Buying A House 'Cheaper Than Renting'

Home buyers are almost £900 better off a year than those who rent - but an upturn in house prices means the gap has narrowed in recent months, a report has found.

Research by Halifax, which based its calculations on its own database as well as official figures, found that people buying a three-bedroom house face typical costs of £672 a month, which is £73 less than the average £745 a month cost of renting.

Five years ago, renting was considered much more financially attractive than buying, but home buying costs have since fallen by more than a third, meaning that buying has become cheaper than renting.

Falls in house prices following the economic downturn combined with low mortgage rates in the low interest rate environment have all contributed to the about-turn.

Meanwhile, rental costs have been pushed higher by strong demand in the sector, as many renters have struggled to get on to the property ladder.

But a return to activity in the housing market has pushed house prices up, which means that the gap between buying and renting costs has narrowed from a difference of £78 a month one year ago.

Halifax recently reported that prices nationally have risen by 5% over the last year. Other reports have recently put prices in London at around 10% higher than they were a year ago.

People living in London and Northern Ireland have the most to gain from buying rather than renting, the research suggested. The gap in percentage terms is biggest in Northern Ireland, at 11%. Buying in Northern Ireland costs £369 a month on average, while renting costs £415.

In cash terms, Londoners have the most to gain from being on the property ladder, with a saving of almost £100 a month.

Wales and Yorkshire and the Humber were the only areas of the UK where renting was found to be more affordable than buying. In Scotland, buying was found to work out £27 a month cheaper than renting.

Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said: "A combination of lower mortgage rates and declining house prices has substantially reduced the cost of buying over the past six years.

"Nevertheless, the number of home buyers in the 12 months to June 2013 was nearly half of that in 2008, which will have been constrained by worries over job security."

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BlackBerry Slashes Jobs In Face Of $1bn Loss

BlackBerry has confirmed it will cut 40% its global workforce as it said it expects to report that it has lost almost $1bn in its second quarter.

The smartphone company said it will lay off 4,500 employees as it tries to slash costs by 50% and shift its focus back to competing mainly for the business customers most loyal to its brand.

The Canadian-based firm had been scheduled to release its net earnings for the quarter next week but warned on Friday that it expects to post a staggering loss of between $950m and $995m.

Shares in the company plunged as low as $8.01 when the stock reopened for trading on Friday, before closing down 17% at $8.72.

Thorsten Heins, president and CEO of BlackBerry, said in a statement: "We are implementing the difficult, but necessary operational changes announced today to address our position in a maturing and more competitive industry, and to drive the company toward profitability.

"Going forward, we plan to refocus our offering on our end-to-end solution of hardware, software and services for enterprises and the productive, professional end user."

BlackBerry boss Thorsten Heins says the changes are hard but 'necessary'

BlackBerry said last month that it would consider selling itself and reiterated on Friday that a special committee of its board of directors continues to "evaluate all options".

The BlackBerry, pioneered in 1999, was the dominant smartphone for on-the-go business people and other customers before Apple debuted the iPhone in 2007. Since then, BlackBerry has been hammered by competition from the iPhone as well as Android-based rivals like Samsung.

In January, the company unveiled new phones running a revamped operating system called BlackBerry 10. The Z10 and Q10 were designed to better compete for customers and rejuvenate the brand, but BlackBerry's market share continues to lag behind its rivals.

BlackBerry, formerly known as RIM, was once Canada's most valuable company with a market value of $83bn in June 2008.

Canada's industry minister James Moore said in a statement: "Our thoughts are with those who have lost their jobs at BlackBerry, it is always a cause for concern for our Government."

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Barclays £1.3m Cyber Raid: Four Due In Court

Four alleged cyber plotters accused of stealing £1.3m from a high street bank by taking control of its computer system are due to apear in court later.

It follows the arrest of eight men suspected of targeting a branch of Barclays bank in Swiss Cottage, north London.

Tony Colston-Hayter, 47, of Seymour Street, Marylebone, central London, is charged with conspiracy to steal.

Michael Victor Harper, a 26-year-old estate agent of Kiln Place, Hampstead, northwest London, Darius Bolder, 34, and Lewis James Murphy, 29, both of Ebury Bridge Road, Chelsea, central London, are accused of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

Bolder also faces an additional charge of conspiracy to steal.

All have been remanded in custody until their appearance at Westminster Magistrates Court.

The other four men have been bailed to a central London police station on dates in late November pending further inquiries.

Police carried out a secret intelligence operation following the theft in April.

It is believed somebody posing as an engineer planted a "keyboard video mouse" (KVM) - which can be purchased online for as little as £10 and is the size of a small laptop computer - at the branch.

That allowed thieves to transmit the contents of the computer's desktop, take control of the machine remotely and access accounts.

