The Alliance and Leicester is advising its shareholders to approve the proposed takeover by Santander to avoid major risks to the business in the future.
A letter has been sent to all Alliance and Leicester shareholders from the chairman explaining that shareholder support would protect them from exposure to the economic slowdown that is hitting many financial institutions. He quoted external factors that are by definition out of the banks control.
The takeover of the Alliance and Leicester is set to go ahead in October, creating a much larger organisation that would be responsible for around ten percent of all the current accounts in the UK.
Barclays saw a drop in profits of a third for the first half of the year, with write downs impacting seriously on the bottom line. Barclays Insurance though, a division of the bank, performed very well.
The bank still made profits of GBP2.75 billion despite the write downs and, even though the bank itself was disappointed, industry analysts felt this was better than could have been expected. Other financial institutions have suffered much more dramatic cuts than Barclays, insurance and other sectors helping support the bank.
Looking forwards the Barclays management team are expecting trading conditions to remain testing and are advising the market that it could be some time before they are back to previous levels of profitability. Barclays Insurance, having performed very well, may actually see some parts of it sold to bolster the balance sheet.
Abbey National has announced the introduction of 2 new student bank accounts, one aimed specifically at those from other countries coming to the UK to study.
The international student account that Abbey National has introduced pays interest of 6 percent on credit balances up to GBP500, no charge for the presentation of foreign cheques and an opening balance required of just GBP5.
The other student bank account is aimed squarely at the regular student market, with the key aspect being the overdraft, which steps up each year to a maximum of GBP2000. Credit balances are rewarded with an interest payment of 4 percent per annum and the Abbey National are kindly offering to fund part of the Freshers Ball with a cash payment upon opening the account of GBP50.
