The OFT found that almost half of customers regularly go online to do their banking while only one in six people routinely visit their banks. One fifth of Britons have not set foot inside their bank for at least two years, research suggests.

Almost half (49%) of those surveyed by discount website MyVoucherCodes believe that bank branches will have vanished from the high street in 10 years’ time as internet banking continues to gain popularity.

Of the 19% consumers who had not visited their bank for two or more years, most said they had no need to do so, while a fifth said they had sent someone to their branch on their behalf.

Three-fifths (61%) of people across the survey said they use internet banking, while more than one third (36%) had a banking app downloaded on to their mobile phone.

Some 48% of almost 1,400 people surveyed said they sometimes use telephone banking.

The survey comes after research into banking habits recently published by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which is looking at how competition can be stepped up to make current account-switching easier.

The OFT found that almost half of customers regularly go online to do their banking while only one in six people routinely visit their banks.

Source- msn

In a speech in London’s ‘Square Mile’ financial district later, Mr Clegg will say there should be a restoration of spending powers to authorities in big cities across the country.

Without it, Britain will lose out on £41bn a year, he is set to claim.

“There can – and must – be more than one jewel in our crown.”

Mr Clegg will go on: “When you look at the UK’s economy, never forget that its highly-centralised design is as much the result of political choices as anything else.

“From the big bang right until what was a monumental crash, the Labour and Conservative governments of the day were so bewitched by London’s financial services that they squandered other industries and allowed other communities to wither.

“The previous government, in particular, recycled and redistributed City of London tax receipts to other parts of the country through the long arm of Whitehall.

“Emasculating the north and overburdening the south. Trying to prop up a nation of 100,000 square miles on the profits of just a single Square Mile.”

Source- Bbc

Environment First nations aim to capitalize on carbon in Great Bear Rainforest

Q&A How the Great Bear project is a leader in carbon offsets

B.C. to raise carbon tax, price of gasoline July 1

At the same time, however, public sector agencies have been paying $25 a ton to buy offsets from the Pacific Carbon Trust.

The discrepancy has sparked an internal government debate over the fairness of the price structure, and outside of government, it’s raising questions about whether the Pacific Carbon Trust should be scrapped.

B.C. Environment Minister Terry Lake said Wednesday that his government remains committed to carbon neutrality, but is reviewing the Pacific Carbon Trust.

“Having those numbers now, we need to take a look at options to make sure not only is the Pacific Carbon Trust getting good value, but also the organizations paying into them, the public-sector organizations, are getting good value,” he said.

Mr. Lake said cutting the rate paid by the public sector or using the Pacific Carbon Trust surplus to pay down government debt are two possible options.

But he doesn’t want the program dropped.

“It’s important to show … leadership through example. If we expect people and organizations to reduce their use of carbon, I think it’s incumbent on us to do that ourselves,” he said.
The Pacific Carbon Trust functions as a go-between. It buys carbon credits from companies that have undertaken projects to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and sells offsets to third parties trying to become carbon neutral.

Jordan Bateman, B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said nearly all of the Pacific Carbon Trust’s income comes from offset sales to the public sector.

“Virtually every penny – 99.7 per cent of the income – brought in by the Pacific Carbon Trust comes from taxpayers,” said Mr. Bateman. “Whether it’s universities, or school boards, or health authorities, or the B.C. government itself, taxpayers are on the hook for that money. So when we are paying them $25 per carbon credit and they are actually only needing $10 per carbon credit, that means taxpayers are overpaying for the right to call ourselves carbon neutral.”

Source- theglobeandmail

Despite years of investigations, billions of pounds in compensation for past scandals and repeat apologies from senior executives, the industry is still providing unsuitable advice or failing to make adequate background checks on customers in 26% of cases.

The Financial Services Authority has begun a formal investigation into one bank. It declined to comment on the identity of the bank but several media reports named Santander UK, part of Spain’s biggest banking company, as the target.

Santander declined to comment on whether it was the subject of an investigation. But it said it was “considering the findings” of the review in the context of measures it took last year to prepare for the introduction of new FSA rules, including extra training for staff and new risk questionnaires.

“We continue to believe it is important to offer customers access to a broad range of financial products which are suitable to their needs and individual situations, and we are working towards that objective,” Santander said in a statement.

Between March and September 2012, the FSA covertly sent investigators to six major retail banks to review their advice, an exercise known as “mystery shopping.” In 11% of the 231 cases, the advice given was unsuitable and in a further 15% of the cases, advisers did not gather enough information to be able to judge whether the product offered was appropriate or not. No products were sold as a consequence of the exercise.

Clive Adamson, head of supervision at the FSA, said he was disappointed with the results of the review but encouraged by the action the firms have taken since to put things right for customers.

“This review shows that customers are not consistently getting the quality of advice on their investments that they should expect when visiting an adviser in a bank or building society,” he said in a statement.

The British banking industry is struggling to repair its reputation after a series of scandals that have undermined public trust, strained balance sheets and prompted commitments of a change in course by leading players.

Barclays, which set aside £2.45 billion last year to compensate the victims of improper selling scandals, unveiled an overhaul Tuesday aimed at providing a fresh start for one of the oldest names on the High Street.

Source- CNNMoney

Shares in Barclays rose 8.6 percent to a two year-high as the bank’s new management said it would cut jobs and prune its investment bank to save 1.7 billion pounds ($2.66 billion) in annual costs.

Trading volume on the shares was more than three times its 90-day average, Thomson Reuters data showed.