Alex Grant, Barclays' managing director of fraud prevention, said the bank "acted swiftly to recover funds" on the day of the theft and that no customers suffered financial loss.

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Housing Market: Rental Costs Near Record

The effect of rising house prices on the rental market is laid bare today as a report suggests private rents are just £1 short of record highs.

The lettings network LSL Property Services said rents had reached their second highest level since 2008 - largely because of a shortage of property to buy as Government schemes help people onto the ladder.

LSL, which owns the Your Move and Reeds Rains chains, reported that at £743 on average, monthly rents in August were just £1 less than the all-time high recorded in October 2012.

The pace of rent increases stepped up to 0.7% month-on-month in August.

It said rents were 1.3% higher across England and Wales than a year ago - less than half the rate of inflation - but London's rental market was soaring.

At £1,126 typically, rents in the capital have risen at a much faster rate than inflation and are up by 4.8% year-on-year.

Earlier this week, official figures showed that house prices in London were up by nearly 10% year-on-year, indicating the strength of demand.

Wales saw the second biggest annual increase in rents, with a 2.3% uplift taking average rents to £561.

The South East recorded the strongest month-on-month growth, with a 2% rise pushing monthly rents to £762.

By contrast, rents in Yorkshire and the Humber are 1.6% lower than last year, at £536 typically, followed closely by a 1.5% annual fall in the North West, taking average rents to £582.

The North East saw the biggest month-on-month drop in rents, with a 0.8% fall taking average rents to £523.

Across the country, rental inflation had been cooling off for much of this year following the launch of Government schemes to give people with low deposits a chance to buy.

First-time buyer numbers have reached their highest levels in more than five years following the initiatives such as Funding for Lending and Help to Buy, which have widened access to mortgages and allowed some people who were previously trapped in renting to break free.

But David Newnes, director of LSL Property Services, said that weak income growth, which has an impact on households' ability to borrow, and a lack of housing supply meant that the private rental sector was continuing to see strong demand from new tenants.

Mr Newnes said: "Better availability of finance has allowed some households to leave the rental market. And rents certainly felt the short-term impact of that.

"But releasing a blast of pent-up pressure to buy a home is unlikely to change the long-term trend in renting.

"Although Government schemes are helping, buying a first home is still extremely hard on the back of low salary growth."

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Bra Price-Fixing Probe Launched By Watchdog

The country's biggest department store chains are facing investigation over suggestions they colluded with a bra manufacturer to fix prices.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) alleged that the manufacturer of the Shock-Absorber range, DB Apparel UK, entered into nine anti-competitive agreements with John Lewis, Debenhams and House of Fraser between 2008 and 2011.

The trading watchdog has requested a response to the claims from the four companies.

It said it believed they infringed competition law by entering into resale price maintenance deals that set a fixed or minimum resale price on products within the sports bra range across the country.

House of Fraser believes it has committed no offence

The OFT said that during the three years in question, the Shock-Absorber range had a market share of about 15%.

Ann Pope, the regulator's senior director of services, said: "The OFT takes allegations of price-fixing seriously.

"Resale price maintenance limits competition between retailers and can lead to consumers paying higher prices.

"We will carefully consider the parties' representations to the OFT's Statement of Objections before deciding whether competition law has in fact been broken."

House of Fraser was the first of the retailers to release a statement in response to the allegations.

It said: "We are co-operating fully with the Office of Fair Trading and the ongoing investigation and will respond accordingly.

"We are confident that we have been operating within all laws and regulations and are very supportive of any initiative which ensures pricing policies are fair for our customers."

Debenhams said: "Debenhams Plc disputes these provisional findings of the OFT but is not in a position to comment further at this stage.

"The matter is being dealt with by its external lawyers," it added.

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Barclays Cyber Raid: Arrests Over Stolen £1.3m

Eight men have been arrested after a gang stole more than £1m from a high street bank by taking control of one of its computer systems.

The money was stolen from a Barclays branch in Swiss Cottage, London, earlier this year, using a device known as a "keyboard, video and mouse" (KVM) switch.

The hardware, which can be purchased online for as little as £10, allowed the gang to transmit the contents of the computer's desktop and take control of the machine remotely.

It is believed the device was installed by a man who pretended to be an IT engineer to gain access to the branch.

A KVM device similar to the one used to steal money from Barclays accounts

Some £1.3m was withdrawn from accounts, although much of the money has since been recovered.

Detective Inspector Mark Raymond, of the Metropolitan Police's Central e-Crime Unit (PeCU), said: "Those responsible for this offence are significant players within a sophisticated and determined organised criminal network, which used considerable technical abilities and traditional criminal know-how to infiltrate and exploit secure banking systems."

