1.
Bingley
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Bingley is a market town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the town has a population of 19,884 according to the 2001 Census, reducing to 18,294 at the 2011 Census. Local travel links include Bingley railway station in the centre and Leeds Bradford International Airport. The B6265, connecting Bingley to Keighley, runs through the town centre, historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Bingley appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bingheleia. Bingley was probably founded about the time of the Saxons, certainly its name is Saxon in origin, Bingley was founded by a ford on the River Aire. This crossing gave access to Harden, Cullingworth and Wilsden on the side of the river. In the Domesday Book of 1086, Bingley is listed as Bingheleia, with the following entry, Gospatric iiij car tra e ad gld. tra ad ii car Ernegis de burun ht. Silva past ii leu lg & i lat, tot m e iiij leu lg & ii lat Which roughly translated reads, In Bingheleia, Gospatric has a manor of four carucate of land to be taxed, land for two ploughs. Ernegis de Burun has it and it is waste, in the time of King Edward the Confessor it was valued at four pounds. Woodland pasture two leagues long and one broad, All the manor is four long and two broad. The ford was superseded by Ireland Bridge, in medieval times Bingley was a manor which extended several miles up and down the Aire valley, extending upstream to Marley on the outskirts of Keighley and downstream to Cottingley. Bingley became a town with the grant of a Market Charter in 1212 by King John. According to the tax returns of 1379, Bingley had 130 households. The nearby towns of Bradford, Leeds and Halifax had about half this population, at this time Bingley was the largest town in the area. No records tell of how Bingley fared in the Black Death that swept Europe in the 14th century, approximately one third of all the people in Europe died of this plague, sometimes wiping out whole towns and villages. According to the 1379 Poll tax records, the town of Boulton had no survivors worth taxing. It seems Bingley may have got off relatively lightly, in 1592 Bingley was shown on a map by Yorkshire map-maker Christopher Saxton as a single street with about 20 houses on each side. The church sits at the west end of the street opposite a large house
2.
Asset
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In financial accounting, an asset is an economic resource. Anything tangible or intangible that can be owned or controlled to produce value, simply stated, assets represent value of ownership that can be converted into cash. The balance sheet of a firm records the value of the assets owned by that firm. It covers money and other valuables belonging to an individual or to a business, one can classify assets into two major asset classes, tangible assets and intangible assets. Tangible assets contain various subclasses, including current assets and fixed assets, current assets include inventory, while fixed assets include such items as buildings and equipment. Intangible assets are resources and rights that have a value to the firm because they give the firm some kind of advantage in the marketplace. Examples of intangible assets include goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, patents and computer programs, an asset is a resource controlled by the entity as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the entity. One of the most widely accepted accounting definitions of asset is the one used by the International Accounting Standards Board, employees are not considered assets like machinery is, even though they can generate future economic benefits. This is because an entity does not have sufficient control over its employees to satisfy the Frameworks definition of an asset, similarly, in economics an asset is any form in which wealth can be held. The accounting equation is the structure of the balance sheet. It relates assets, liabilities, and owners equity, Assets = Liabilities + Capital Liabilities = Assets − Capital Equity = Assets − Liabilities Assets are listed on the balance sheet. On a companys balance sheet certain divisions are required by generally accepted accounting principles, Assets can be divided into e. g. current assets and fixed assets, often with further subdivisions such as cash, receivables and inventory. Assets are formally controlled and managed within larger organizations via the use of asset tracking tools and these monitor the purchasing, upgrading, servicing, licensing, disposal etc. of both physical and non-physical assets. Current assets are cash and other assets expected to be converted to cash or consumed either in a year or in the operating cycle and these assets are continually turned over in the course of a business during normal business activity. There are 5 major items included into current assets, Cash and cash equivalents – it is the most liquid asset, which includes currency, deposit accounts, short-term investments – include securities bought and held for sale in the near future to generate income on short-term price differences. Receivables – usually reported as net of allowance for non-collectable accounts, inventory – trading these assets is a normal business of a company. The inventory value reported on the sheet is usually the historical cost or fair market value. This is known as the lower of cost or market rule, prepaid expenses – these are expenses paid in cash and recorded as assets before they are used or consumed
3.
