CCTA View

Meanwhile, two announcements from the Bank of England were closely scrutinised for what they reveal about the state of lending markets and the nation’s economic prospects more generally. On Tuesday, the Bank’s monthly Financial Stability Report identified consumer lending as a “pocket of risk” and instructed banks to hold an extra £11.4bn in ‘countercyclical buffers’ to guard against related losses. …

Away from the drama at Westminster, Andrew Bailey delivered an important and revealing speech to the BBA retail banking conference on Thursday (the last such to a BBA conference following the body’s official integrated into UK Finance). The speech was notable for its intellectual breadth and insight into banking models, perhaps unsurprising given the speaker’s record of service in the …

As tiresome as it might be, it is hard to get off the topic of national politics at the moment.  Every day Parliament serves up new drama and a kaleidoscope of uncertainty. On the Conservative side, last week brought U-Turns on flagship economic policy led by Cabinet ministers, not the Prime Minister.  On the Labour side, intra-party rebellion followed by …

The Government hangs by a thread and Brexit will dominate the legislative agenda, but four new bills and Jeremy Corbyn will ensure that credit also looms large in parliamentary debate. After a week’s delay and much conjecture about its contents, Her Majesty finally delivered a ‘filleted’ Queen’s Speech on Wednesday.  The occasion was also stripped of much of its pomp …

On the industry front, the big news of last week was FOS’s annual figures for 2016-17.  You can see these in full here. They show an 89% increase in complaints about ‘consumer credit products and services’ from just under 14,000 in 2015/16 to 26,000 in 2016/17.  Of these 10,500 related to payday (up from 3,000 the year before) and 5,000 to hire purchase …

Jeremy Corbyn’s unexpected surge in the polls has certainly shaken up the national picture, but it has also changed the face of the House of Commons in ways we didn’t expect.  There are a number of firsts. It is the most diverse House of Commons ever with a rise in the number of women, LGBT and ethnic minority MPs elected. …

There is very little that’s certain in our national politics at the moment.  Parliament is hung; Theresa May’s premiership hangs by a thread; a week into negotiations and she has yet to strike a ‘confidence and supply’ deal with the DUP.  The contents of the Queen’s Speech remain a mystery and, perhaps most alarmingly, it’s the first day of the …

Strong and stable has not been delivered by the Conservatives, but unsteady and unstable has. At a time when business in all sectors needs a steadying influence as we approach BREXIT, politicians of all hues need to do the right thing, rather than choose political expediency. CCTA will be working with all Parties to ensure that our Members voice is …

In the first of our new CCTA Podcasts, I talk politics with two Westminster heavyweights — The Spectator magazine’s Political Editor, James Forsyth, and former special adviser to both Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson, Patrick Diamond. With only a week to go until polling day, James and Patrick are largely in agreement on the effectiveness of the parties’ campaigns thus …

The need for responsible, fair and transparent short-term credit could be at its greatest ever, as household debt looks set to increase to £15,000 by 2020. Such an increase would mean that access to responsible credit from FCA regulated companies would be essential for many hard-working individuals and families that are just about managing from month to month. The research, …

At a time of major change in both national politics and amongst the trade bodies representing the credit industry, it is essential that businesses have an association capable of fighting their corner in Westminster.  Hence, CCTA is raising its game and doing much more to engage politicians and opinion-formers on behalf of members during the new Parliament from 9 June. …

WHAT TODAY’S CONSERVATIVE MANIFESTO MEANS FOR THE CREDIT INDUSTRY The result of the election seems a foregone conclusion. But manifestos are important nonetheless, not only for the specific policy commitments they contain, but as indicators of the tone and nature of the political debate to come over the next 5 years. For us in the credit industry, there are also …