The men, aged between 24 and 47, are in custody at various police stations in London, where they are being held on suspicion of conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to defraud.

Thousands of credit cards and people's personal data were seized following searches of properties in Westminster, Newham, Camden, Brent and Essex, including one described by detectives as a control room for the Barclays theft.

The arrests come after four men appeared in court accused of a failed attempt to take control of computers at a Santander branch in southeast London, again using a KVM device.

Police said they foiled a "very significant and audacious cyber-enabled offence" that would have cost the bank millions of pounds.

The use of KVM devices to commit "low risk, high financial yield cyber-enabled crime" is on the rise, according to the Metropolitan Police.

A spokesman for the force said the latest arrests followed a "long-term, intelligence-led operation" involving PeCU and Barclays, whose security team detected the theft.

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City Watchdog Hits JPMorgan With Huge Fine

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The City regulator will slap one of its biggest-ever fines on the Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan on Thursday over the derivatives losses which last year cost it more than $6bn (£3.7bn).

Sky News understands that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will make an announcement at approximately 2pm UK time in which it will say that the so-called "London Whale" affair will cost JPMorgan well over £50m in penalties for failing to ensure the effective supervision of its traders and that its trading positions were accurately reported.

The FCA will also say that it has agreed a string of toughened compliance, reporting and risk management procedures with JP Morgan executives in the UK and that it will monitor the firm's activities more robustly.

Further measures are expected to be announced as part of Thursday's settlement.

People familiar with the agreement said it would be the biggest penalty imposed by the UK regulator for transgressions unrelated to the global Libor rate-rigging probe.

It is possible that only the £160m fine handed out to UBS for Libor-manipulation last December will have been larger, although the exact size of the FCA punishment was unclear.

JP Morgan executives give evidence over the 'Whale' losses to US Senate

The FCA statement will be coordinated with regulators in the US as part of an overall settlement reported by the Wall Street Journal this week at $800m (£496m).

It will not preclude the prospect of additional charges being filed against the bank, the newspaper added.

The "London Whale" involved a London-based trader, Bruno Iksil, who racked up billions of pounds of bets on derivatives products which turned sour, and which were then concealed from the bank's top management by several colleagues who have since been fired.

US prosecutors charged Julien Grout and Javier Martin-Artajo, two former traders at JPMorgan, last month with conspiracy and fraud for allegedly covering up the trading losses. On Monday, a grand jury indicted both men.

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan's chairman and chief executive, apologised for having initially dismissed the affair as "a tempest in a teapot" and this week announced significant changes to the firm's compliance and risk management functions, including the hiring of thousands of additional employees.

The bank has also clawed back millions of dollars in bonuses from employees over the trading losses.

It is the latest in a series of regulatory blows to hit Mr Dimon, lauded as the most successful banker on Wall Street for having stewarded JPMorgan through the financial crisis.

The FCA and JPMorgan both declined to comment.

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Rip-Off Pensions: OFT Calls For Shake-Up

The Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) study of the £275bn defined contribution (DC) workplace pensions market has found some schemes offer no value for money.

The trading watchdog, which decided not to refer the market to the Competition Commission or recommend a cap on charges, made a string of recommendations to shake up the sector instead.

The OFT said it had agreed a package of reforms with companies and The Pensions Regulator as the auto-enrolment programme expands.

Workers aged between 22 and the state pension age who are not members of a workplace pension are being signed up to one under the Government's plans to head off a looming retirement savings crisis feared as people live longer but fail to put enough money away for their old age.

As well as examining whether savers were getting value for money, the OFT's investigation also took in the pressure on providers to keep their charges low and looked at the size of pension pot people were likely to end up with at retirement.

The pensions minister Steve Webb has pledged to act on the findings

It said that the Government should consult on improving the transparency and comparability of pension schemes to make it easier for employers to choose a scheme for their workers.

The OFT said employers "often lacked the capability or the incentive to assess value for money."

The watchdog also called on ministers to look at preventing schemes being used for automatic enrolment which ramp up management costs for people when they stop contributing to their pension, perhaps because they have changed jobs.

It identified a risk of savers losing out in two parts of the market - in what it said were "old and high charging contract and bundled trust schemes" and in smaller trust-based schemes because of "low levels of trustee engagement and capability."

The Pensions Regulator, the OFT said, had agreed to take "rapid action" to look at whether the smaller schemes were delivering good value and Government had agreed new enforcement powers to clamp down on them.

The Association of British Insurers is to begin an immediate audit of the old and high-charging schemes, which the OFT said contained around £30bn of savings.

Clive Maxwell, OFT chief executive, said: "We have found problems in relying on competition to drive value for money for savers in this market.