Government of the United Kingdom
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Her Majestys Government, commonly referred to as the UK government or British government, is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The government is led by the Prime Minister, who all the remaining ministers. The prime minister and the other most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, the government ministers all sit in Parliament, and are accountable to it. After an election, the monarch selects as prime minister the leader of the party most likely to command a majority of MPs in the House of Commons. Under the uncodified British constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the prime minister, the Cabinet members advise the monarch as members of the Privy Council. They also exercise power directly as leaders of the Government Departments, the current prime minister is Theresa May, who took office on 13 July 2016. She is the leader of the Conservative Party, which won a majority of seats in the House of Commons in the election on 7 May 2015. Prior to this, Cameron and the Conservatives led a government from 2010 to 2015 with the Liberal Democrats. A key principle of the British Constitution is that the government is responsible to Parliament, Britain is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch does not make any open political decisions. All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament and this constitutional state of affairs is the result of a long history of constraining and reducing the political power of the monarch, beginning with the Magna Carta in 1215. Parliament is split into two houses, the House of Lords and the House of Commons, the House of Commons is the lower house and is the more powerful. The House of Lords is the house and although it can vote to amend proposed laws. Parliamentary time is essential for bills to be passed into law, Ministers of the Crown are responsible to the House in which they sit, they make statements in that House and take questions from members of that House. For most senior ministers this is usually the elected House of Commons rather than the House of Lords, since the start of Edward VIIs reign, in 1901, the prime minister has always been an elected member of Parliament and therefore directly accountable to the House of Commons. Under the British system the government is required by convention and for reasons to maintain the confidence of the House of Commons. It requires the support of the House of Commons for the maintenance of supply, by convention if a government loses the confidence of the House of Commons it must either resign or a General Election is held. The support of the Lords, while useful to the government in getting its legislation passed without delay, is not vital, a government is not required to resign even if it loses the confidence of the Lords and is defeated in key votes in that House. The House of Commons is thus the Responsible house, the prime minister is held to account during Prime Ministers Question Time which provides an opportunity for MPs from all parties to question the PM on any subject
4.
Bradford & Bingley
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Bradford & Bingley plc was a British bank with headquarters in the West Yorkshire town of Bingley. The branch network was rebranded Santander on 11 January 2010 and the Bradford & Bingley name now solely relates to the section of the bank. In May 1997 the Society bought Mortgage Express from Lloyds TSB for £64 million, the issue had not been helped when TPG Capital, who had previously agreed to take a 23% stake in the Company, withdrew their support. Due to the effects of the crunch, in September 2008 the companys share price dropped to a record low. On 25 September they announced that 370 jobs were to go, the bank had also been seeking options from the Financial Services Authority and the government to secure the future of the company. Options included selling the company to bank or nationalisation. With Bradford & Bingley being nationalised, the structure was already in place from the involved in the nationalisation of the Northern Rock bank in February. The European regulators approved the governments plan for Bradford & Bingley after just 24 hours. There were reports from sources that Bradford & Bingley was to be nationalised in its entirety. On 29 September 2008 it was announced that the Spanish Santander Group would acquire all of Bradford & Bingleys £20 billion savings business, Santander paid £612 million, including the transfer of £208 million of capital relating to offshore companies. Bradford & Bingleys 197 retail branches,141 agencies and related employees were transferred to Santanders subsidiary Abbey, the mortgage book, personal loan book, headquarters, treasury assets and its wholesale liabilities were taken into public ownership and closed to new business. When the shares closed on 26 September they were worth 20 pence each, valuing the bank at £256 million, in March 2006 the bank had been valued at £3.2 billion. In November 2008 the government set up a new company, UK Financial Investments, to manage the shareholdings in Northern Rock, Bradford & Bingleys shareholders were not reimbursed for their shares which the government had taken over. Over 300 shareholders complained to the UK Shareholders Association that they had not received information relating to the fate of their holdings, clokeys assessment was published on 5 July 2010, finding that shareholders were not entitled to any compensation. On 11 January 2010, the business of Abbey and Bradford & Bingley was renamed Santander UK plc. Alliance & Leicester was rebranded at the end of November 2010, on 25 January 2010, the European Commission approved the state aid given to the bank. On 24 March 2010 UKFI announced the merger of the business with the bad bank of Northern Rock. The two businesses were merged together under a holding company, UK Asset Resolution, on 1 October 2010
5.
West Yorkshire
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West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England. It is an inland and in relative terms upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in moors of the Pennines and has a population of 2.2 million, West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. West Yorkshire consists of five boroughs and shares borders with the counties of Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire. In the heart of the county is Leeds Bradford International Airport, West Yorkshire County Council was abolished in 1986 so its five districts became effectively unitary authorities. However, the county, which covers an area of 2,029 square kilometres, continues to exist in law. West Yorkshire includes the West Yorkshire Urban Area, which is the most built-up, West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council inherited the use of West Riding County Hall at Wakefield, opened in 1898, from the West Riding County Council in 1974. Since 1987 it has been the headquarters of Wakefield City Council, the county initially had a two-tier structure of local government with a strategic-level county council and five districts providing most services. In 1986, throughout England the metropolitan county councils were abolished, the functions of the county council were devolved to the boroughs, joint-boards covering fire, police and public transport, and to other special joint arrangements. Organisations such as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive continue to operate on this basis, although the county council was abolished, West Yorkshire continues to form a metropolitan and ceremonial county with a Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire and a High Sheriff. Wakefields Parish Church was raised to cathedral status in 1888 and after the elevation of Wakefield to diocese, Wakefield Council immediately sought city status and this was granted in July 1888. However the industrial revolution, which changed West and South Yorkshire significantly, led to the growth of Leeds and Bradford, Leeds was granted city status in 1893 and Bradford in 1897. The name of Leeds Town Hall reflects the fact that at its opening in 1858 Leeds was not yet a city, the county borders, going anticlockwise from the west, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. It lies almost entirely on rocks of carboniferous age which form the southern Pennine fringes in the west, in the extreme east of the metropolitan county there are younger deposits of magnesian limestone. The Bradford and Calderdale areas are dominated by the scenery of the slopes of the Pennines, dropping from upland in the west down to the east. There is a conjunction of large scale industry, urban areas. The dense network of roads, canals and railways and urban development, the carboniferous rocks of the Yorkshire coalfield further east have produced a rolling landscape with hills, escarpments and broad valleys. In this landscape there is evidence of both current and former industrial activity. There are numerous derelict or converted mine buildings and recently landscaped former spoil heaps, the scenery is a mixture of built up areas, industrial land with some dereliction, and farmed open country
6.
