Barclays Bank Plc has announced that it is cutting 500 employees from its U.K. division.

Daniel Hunter, the spokesperson for UK’s third largest bank says 500 of its employees have already received redundancy packages. The financial services provider currently holds 11,000 employees around the world.

This is part of the “ongoing transformation of Barclays corporate, we are making some changes to our business in order to optimize growth opportunities and control costs”,

The spokesman said, even if this means chopping off a number of jobs.  The bank is now focusing on division examinations for business returns.

Meanwhile, contemporary Lloyds Banking Group has announced it will re assign a large number of employees; 360 workers for its insurance, wholesale and human resources and 140 will be re-assigned.

Trade Union Unite national officer David Flemming remarked, “Everyday this week massive groups of staff in processing centers, bank branches and call centers, across the country have been told that their futures are uncertain.”

The banks are currently struggling to process the thousands of PPI complaints that are flooding through on a daily basis and are under pressure to resolve their customers PPI claims swiftly or face further fines from the FSA.

Just in case any of you missed it, last nights BBC Watchdog programme included an interview with Money Saving Expert  Martin Lewis, who appeared on our screens in his usual enthusiastic manner, to urge borrowers to contact their lenders and demand a PPI reclaim if they feel they have been mis-sold.

Mis sold PPI has been a hot topic over the past few weeks, following the BBA’s decision to abandon their legal challenge against the FSA and FOS.  The banks have now collectively, set aside funds as a PPI Claims Provision of over £5billion to repay the customers who had previously been mis sold.

He identified the main causes of mis sold PPI as being:

• PPI being added without the borrowers knowledge – so check your paperwork
• Borrowers being told that PPI was compulsory – it wasn’t
• PPI being sold to borrowers who were self-employed – they are not eligible to claim
• Borrowers medical histories not being checked – meaning they can’t complain due to pre-existing medical conditions

Although he’s not an advocate of using a Claims Management Company (CMC) to process your PPI claim, he added that they provide a valuable service for people who would struggle with filling out the paperwork, and those who would find the stress of dealing with the banks themselves, too much to handle.  Adding that CMC’s are a good option for borrowers who have loans, with PPI, from non-mainstream or sub-prime lenders.

Martin also advised, anyone who currently has a loan or has settled a loan in the last 6yrs to check their paperwork to see if Payment Protection Insurance has been added without their knowledge.  For those that can’t locate the paperwork or cant remember the lenders details, get your Credit Report from Experian or Equifax, for as little as £2 and you will have the information you need.

It’s then just a case of writing to your lender to ask for a PPI refund or contacting Bank Charges.com on 0800 8407291 to get your claim started. Simple!!

Halifax and Bank of Scotland have been fined £3.5 million for unsatisfactory complaint handling – the largest fine ever imposed by industry regulators The Financial Services Autority for mis-handing of complaints.  The fine also acts as a stark warning to the banks who chose to put PPI claims on hold pending the outcome of the Judicial Review into Payment protection Insurance.

About 8,600 customers will be given redress, after The Financial Services Authority investigation revealed a handful of complaints poorly dealt with, mostly filed by old customers with little to no knowledge about the investments mis-sold.

The banking group wrongly dismissed a ‘significant number’ of complaints it has received for the number of weeks since it had started dealing with mis sold complaints. The bank currently holds a record of 2,592 complaints between July 30, 2007 and October 31, 2009, from mis selling investment products like personal investment plan, collective investment plan, guaranteed growth bond, ISA investor and guaranteed investment plan.

In addition to poor complaint handling, the staff also failed to check relevant customer information. Furthermore, complaints were not fairly examined, leading to poor decisions on the customer’s product suitability.

The FOS upheld 46% of claims that the bank had dismissed, but however, was not able to fully examine the trends that influenced the complaint.

The BOS failed to properly examine the source of these complaints, which would have helped pinpoint the factors of the mis selling of these investment products and be able to draw clear view of how this could be prevented in the future.

The group has shelled out 2.4 million pounds of redress to BoS and Halifax consumers whose reviews were completed.

Bank of Scotland will be starting its review of its 7,903 past investment products sales done between July 30, 2007 and March 1, 2010. Bank of Scotland acknowledges their short comings and guarantees customers of informing customers right away if he/she is due for compensation.

Government members were disappointed when UK banks failed to meet Project Merlin lending targets.

The five signatories to the lending agreement RBS, Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC and Santander UK pledged to the Government last February 9 to provide adequate finance to small and medium enterprises. (£76 billion as this year’s target).

The banks also promised to help overall business lending to £190 billion.

However in its first quarterly lending report, around 2 to three billion pounds fall short on £19 billion which was targeted for the first three months of the year.

The reason behind bank’s incapability to meet deadlines lie on the availability of the lending capacity, which was not fully taken up due to muted demand.

Some analysts believe banks will claim that there is no demand for lending, and said they only agreed to increase “lending capacity” and “there is nothing they can do in the absence of demand for new borrowing”.