"We've therefore worked closely with the Government, regulators and industry to agree a set of measures that we believe are an important step in helping to ensure that savers get better outcomes.

"It is important, particularly given that automatic enrolment is already under way, that these measures are implemented rapidly," he concluded.

Minister for Pensions Steve Webb said: "This report outlines further important ways to help consumers, and we will act on its recommendations.

"In particular, we need to ensure those already in pension schemes are getting good value for money, and will be actively involved in the audit of pension schemes sold prior to 2001.

"We will consult shortly on minimum scheme standards, including further action on charges."

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Retail Sales Slow After July Heatwave

Consumers reined in their spending in August following July's heatwave which had boosted demand for food and sales of outdoor goods.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said retail sales volumes tumbled by 0.9% on the month.

Economists had expected an increase, given continuing good weather in August and high numbers of people taking their holidays at home in the UK.

It meant the annual rate of growth slowed to 2.1% - supporting recent caution among retailers on talk of a recovery on the high street.

Food sales - which lifted strongly in July amid the heatwave - fell 2.7% on the month, reversing July's gain.

Rising house prices, record low mortgage rates and signs of economic recovery had been thought to have given consumer spending a boost but economists had also warned on whether the July performance was sustainable because inflation continues to outpace wage growth.

The retail sector, which accounts for 6% of the UK economy, has largely reported improved earnings but no big names had witnessed a huge change in spending attitudes as budgets remained tough.

More follows...

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Retirement: One In Five Will 'Never Stop Work'

By Rhiannon Mills, Sky News Reporter

One in five Britons now fear that they will never be able to stop working because of shortfalls in their pensions and savings, according to a new report.

The survey, carried out by HSBC, warns that the UK is heading for an "Age of the Unretired", with pensioners in Britain more gloomy about their future prospects than those in other countries around the world.

The global survey, which questioned 16,000 people in 15 countries, shows that 19% of those asked in the UK expect that they will never be able to afford to retire fully.

In America the figure was 18%, in France and Hong Kong it was 12%, but in Brazil - one of the world's new fast-growing economies - only 5% think they will never retire properly.

It is also perhaps not surprising Brits are so downbeat, with nearly half of the British pensioners questioned saying their retirements had not turned out as they had planned, because they have less money to live on than hoped.

Darren Flip, from the National Association of Pension Funds, was not surprised so many are finding themselves short on funds later on in life.

He said: "The Government's own figures suggest that seven million people aren't saving enough for their retirement.

"Also people are living longer, so any money they do save has to last longer and we know that the economic environment hasn't been great over the past years so investments in pensions haven't been what people expected.

"It's tough out there for people."

Christine Foyster, head of wealth management at HSBC, said: "Today's workers should prepare for retirement as early as possible to have some certainty for retirement. 

"Life is full of reasons to prioritise short-term spending over longer-term planning, but the sooner people start saving, the less likely they will have to rely on working in old age."

Raj Bhudia from London is 42 and works for a bank.

Despite working since he was 16 and financially planning for the future, he believes a restful retirement is some way off.

He told Sky News: "I think everyone is going to have to work beyond 65 or 70, because whatever little pensions we do have are not going to be enough to retire on and obviously the Government pension is not there either.

"My sons, they are going to university. They will be coming out with debts so hopefully we can help them, which means we won't have enough money to retire on and we'll have to work longer."

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Fed Decision On Stimulus Slowdown Looms

The Federal Reserve is expected to confirm later that it will start to wind down its massive stimulus effort that has pumped $2.8trn (£1.76trn) into the US economy.

Quantitative easing, or QE for short, is credited with helping the US economy overcome the deepest slump since the Great Depression but opinions are split on whether the recovery has been secured.

In the US, the flood of cheap money lifted stock prices to record highs and put a floor under what had been a reeling housing market while Fed chairman Ben Bernanke says it has also aided cutting unemployment and averted a damaging cycle of deflation.

But while the scale of the bond-buying since the financial crisis has boosted recovery by driving interest rates to record lows, it has left financial markets addicted to the low-cost credit and investors worried about the effect of turning off the taps.

The Fed's QE programme has been felt worldwide.

Stock market values have swung wildly since May when the idea of tapering, or slowing down the monetary stimulus, was first floated.

The money helped push banks and other investors towards risky investments in emerging markets, where the prospect of tapering has resulted in huge withdrawals from currencies and stocks.

Last month, the Indian rupee fell to its lowest rate against the dollar to become the weakest currency in Asia - dipping 19% since the start of the year.

The threat of tapering has even been felt in the UK, where long-term market rates have risen steadily over the summer.

It means the effects of the Fed's bond buying has been controversial both at home and abroad because while QE has helped oil the cogs of world recovery, critics say it was artificial and therefore too risky.

