detail. They don't even want to read that description of it. But while it might be hard on our eyes, it would be uncomfortable and humiliating for the MPs. And think about it: they have to wear it every day for at least four years. They're not allowed to take them off either, so by the end of the term the House of Commons would reek. I'd vote for that. Come on, it would be funny.
Suggested campaign poster: Ed Balls in horribly tight leotard. Slogan: "SEE BALLS PUSH FOR GLORY."
Plesdge 2: Tudor-style execution of Simon Cowell.
This would be desperately unfair on Cowell, who would be arrested, held in the Tower of London, and beheaded on live television should Labour get back in. No matter how low your opinion of Britain's Got Talent, the man has clearly done nothing to deserve that kind of extreme treatment. But extreme treatment grabs headlines. And the recent Christmas chart triumph of Rage Against the Machine over Joe McElderry's X Factor single indicates a hitherto-untapped, steadily expanding groundswell of anti-Cowell discontent which a cynical and desperate party could exploit for its own nefarious ends. Barbaric and cynical, yes – but on balance marginally more humane than scapegoating an entire minority and establishing death camps or anything quite as horrible like that.
Poster: Photoshop of Cowell's head on pole. Slogan: "BRITAIN'S GOT PAYBACK."
Plesdge 3: free warm croissants on buses.
Yes it's lame, but it'll get people talking far more than yet another dull promise about education spending or the like. Not only can the voter imagine it actually happening, they can virtually smell it in their mind's nose. And that feels good during a cold snap. Come on, Labour. Go for it!
Poster: mouth-watering close-up of warm croissant. Slogan: "MMMM!"
Pledge 4: let the country exit with a bang.
Let's face it, no matter what we do the environment's knackered, the deficit's insurmountable, and Britain's Got Talent will return in the summer. The future's bleak, so rather than face it, why not encourage the entire nation to go out in a frenzy of nihilistic excess? Step one: legalise everything. Step two: sell all remaining national assets to the Chinese. Step three: spend everything we have on chocolate pudding, narcotics and sex toys. Step four: announce the beginning of a year-long mass public orgy during which absolutely anything goes and participation is compulsory. Step five: on New Year's Eve, we congregate naked around a massive bomb and nuke ourselves out of history for ever.
Poster: an explicit orgy photo. Slogan: "HEY, WE MIGHT AS WELL."
Anyway, there you go. One or more are probably worth a try. In Breaking Bad, the protagonist uses his grim predicament as the catalyst for a string of crazy actions that leave him feeling more alive than ever. Perhaps embracing an equally hopeless situation with similarly mad gusto is the only actual hope Labour has left.
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Flood prevention in Worcester Park?
Would be good to get an idea on flooding prevention from London Borough of Sutton regarding potential issues at the bottom of Worcester Park.
Suggestion: clear the existing flood drainage ditch of trees, branches and other rubbish asap as when the snow melts you just know that its going to start raining. With a combination of rain plus the run-off of the melting snows Green Lane is going to be the new borough saling centre....
Suggestion: clear the existing flood drainage ditch of trees, branches and other rubbish asap as when the snow melts you just know that its going to start raining. With a combination of rain plus the run-off of the melting snows Green Lane is going to be the new borough saling centre....
Clawback Bankers Bonuses
My first 'hot' topic.... bankers bonuses!!
The world's biggest investment banks are expected to pay out more than £40 billion in salaries and bonuses in the next two weeks, reinforcing the view that it is business as usual on Wall Street and in the City barely a year since the taxpayer bailout of the banking system.
This annoys me when the current Labour government laid out the following four basic prinicples on renumeration:
1. Rewards for failure are not appropriate;
2. Bonus payments should be based on long-term sustainable performance;
3. Bonuses should be designed to shape future performance and thus be subject to appropriate clawback; and
4. The regulator will take bank renumeration policy into account when supervising a bank.
These principles were published by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on August 12th 2009.
The Treasury tells me that the main banks now owned by the taxpayer are managed by UK Finanical Investments Limited (UKFI) which is wholly owned by the government. The letter from the Treasury goes on to say that UKFI is working with the banks to ensure that they offer incentives based on the Governments renumeration principles and to protect the interest of the taxpayer.