Capital Economics Vicky Redwood stated that small businesses are not making a move in asking for the loans because they do not believe banks will give it to them.

She said that the “agreement was not clear what consequences the Government put on if the banks do not do what they promised. In any case, the Government is unlikely to do anything yet. After all, the agreements were for 2011 as a whole and it is only fair to let the banks try to get back on track.”

Banks often evade their responsibilities and always look for opportunities to gain more profit as proven by the Mis Sold PPI Scandal and the extortionately high interest rates on credit cards that we’re seeing today.

If you are one of those who has been a victim of the banks, we can provide assistance in reclaiming mis sold PPI.

Top UK banks are considering a clawback on bonuses from former bosses who were involved in the PPI mis-selling scandal.

PPI redress amounts to billions, and it is believed that banking executives slipped millions into their pockets during years PPI was actively mis sold.

Banking Insiders warn that if they decide to do so, they will face a huge legal case.

Several banking sources said procedures were not present during the 5-year mis- selling duration, and even if they did exist, its application will not be easy.

“You could try to claw back bonuses, but you would find yourself in court” one source stated.

Chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group Antonio Horta – Osorio stated that his compensation body will evaluate the situation’s suitability. On the other hand, Royal Bank of Scotland’s head of retail division, Brian Hartzer would consider bonus claw back like his contemporaries HSBC and Barclays.

However, The Financial Services Authority orders that only 40% of remuneration should be set aside and that it may be subject for claw back if situations call for it.

Since there is no law to regain money that had been handed out, a source said only bonuses postponed would make for a suitable clawback.

PPI policies were originally intended to help borrowers with their debts in the event of redundancy or illness and widely mis-sold between 2005 and 2010. They have now been forced to set aside £billions to repay their customers who had been mis sold ppi.

After their initial fight in trying to overturn the policies in handling PPI, the BBA have finally agreed to compensate its customers.

Already banks are paying out billions worth of compensation. Here at bankcharges.com, we are committed to reclaim mis sold ppi that had been wrongly collected by high-street banks. Call us up at 0800 840 7291 and learn how.

HSBC reported 14% fall in their profits after pronouncing £269m payment protection insurance compensation.

The bank, which remained unwaivered despite last week’s slowly diminishing BBA support, has finally backed down and agreed to put aside £285m to repay customers who were mis sold ppi. According to Chief executive Stuart Gulliver, it went along with the decision after seeing a thin chance of winning the appeal.

Gulliver went on to explain HSBC’s provision, being the lowest among the big banks, by stating that it had stopped selling PPI in 2007.

Weak trading in Europe and the US as well as rising costs also affected HSBC pre-tax income which plummeted to £3bn upto March 2011.   the quarter and towards the end of the month. not to mention its shares rolled downhill 11.2 percent at 640.5 percent.

Discussions about disposals and s crackdown on HSBC’s cost base are some of the topics to be reviewed.  There are even possible reports of staff cutting and branch closures.

The bank’s cost ratio rose to 60.9% in the latest quarter however this included the PPI provision and other one-off items.  Gulliver warned that it may take two to three years to sort out efficiency problems of the bank.

The banks sold payment protection insurance alongside loans and other borrowings to boost their profits.  However, many of the customers who were mis sold ppi were not eligible to make a claim on the policy rendering it worthless.  The £269m HSBC have set aside to repay customers who were miss sold is only provisional and the actual cost of could be a lot higher depending on the number of customers who come forward to reclaim ppi.

The British Bankers’ Association has discontinued their fight against the Financial Services Authority in trying to over turn new rules on handling PPI claims.

It is reported that high street banks total funds of redress well up to £9 billion.

Chief Financial Ombudsman Natalie Ceeney has encouraged people who feel they may have been mis sold PPI to file a complaint “Consumers should come to us at the ombudsman if they’re unsure about what to do next. Meanwhile we will be working with the banks, over the coming weeks, to ensure that consumers’ complaints are dealt with fairly and promptly.”

Peter Vicary Smith, Chief Executive of Consumer Group Which? also declared this a victory for the consumer after a decade of mis selling PPI and poor handling of PPI complaints. He added that by bringing up the case, the BBA made a huge mistake and as a result, it had lost the consumer’s confidence – which is why banks have decided to give up the fight in their interest to gain back the trust of their consumers.

Peter Vicary Smith further stated that there could still be huge numbers of people who were tricked to buying PPI without knowing they are eligible for a claim.

It is a known fact that Payment Protection Insurance, or PPI, was sold as an insurance that would cover the customers borrowings in the event of accident, illness, or redundancy.  However, this cleverly designed policy was deliberately sold millions of customers who were not eligible for cover.

After Lloyds Banking Group made a £3.2bn provision, Barclays has set aside £1bn for its compensation and RBS added £850m on top of the £200m it had paid out; HSBC followed with £269m.