Mr Bernanke has signalled he will look to reduce QE this year and end it next year, but keep short-term rates low for many months afterwards in order to continue to encourage investment and hiring.

Analysts suggest the market has already factored in a $5-$15bn monthly reduction in the scheme.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones closed higher on greater investor confidence that the US economy could withstand the expected reduction of Federal Reserve bond purchases.

In early trading on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 rose cautiously in early trading on the back of that assessment - along with the other major European markets.

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Bust-Up Erupts Over Ronson's City Skyscraper

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

One of the tallest buildings in the City of London is at the centre of a titanic power struggle following a bust-up between its shareholders.

Sky News can reveal that bankers to the 46-storey Heron Tower on Bishopsgate, which briefly became the financial district's biggest skyscraper, are contemplating calling in receivers in the coming days as a consequence of the row.

The move, which would result in the Tower being put up for sale, would come despite last-ditch talks between its three investors, who are led by Heron International, the developer headed by Gerald Ronson, the property entrepreneur.

The other shareholders are the State General Reserve of Oman and undisclosed members of the Saudi Royal Family. The three are said to be in dispute over the management of the building as well as the circumstances in which they can realise value from their investments.

The appointment of receivers would underline a remarkable failure for a skyscraper hailed as a symbol of the City's efforts to shed the legacy of the 2008 financial crisis when it opened three years later.

Although lauded by property critics, the Heron Tower has rented out just 60% of its available space since opening in March 2011. When fully let, it is expected to command total annual rent of in excess of £25m, according to previous reports.

Mr Ronson developed the skyscraper with a £370m loan - of which only £300m was drawn down – led by two German banks, Hypothekenbank and Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen. Under the terms of the loans a deadline was set by which the developer had to secure tenants for an agreed proportion of the building.

Home to companies including Partnership Assurance, the annuities provider that recently floated on the London Stock Exchange, the trio of shareholders have been discussing since January how to replace a £315m loan from a group of banks now led by Wells Fargo, the American lender.

Wells Fargo took on the loan after acquiring the UK commercial real estate portfolio of Hypothekenbank – also known as Eurohypo – in July, while the other members of the syndicate include Nationwide, the UK's biggest mutual.

A source admitted that there had been "some letting covenant issues" to resolve with the lenders but insisted that the building remained financially viable and that it continued to be more valuable than its outstanding debts.

Starwood Capital, a real estate investment firm, has offered to provide nearly £300m of new debt to assist with the refinancing and is understood to still be in discussions about a possible deal.

One source said that a solvent refinancing by Starwood, rather than a sale or receivership, remained the likeliest outcome of the dispute.

However, people close to the situation said that the Heron Tower also required roughly £120m in fresh equity and that talks between the shareholders had broken down "recently" over the terms and structure of that new financial investment.

One insider said that Heron required under the terms of the new agreement to retain the ability to sell its investment in the building in future, a demand which was resisted by the other shareholders. The shareholder discussions are said to have been made more complex by the myriad advisers surrounding the interested parties.

Mr Ronson is one of the British property sector's most prominent figures, having staged a remarkable comeback from the Guinness share-trading affair of the late 1980s.

Heron International counts some of the world's wealthiest business people, including Steve Wynn, the casinos magnate, and Larry Ellison, the software tycoon, among its investors.

In addition to Mr Ronson's real estate interests, he has also become one of the biggest owners of petrol stations in the UK through Snax 24, a separate venture.

The battle over Heron Tower's future underlines one of the perils of the flood of overseas money to have entered London's commercial property market since the banking crisis.

None of the parties involved were available for comment.

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Barclays To Pay Out £100m Over Loan Error

Barclays could have to pay out up to £100m to around 300,000 of its personal loan customers after making mistakes on their paperwork.

The customers could be in line for a few hundred pounds each from the issue, which dates back to October 2008.

A spokesman described the problem, which relates to arrears notices and statements, as "technical documentary errors".

It was revealed in a 185-page bank document in which Barclays stated it has "identified certain issues with the information contained in historic statements and arrears notices relating to consumer loan accounts".

The document added it was "therefore implementing a plan to return interest incorrectly charged to customers".

A Barclays spokesman said: "Barclays has proactively reviewed information it has historically sent to its customers relating to interest charges where we have found technical documentary errors.

"As a result Barclays has identified certain issues with the information contained in some statements and arrears notices relating to consumer loan accounts.

"Due to these notification errors, interest was not due on certain accounts during the period that Barclays made this mistake, and whilst no one has been mis-sold to, customers are entitled to have their interest payments returned.

"No customer will pay more than they were ever contractually expected to."

The bank added that it would contact all customers affected.