Fellow domestic UK banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group gained 4.1 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively, on speculation they may follow in Barclays’ footsteps.

They were among top gainers on the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which closed 0.6 percent higher at 1,161.46 points.

“On the back of Barclay’s report we’ve seen a lot of playing both Lloyds and RBS,” Will Hedden, a senior trader at IG, said.

“With the focus on the investment banking changes, there are a few people who are expecting RBS to be quite aggressive with its investment bank and push through job cuts.”

Starmine data showed RBS, Barclays and Lloyds traded at between 0.4 times and 0.8 times their tangible book value, a steep discount to a 1.2-1.4 multiple for peers HSBC and Standard Chartered, which benefit from their exposure to faster growing economies.

Traders said the strategic overhaul could mark a turning point for domestic UK lenders and their return to higher levels of profitability and trading multiples in the coming months.

Source- Reuters

One of Syncrude Canada Ltd’s tailing ponds at a tar sands development in Alberta, Canada.

One of the UK’s leading universities will on Monday launch a new research programme aiming to help investors identify assets that could be left “stranded” by climate change, declining resources and the emergence of new green technologies.

Backed by HSBC, Aviva, WWF-UK and Climate Change Capital, the four-year University of Oxford research programme is attempting to flag up high-carbon sectors and assets that could be dramatically devalued or written off by the continuing shift towards a greener economy.

Initially it will focus on transportation and production methods in the agricultural supply chain, while later studies, set to be commissioned as the programme develops, are likely to include transport, power generation, real estate and a range of commodities.

The researchers aim to create tools to manage the risk of asset stranding, as well as analyse investor portfolios, better understand risk exposure and inform investment decision making for businesses and policy makers.

Asset stranding traditionally results from changes in technology and regulation that reduce demand for established products or services. But, according to a growing group of campaigners concerned about the development of a so-called “carbon bubble”, the relatively rapid pace of new developments in clean energy and low-carbon technology have put environmentally unsustainable assets, such as fossil fuel resources, at a greater risk than previously thought.

A report published earlier this year by HSBC found current internationally agreed carbon targets could see oil and gas majors, including BP, Shell and Statoil, lose up to 60 per cent of their market value.

Similar studies from the Carbon Tracker group have warned that fossil fuel companies will be unable to burn much of their declared reserves if governments are to meet their stated aim of limiting global average temperature increases to under two degrees Centigrade.

Source- BusinessGreen

The initiative, which has been put together by the National Association of Pension Funds, investor coalition Hermes Eos, and the pension funds for BT, the railways industry and universities, is aimed at encouraging company management to take a more long-term view.

Jennifer Walmsley, head of UK engagement at Hermes Eos, said: “I think the thing that distinguishes this set of principles is that they have come out of extensive discussions with company chairmen, with the people who chair remuneration committees, with executives themselves. It’s the first time pension funds and companies have come together on this.”

The investors met with 44 FTSE 100 companies last February and have been conducting further discussions with senior corporate representatives since then, they said.

Walmsley added: “This is investors’ response to some of the problems we saw at last year’s AGM season, when a number of companies received quite significant negative votes on their remuneration reports. This is our response to a growing feeling that executive pay is not working appropriately.”

Source-efinancialnews

The UKH2Mobility project has this week predicted that an established market for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) could support annual sales of around 300,000 and reduce UK annual total vehicle CO2 emissions by three million tonnes in 20 years’ time.

Moreover, replacing diesel vehicles with FCEVs could also deliver between £100m and £200m worth of air quality benefits a year by the middle of the century.

Hydrogen has long been considered a low carbon alternative to fossil fuel-powered transport, as using the gas to produce electricity results in zero tailpipe emissions.

However, despite vast improvements in the technology, fuel cells remain a costly alternative to both conventional and battery-powered vehicles, while there is currently little supporting hydrogen infrastructure such as refuelling stations.

Source- BusinessGreen

The EUR/USD currency pair is forming the first descending impulse, which may turn into a correction towards the level of 1.3330. I think today the price may consolidate between the levels of 1.3670 – 1.3610, then leave this consolidation channel downwards and continue the correction.

GBP/USD

The GBP/USD currency pair continues moving downwards. I think today the price may grow up a little bit to reach the level of 1.5865 and then move downwards to break the target at 1.5670. Later, in my opinion, the pair may return to the level of 1.5865.

GOLD

We can see that Gold formed triangle pattern at the current levels. I think today the instrument may continue consolidating inside the pattern. In my opinion, the price needs to reach the target at 1707 and only after that it may start a new descending structure towards the level of 1620. However, if the price leaves triangle pattern downwards too early, it may fall down to reach the target at 1650 and the start moving upwards.

Source- Fxstreet

The new state pension system will replace the old one known for its complexity and various different levels, as well as a system of means-testing for the top-ups for the poorest pensioners. The new plan will give most people a state pension worth around £144 in todays money when they retire, without them having to opt into any secondary state pension or similar.

Not Retroactive

The flat-rate state pension is due to be introduced by 2017, and affect all those retiring after implementation. However, those already retired will continue to be part of the old state pension rules, and could be stuck with a much smaller pension as a result.

Mr Cameron said that this new state pension will help a lot of women and lower paid workers, as they otherwise would not have been able to secure a decent state pension.

The prime minister went on that the new flat-rate pension is worth more than today’s means-tested maximums (worth £142.70) and that it will hugely benefit women, the self-employed and low earners, as those groups today are unlikely to qualify for a full state pension.

Source- Pensioncalculator