While top banks were attempting to change the policies on PPI, one mortgage lender did not join the BBA’s challenge. This was the Nationwide Building Society, one of the leading mortgage lenders in the country. The lawsuit ongoing; it had continued processing new PPI complaints, and currently possessed a reputable record of dealing them; It ranked 102 out of 106 of firms having less than 650 complaints, according to Financial Ombudsman Services (FOS) complaints league table for the second half of 2010. Reports say it only had to pay £10m in compensation.

Last month’s court decision has pushed banks to review past sales to see if customers are eligible to reclaim PPI, and to contact customers who were mis sold PPI and invite them to make a claim.

Moves to resolve the mis sold PPI claims issue have started to take shape as top banks like Lloyds Banking Group are outsourcing firms to deal with PPI claims. High street banks Barclays, RBS, Lloyds, and HSBC are estimating costs of more than £5bn to cover refunds and staffing. Banks estimate that they may recruit up to 6,000 workers to tackle millions of complaints from consumers who were mis-sold PPI.

The location to house the host of workers banks is now being settled to accommodate the hoard of customer complaints. The banks did not reveal the necessary requirements for the recruitment, but their primary task is to contact customers who are eligible for a payout.

PPI was often sold without its holder’s knowledge.  The insurance was supposed to cover loans in the event that their holders can no longer pay for due to redundancy or illness. Often, customers found that they were mis-sold and were ineligible to claims on the policy when the need arose.

Lloyds Banking Group, the first of the banking body to bail out on the BBA’s lawsuit last week, announced a £3.2bn provision for its customers. The bank partnered with Huntswood to employ 500 extra staff, the number of employees needed could go up by 1000 or more while complaints are processed, a source says.

Lloyds Spokesman stated that they are keen to move quickly in order to bring out resolution for their customers.

Banking staff in the risk of redundancy might be reassigned to complaints handling; as others use outsourcing companies like Huntswood and Capita to help fill in the needed employees in the least time possible.

The event recalls of a similar situation involving another policy mis sold endowment to temporarily house staff in back-up locations to process paperwork.

However, Mark Hoban commented that FSA should have been the one to start actions regarding PPI to control operations and prevent the future occurrence of PPI as well as stop banks from operating their interests since complaint handlers are regulated by the banks, and not directly by the FSA. Questions about the capabilities of these call handlers also rose even before operations have started.

Lloyds is affected after its take over of HBOS; since Halifax also owes its customers refunds from mis sold PPI.

Lloyds has begun contacting its massive Halifax customers; named “project Kestrel” that started in years 2008 and 2009.

Banks declined to give a statement as to how long they plan to handle PPI complaints, however speculation of the handling will last until the end of the year.

Banks have already set their PPI provisions: Lloyds at £3.2 billion, Barclays & RBS £1bn, and HSBC £280m.

The British Bankers Association (BBA) has decided to abandon its legal challenge against the handling of ppi complaints following the news that Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays Plc had agreed provisions with the FSA to repay mis sold ppi.

Lloyds was the first to break ranks on 6^th May 2011 after they agreed, with the FSA, to set aside £3.2b to repay victims of mis sold ppi.  Barclays soon followed suit and confirmed this morning that they have agreed an £1b provision with the FSA, leaving only HSBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland to decide on whether or not to appeal Justice Ousley’s decision of 20^th April 2011.

It’s no surprise then the BBA finally backed down and both HSBC (£269m) and RBS (£1b est) have now agreed to set aside funds to repay victims of mis sold ppi.  Spanish banking giants Santander who were dealt the biggest fine (£7.1m) for mis selling ppi, did not challenged the findings of the FSA  and has already been repaying its customers.

These figures though, are only provisional and could rise significantly depending on the volume of ppi claims registered by borrowers who want to reclaim, with some analysts predicting that the final cost for mis selling ppi could reach in excess of £10b.

If you have had PPI alongside a loan, mortgage or credit card in the past then call Bank Charges now on 0800 8407291 now and speak to one of our PPI Claims specialists to get your claim started.

Ulster Bank reported a €441m (£391m) loss in the three months this year. Its impairment losses rose from €438m (£388m) to €540m (£479m) in the first quarter

RBS or The Royal Bank of Scotland, its Parent company, expects charges for bad credits from Ireland to remain high in the next three months, before gradually declining in the second half of the year. RBS sustained an impairment charge of £1.3bn in relation to Ulster Bank. Its earnings were affected by a total of £1.95bn of impairments for bad loans.

Its credit quality to its consumers had continued to reduce in line with market trends.
4000 credit arrangements had been laid out for consumers having problems with their repayments. One such includes temporary cutback on repayments or loan extensions.

Ulster Bank said its income fell in the first quarter of 2011 than in the same time in 2010 due to higher funding costs and continued high deposit rates.

Reports tell of its profit reaching €98m (£87m) for the first quarter, before impairment charges.

Its early reform measures left it in a position to capitalize on opportunities for growth that is slowly on the rise in the Irish banking market.

RBS which is 84% owned by government of The United Kingdom, reported its losses amounting £528m, compared to £248m in the first quarter. At an operating level, the bank reported a profit of £1.05bn.