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Lloyds Stake Sale Raises £3.2bn For Taxpayer

The initial sale of taxpayer-owned shares in Lloyds Banking Group has raised £3.21bn for the Treasury - representing a small profit.

UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the body which oversees the public's stakes in Lloyds and RBS following their bailouts, said 6% of Lloyds Banking Group was sold to institutional investors at a placing price of 75p per share.

It means the taxpayer stake in Lloyds - rescued after its disastrous acquisition of Halifax Bank of Scotland at the height of the financial crisis - has been reduced from 38.7% to 32.7%.

The sale price represents a £61m cash profit on the 73.6p average price paid by the Labour Government in 2008 but it will register as a paper profit of £586m on the Treasury's books because its stake in Lloyds is recorded in the public finances as 61p per share.

George Osborne says the money raised will help reduce national debt

The reduced cost took into account the fact that the Treasury had already received £2.5bn for insurance fees from Lloyds under the now-disbanded Asset Protection Scheme.

UKFI confirmed that no further sale of the taxpayer's remaining 32.7% stake would take place for a further 90 days.

The public is expected to be given a chance to buy Lloyds stock in future sales.

Chancellor George Osborne kicked off the initial share sale on Monday night, five years after Lloyds was left needing a £20bn bailout.

He said today: "Five years ago the previous government forced British taxpayers to put a huge sum of money into bailing out the banks.

"That was a big ask of the British public. I have been determined ever since I became Chancellor to get that money back for taxpayers."

"I can confirm this morning that we have sold 6% of Lloyds Bank at 75p a share. That is a profit for taxpayers, and rightly so. The money will be used to reduce the national debt by over half a billion pounds.

Lloyds shares are trading below pre-crash levels (price correct at 08.14)

"This is another step in the long journey in putting right what went so badly wrong in the British economy; it's another step in repairing the banks; it's another step in getting the money back for the taxpayer; and it's another step in reducing our national debt.

"All of those things together are good news.

"If you look at what has happened over the last 12 hours with Lloyds, you have investors from around the world  investing in a British bank. That is a sign the British economy is turning a corner," he concluded.

Lloyds shares were more more than 2.2% down in early trading on the FTSE 100 on Tuesday - still changing hands at more than 60% below their pre-financial crisis peak.

Nevertheless, the start of the re-privatisation marks a milestone for Lloyds, which hailed its recovery earlier this summer after swinging out of the red with half-year profits of more than £2bn.

Last week the bank re-launched TSB with a spin-off of more than 600 branches, which it was obliged to dispose of under European laws on state aid, which is expected to result in a flotation next year.

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Summer Discounting Helps Ease Inflation Rate

A dip in the annual rate of inflation is being credited to slowing fuel cost rises and summer discounting of Autumn clothing.

The Office for National Statistics said the fall in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure from 2.8% in July to 2.7% in August was also spurred by a lower rise in air fares than last year.

Figures showed a month-on-month increase of 0.4%, which was the lowest August rise since 2009.

The fall in the CPI rate came as clothing and footwear inflation came in at 2% compared to 2.8% 12 months previously, at a time of year when retailers are introducing new full-price autumn ranges.

Meanwhile, petrol prices rose 2p per litre compared to a rise of 3.5p per litre in August 2012, mirroring movements in oil prices.

Air fares were up 9.4% compared to 10.2% a year ago, with the main downward effect coming from domestic routes.

The ONS said the most notable upward contribution to inflation came from furniture, household equipment & maintenance where prices rose for a variety of furniture items and household appliances.

More follows...

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Bank Seven-Day Switch Scheme May Fall Flat

By Poppy Trowbridge, Business and Economics Correspondent

The Government wants banks to work harder to win your business and is backing an initiative to allow customers to swap current accounts within seven working days.

But exclusive research conducted for Sky News reveals that the public is largely unaware of the plan and among those in the know the Government's initiative is unwanted.

The so-called 7-Day-Switch scheme comes into effect today.

Customers wanting to swap banks can provide their preferred lender with personal details, the bank then makes all the arrangements to bring across salary deposits and bill payments - with a hassle free guarantee.

In a move to revitalise competition in high-street banking, Chancellor George Osborne confirmed the plans back in February after the regulator highlighted how little choice existed in the current account market.

But in a poll of more than 2000 bank customers, 44% of those surveyed said they had never heard of the service.

Of those who had, 53% would not even consider switching when the guarantee is in place.

That is perhaps because 82% say they are happy enough with their current account, another indication that the initiative isn't needed by many.

The four biggest banks in Britain - Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC - control three quarters of the current account market, according to figures from the Office of Fair Trading.

That means switching accounts may not result in drastically better deals at one bank or another.

Ali Steed, a personal finance expert at mymoneydiva.com, says many of the rates and products don't differ much from bank to bank.