On 30th September 2009, Alistair Darling announced that the UK's top five banks have committed to leading the way in implementing reforms to renumeration agreed at the G20 Leaders Summit in Pittsburgh. The banks have confirmed their commitment to comply with the FSA code on renumeration, which came into force on January 1st 2010 and which is in line with the G20 agreement.
Furthermore, the banks are committed to implementing important enhancements in disclosure, deferral and clawback with effect from 1st January, 2010 for performance year 2009.
So in Summary
The banks agreed to the main four principles.
The banks failed to perform in a way that they could continue to operate without a bailout of billions of pounds of support from the taxpayer.
Alistair Darling announced a 'super-tax' on a one off basis to discourage massive bonus payouts.
It appears that the bankers will not be paying this tax, but most of this supertax will be paid by the banks ie by taxpayers.
So not only do the bankers receive bonuses for failure, the taxpayer pays the tax on the bonus on their behalf.
My Recommendation
By all means calculate the bonuses due to be paid to the bankers for performance in 2009 but put a hold on ALL payments to senior bankers until they have repaid the money that they borrowed from the taxpayer. When they no longer need state assistance and have been able to run their businesses in a positive manner, surely only then would they be able to say 'we have performed well on a long-term sustainable basis' and only then should they receive any bonuses.
In the meantime, any bonuses paid for performance in 2009 are subject to claw backs as per the committment from the banks themselves. I say claw them back NOW!!
Discussion welcomed....
The world's biggest investment banks are expected to pay out more than £40 billion in salaries and bonuses in the next two weeks, reinforcing the view that it is business as usual on Wall Street and in the City barely a year since the taxpayer bailout of the banking system.
This annoys me when the current Labour government laid out the following four basic prinicples on renumeration:
1. Rewards for failure are not appropriate;
2. Bonus payments should be based on long-term sustainable performance;
3. Bonuses should be designed to shape future performance and thus be subject to appropriate clawback; and
4. The regulator will take bank renumeration policy into account when supervising a bank.
These principles were published by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on August 12th 2009.
The Treasury tells me that the main banks now owned by the taxpayer are managed by UK Finanical Investments Limited (UKFI) which is wholly owned by the government. The letter from the Treasury goes on to say that UKFI is working with the banks to ensure that they offer incentives based on the Governments renumeration principles and to protect the interest of the taxpayer.
On 30th September 2009, Alistair Darling announced that the UK's top five banks have committed to leading the way in implementing reforms to renumeration agreed at the G20 Leaders Summit in Pittsburgh. The banks have confirmed their commitment to comply with the FSA code on renumeration, which came into force on January 1st 2010 and which is in line with the G20 agreement.
Furthermore, the banks are committed to implementing important enhancements in disclosure, deferral and clawback with effect from 1st January, 2010 for performance year 2009.
So in Summary
The banks agreed to the main four principles.
The banks failed to perform in a way that they could continue to operate without a bailout of billions of pounds of support from the taxpayer.
Alistair Darling announced a 'super-tax' on a one off basis to discourage massive bonus payouts.
It appears that the bankers will not be paying this tax, but most of this supertax will be paid by the banks ie by taxpayers.
So not only do the bankers receive bonuses for failure, the taxpayer pays the tax on the bonus on their behalf.
My Recommendation
By all means calculate the bonuses due to be paid to the bankers for performance in 2009 but put a hold on ALL payments to senior bankers until they have repaid the money that they borrowed from the taxpayer. When they no longer need state assistance and have been able to run their businesses in a positive manner, surely only then would they be able to say 'we have performed well on a long-term sustainable basis' and only then should they receive any bonuses.
In the meantime, any bonuses paid for performance in 2009 are subject to claw backs as per the committment from the banks themselves. I say claw them back NOW!!
Discussion welcomed....
Monday, 11 January 2010
Tweetminster Daily
Hello Tweeple, for all those politics heads out there, I came across this today and though what an interesting site... however, this is the first I've seen so will watch for a few days to determine levels of accuracy....
enjoy: RT @tweetminster: a tweetsummary of today's political news & analysis Tweetminster Daily
enjoy: RT @tweetminster: a tweetsummary of today's political news & analysis Tweetminster Daily
Google Calendar test
Sorry about this folks, am testing google calendar to see if it links through to here.... if it doesnt then I'll figure out another way..
sorry folks - had to remove the calendar - it works but am doing a bit more testing....
sorry folks - had to remove the calendar - it works but am doing a bit more testing....
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)