Tory politicians don't seem to have normal holidays.

It seems that Tory politicians are unable to switch off on holiday. Poor old George Osborne should have been putting his feet up and spending time with his family.
Instead he did not initially come up with the admission that he saw the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska quite a few times on his holiday in Corfu.
www.searchaccountant.co.uk
If Osborne was economical with the actualite, then we understand that because that it is what politicians do. Less understandable was discussing with the media what Peter Mandelson said at a private dinner party. I suppose Osborne could not resist it.
Anyway, the £50,000 donation request, which supposedly never happened, is worth a bit less with the decline of the pound. With interest rates poised to come down, sterling is on it own.

Apparently the £37bn package is not fully working.

Stocks are tanking all over the world. In the United Kingdom the £37bn bail out package for the three major banks of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) and Lloyds TSB is not fully working. The package has done really well to shore up the three banking groups but has been unable to get Libor down. This would free up lending.
I have just read a Forbes article and it mentioned the words "credit standards" and "weaker borrowers". This will see banks tighten up lending criteria on their clients both in the United Kingdom and in the United States. In the British housing market borrowers need a hefty deposit just to get going. The Halifax will be so much more cautious after suffering a near-death experience. While Northern Rock, despite its nationalised nature, is repossessing 32 homes a week.
www.searchaccountant.co.uk
There is talk that the mortgage portfolios of Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley could be merged, which would help reduce costs. It might help if the Halifax injected a part of its mortgage book as well. This could reduce competition concerns about its merger with Lloyds TSB.
Royal Bank of Scotland has got a massive balance sheet and it will probably take time to bring under control. I wonder if the government knows what it has got into. A smaller institution might be a safer one, which would not bode well for employees.

Fred the Shred walks the plank!!

People will wonder how did a massive, proud organisation like the Royal Bank of Scotland succumb to nationalisation. Buying Dutch bank ABN Amro was in retrospect a very bad idea but it was obvious that Fred the Shred wanted to put one over Barclays,
which set the ball rolling. This year's £12bn rights issue was again in retrospect not enough capital but Fred the Shred should have perhaps gone then. However, he should certainly have been replaced in the negotiations with the UK authorities.

It is thought that the UK government taking control at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) will put a dent in the SNP's ambitions for Scottish independence. Perhaps, the party will make a bit of a comeback asking for representatives on the respective boards.
wwww.searchaccountant.co.uk
Apparently, Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling will say there will be no state interference but if the state holdings are in place for a long time, then there will be government control.

UK stocks are taking a bit of a battering today.

The FTSE is down 7 per cent this morning and so UK stocks are taking a battering.
Royal Bank of Scotland is down almost 15 per cent to 81 pence. This is despite the UK government bailout plan, which was allegedly leaked by the authorities earlier in the week and which put bank stocks under so much pressure. These stock market falls will affect the plans of many small investors. Ages ago I saved in a long-term investment plan for college education and I think the value has just been
shredded. I suppose I could resume investments but the British stock market is (was) quite dependent on the high dividends paid by the banks. This was especially true with income funds.
Meanwhile, if you need an accountants in Bromley there is the local firm Hammonds (www.hammondsaccountants.co.uk)
There has been some quite positive comment on the UK government bailout plan, which is seen as more comprehensive than the US one. Perhaps Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling should be applauded but they are responsible for the tripartite regulation of the banking sector, which has unnecessarily complicated matters.

At least UK bank shares have recovered a bit today.

Today has seen a new era for the main UK banks with a £50bn government package, which would see their partial nationalisation. We have lost Fred the Shred at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). It looks like this particular bank has been singled out by the authorities.
Looking at this issue again, it is not clear that Fred the Shred has gone gone although there are reports naming his replacement. RBS has been making no comment on the fate of the illustrious bank executive. I looked at the corporate website and there was also no mention of the collapsing share price.
There is some discussion that the British government wants dividends suspended by the banks, which would obviously affect their share prices. In any event dividends on the government's preference shares would obviously crowd out the ordinary stock. It would be interesting to see how long the government rescue package would have to go on for.
On a more interesting matter if you are a business client in the Huddersfield area, Latchford Consulting offers a practical and professional service. The contact is Amanda Lord. There is a free initial consultation.

Depression, slump, recession, inflation?

It is sometimes better not to read the newspapers because they are so depressing. One article, which cheered me up was one by the excellent Brian Tora in a recent moneymarketing.co.uk. The article reviewed the financial crisis but concluded that it may be a once in a lifetime crisis, but that we would get through it. Tora says that overborrowing is at the root of the crisis.
In London, the Government is frantically trying to work out what the Germans said about their deposit guarantee while hinting that it might take equity stakes in banks as part of a recapitalisation effort. There has been criticism that the Gordon Brown government has reacted in a piecemeal fashion to the problems of the banks. However, Brown has probably tried hard to get an European Union solution but will have to take local measures on deposit guarantees following in line to the Irish, the Germans, the Scandinavians etc.
Meanwhile, I have never been to Coventry but it has a range of local accountants to help your needs. they include the firm Fox Evans (www.foxevans.co.uk). The firm offers services to a wide range of businesses and individuals.

Derby County has some fantastic supporters.

Derby County has some fantastic supporters. The club, famous for winning the league under manager Brian Clough, has hit some tough times since it was recently relegated from the Premiership. I never saw Derby County then but I did see Clough work his magic on Nottingham Forest. It helped having Shilton between the sticks.
However, this is supposed to be an accountancy blog and in Derby there are some good accountancy firms. For instance, Ashgates offers a free initial consultation and also have offices in Leicester. The firm is also a Sage reseller. Going back to the football motif, Ashgates has over 50 top class footballers on its books.