"At the moment, because interest rates are actually very low, the amount of money you can actually get on your savings - from anywhere on the high street - is not really going to put you in a position where you can beat inflation."

If the Government initiative is to have any immediate effect it is likely to be in customer service.

Michael Ossei, from uSwitch, says: "Banks will have to work harder to both attract new customers and keep their existing ones, which means that accounts must offer better value for money and customer service."

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Barclays Braced For Fine Over Qatar Deals

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Barclays is braced for another major financial penalty over the deals that enabled it to escape British taxpayers' clutches by raising billions of pounds from private investors five years ago.

Sky News has learnt that the bank is negotiating a settlement with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that could involve it paying tens of millions of pounds, according to people close to the talks.

A final agreement with the City watchdog, which could involve a fine of about £50m, is still being thrashed out and the size and nature of the penalties facing Barclays could still vary, they said.

Barclays had been trying to get the enforcement action resolved ahead of the publication of a preliminary prospectus for its £5.8bn rights issue, which could take place as soon as Monday afternoon.

The prospectus is expected to acknowledge that the settlement discussions with the FCA are taking place but a final deal is unlikely to be ready for inclusion in the document, according to a source close to the bank who said that talk of the details of a fine was "premature".

One person close to Barclays said the prospectus was expected to say that a settlement of around £50m had been proposed by the regulator. It would also spell out the list of market listing rules that the bank is alleged to have breached, they added.

Investment banks which have agreed to underwrite the rights issue are said to have been keen for a "clear sight" of Barclays' exposure to a new financial penalty.

Barclays raised almost £12bn in 2008 to avoid needing taxpayer help

The negotiations with the FCA centre on whether Barclays should have disclosed more details to the stock market about the £11.8bn capital-raisings which allowed the bank to escape the state's clutches by raising capital from Qatari and other sovereign investors.

Assuming the discussions do result in a financial penalty, it would add to the mounting cost of Barclays' transgressions in recent years, which have included a £291m fine for its role in the manipulation of the interbank borrowing rate Libor.

The bank has also set aside billions of pounds to compensate customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance and interest rate swaps, and been hit with a contested fine for rigging US energy markets.

The Serious Fraud Office and authorities in the US are also examining the Qatari capital-raising issue, and the progress of their investigations remains unclear.

In its half-year results statement during the summer, Barclays referred to the probes without providing further details.

"The FCA and the Serious Fraud Office are both investigating certain commercial agreements between Barclays and Qatari interests and whether these may have related to Barclays' capital-raisings in June and November 2008.

"The FCA investigation involves four current and former senior employees, including Chris Lucas, [former] group finance director, as well as Barclays.

"The FCA enforcement investigation began in July 2012 and the SFO commenced its investigation in August 2012.

"The FCA provided its preliminary findings against Barclays on 27 June 2013 in respect of some of these commercial agreements. Barclays has responded on 25 July 2013 contesting the FCA's preliminary findings.

"Barclays expects further developments in the near term."

John Varley, the bank's former chief executive, is also among those under investigation.

Barclays is seeking to raise almost £8bn from investors through a combination of new shares and bonds, following pressure from the Bank of England's regulatory arm to strengthen its balance sheet.

Among the investment bankers helping Barclays to raise the money is James Leigh-Pemberton of Credit Suisse, who was on Monday confirmed as the new head of UK Financial Investments, the body which manages taxpayers' stakes in Britain's bailed-out banks.

Barclays and the FCA declined to comment.

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Economy: Firms Demand Infrastructure Urgency

The CBI has launched a stinging attack on the Government, accusing the coalition of dragging its heels on delivering promised infrastructure spending to help lift the economy.

The business lobby group said it feared there was a "lack of political will" to get schemes off the ground with "too few signs of action" over the past two years on issues such as tackling potholes to the future of the country's airports.

It urged politicians to commit to immediate projects that were crucial to boosting exports and unlocking business investment.

A survey of 526 businesses by the CBI and accountancy firm KPMG found 65% of companies believed that Government policies would have no tangible impact, or could have even a negative effect.

Only a third of firms questioned - 35% - said they would make a difference on the ground, the study suggested.

John Cridland is the CBI's director-general

John Cridland, director-general of the CBI, said: "Government has talked the talk on infrastructure for the last two years with too few signs of action.

"The faltering speed of delivery on infrastructure creates a worrying sense that politicians lack the political will to tackle some of the major issues head-on."

He added the coalition must commit to detailed delivery on a number of projects in the next 18 months, while starting the debate on longer-term issues such as road reforms and Britain's airport capacity.

Businesses are increasingly worried about the UK's creaking road network, with nearly half of all firms polled unhappy with domestic transport, up from 28% in 2011.

Energy costs are another major headache, with 95% of firms concerned about gas and electricity prices and 90% worried about security of supply.

Firms are also keen for ongoing improvements in Britain's digital infrastructure, with the survey showing more than 80% of firms consider faster and more reliable fixed-line and mobile broadband as critical to their success.

A Government spokesman responded: "At the Spending Round we set out £100bn of what the report highlights as 'bold ambitions and flagship projects which if delivered will provide a significant boost to UK competitiveness'.

"The Government's focus is now on implementing these plans."

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Vince Cable Calls For Minimum Wage Increase

Business Secretary Vince Cable is pressing for an increase in the minimum wage amid concerns that many lower-paid workers are still not benefiting from the burgeoning economic recovery.

Speaking before the Liberal Democrat party conference in Glasgow today, Mr Cable said he would ask the Low Pay Commission to restore its value, which he estimates has fallen in real terms by 10% to 12% since the crash of 2008.

The minimum wage is currently set at £6.19 an hour but is due to rise to £6.31 on October 1.

"We cannot go on forever in a low pay and low productivity world in which all we can say to workers is, 'You have got to take a wage cut to keep your job'," he told told The Guardian.

Mr Cable said action to boost low pay should be combined with measures to tackle the abuses of zero-hours contracts.

"We have got to enter into a different kind of workplace. For a very long time, five or six years, wages have been suppressed in low wage sectors. I am sending a signal that we are entering a very different environment," he said.

In a further sign that cost of living issues are set to dominate the annual party conference season, his Lib Dem colleague - Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander - urged employers to ensure that staff benefited in their pay packets as profits picked up again.

"It's not for me as a Treasury minister to start telling employers what their pay policies should be, that's a matter for firms," he told The Daily Telegraph.

"But of course, as growth returns to our economy and we see businesses being successful, the workforce will want to and should share in that success."

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Bank Seven-Day Switch Scheme May Fall Flat

By Poppy Trowbridge, Business and Economics Correspondent

The Government wants banks to work harder to win your business and is backing an initiative to allow customers to swap current accounts within seven working days.

But exclusive research conducted for Sky News reveals that the public is largely unaware of the plan and among those in the know the Government's initiative is unwanted.

From September 16 the so-called 7-Day-Switch scheme will come into effect.

Customers wanting to swap banks can provide their preferred lender with personal details, the bank then makes all the arrangements to bring across salary deposits and bill payments - with a hassle free guarantee.

In a move to revitalise competition in high-street banking, Chancellor George Osborne confirmed the plans back in February after the regulator highlighted how little choice existed in the current account market.

But in a poll of more than 2000 bank customers, 44% of those surveyed said they had never heard of the service.

Of those who had, 53% would not even consider switching when the guarantee is in place.

That is perhaps because 82% say they are happy enough with their current account, another indication that the initiative isn't needed by many.

The four biggest banks in Britain - Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC - control three quarters of the current account market, according to figures from the Office of Fair Trading.

That means switching accounts may not result in drastically better deals at one bank or another.

Ali Steed, a personal finance expert at mymoneydiva.com, says many of the rates and products don't differ much from bank to bank.

"At the moment, because interest rates are actually very low, the amount of money you can actually get on your savings - from anywhere on the high street - is not really going to put you in a position where you can beat inflation."

If the government initiative is to have any immediate effect it is likely to be in customer service.

Michael Ossei, from uSwitch, says: "Banks will have to work harder to both attract new customers and keep their existing ones, which means that accounts must offer better value for money and customer service."

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Santander Bank Hacking Plot: Four In Court

Four men have appeared in court over an attempt to take control of computers at a Santander bank branch to steal millions of pounds.

It is alleged one of the gang posed as an engineer to fit a computer at the branch in Surrey Quays shopping centre, southeast London, with a "keyboard video mouse" (KVM).

The device, which can be purchased online for as little as £10, allegedly allowed them to transmit the contents of the computer's desktop and take control of all computers at the branch.

But the attempt failed and the Spanish bank said "no money was ever at risk".

Lanre Mullins-Abudu, 25, from Putney, southwest London; Dean Outram, 34, from northwest London; Akash Vaghela, 27, from Hounslow, west London; and Asad Ali Qureshi, 35, from southwest London, are charged with conspiracy to steal.

They spoke only to confirm their names and details when they appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Saturday.

They are accused of committing a "very significant and audacious cyber-enabled offence" that would have cost Santander millions of pounds.

Vaghela was granted conditional bail and the others remanded in custody until the next hearing at Southwark Crown Court on September 27.

Eight other people who were arrested were bailed until mid-November pending further inquiries.

A Santander spokesman said no member of staff was involved.

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