NRAM Limited
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NRAM Limited is a British asset holding and management company which was split away from the Northern Rock bank in 2010. It is currently under ownership, due to the banks nationalisation in 2008. The company continues to service a residential mortgage book of approximately £50 billion, NRAM comprises the bad debts of the former Northern Rock bank and is described as the bad bank. The remainder, Northern Rock plc, was designated the good bank, since nationalisation, the assets of NRAM have been sold off in parts, most recently with the sale of £13 billion of mortgages and loans to Cerberus Capital Management in November 2015. Northern Rock plc was renamed from Northern Rock plc on 31 December 2009, therefore, the current legal entity which exists as Northern Rock company is in fact the company of the Northern Rock Building Society which turned into a bank in 1997. At 00,01 on 22 February 2008 the bank was taken into state ownership, the nationalisation was a result of two unsuccessful bids to take over the bank, neither being able to fully commit to repayment of taxpayers money. To better control the assets of the bank it was decided to split the company in two, forming the new bank and leaving this company as the so-called bad-bank. On 24 March 2010 UKFI announced its intention to integrate Northern Rock plc, in October 2010, Bradford & Bingley plc and Northern Rock plc were brought together under a single holding company, UK Asset Resolution Ltd. On 3 August 2010 the company announced pre-tax profits £349. 7m for the first six months of the year, on 1 October 2010 the bank announced that another £700 million had been paid off of the loan in the last three months. During 2011 £2 billion of the loan was repaid, on 23 July it was announced that Virgin Money would be acquiring £465 million worth of mortgage assets from Northern Rock plc. In December 2012 an administrative error was uncovered in the wording of the agreements made by the bank in 2008 for around 152,000 customers. As a result of the error the affected customers, who were borrowing £25,000 or less, in December 2014, the High Court ruled that the compensation must be paid in a test case that NRAM brought against one of its employees. This was later reversed by the Court of Appeal in July 2015, in July 2013, private equity firm JC Flowers agreed to buy $450 million of the banks loans from the British Government. On 16 May 2014 the company changed its name from Northern Rock plc to the shorter NRAM plc, in 2015 UK Financial Investments announced it would seek expressions of interest for the divestment of mortgage servicing capabilities of the business as well as the Granite securitisation vehicle. UKFI appointed Moelis & Company as advisers for the divestments, the legal entity of NRAM plc became known as Landmark Mortgages Limited after the sale to Cerberus, and NRAM Limited was renamed to NRAM Limited in 2016. Upon Completion of the acquisition of NRAM plc, Cerberus sold £3.3 billion of mortgages to the UK bank TSB, Northern Rock holds and services the majority of existing mortgage and unsecured loan accounts. The company does not offer any new products and has no branches, the registered office was also initially Northern Rock House but is now in Bingley. NRAM held the assets of the Granite securitisation vehicle, created by Northern Rock in 2001 to parcel up the mortgages provided by the bank, in 2008 Granite had a value of around £45 billion
7.
Northern Rock
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Northern Rock, formerly the Northern Rock Building Society, was a British bank. It was based at Regent Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, having failed to find a commercial buyer, it was taken into public ownership in 2008, and was then bought by Virgin Money in 2012. During 2012 the Northern Rock brand was phased out and replaced by Virgin, Northern Rock Building Society became Northern Rock bank in 1997 when the society floated on the London Stock Exchange. Northern Rock Building Society was formed in 1965 as a result of the merger of two North East Building Societies, the Northern Counties Permanent Building Society and the Rock Building Society. During the 30 years that followed, Northern Rock expanded by acquiring 53 smaller building societies, along with many other UK building societies in the 1990s, Northern Rock chose to demutualise as a building society and float on the stock exchange as a bank. Northern Rock chose to address concerns by founding the Northern Rock Foundation. At its Stock Exchange flotation Northern Rock distributed shares to members with savings accounts and mortgage loans and it joined the stock exchange as a minor bank and was expected to be taken over by one of its larger rivals, but it remained independent. In 2000 Northern Rock gained promotion to the FTSE100 Index, the bank was more exposed than others to restrictions in the supply of credit because of the way it had funded its expansion. The bank was nationalised at 00,01 on 22 February 2008 following two unsuccessful bids to take over the bank, neither being able to commit to repayment of taxpayers money. In doing so the Government effectively took ownership of the insolvent institution away from its shareholders, the media reported cases where some shareholders had their life savings in the shares, which were taken from them. The shares had already lost over 90% of their value prior to nationalization and this would later form part of shareholders action to seek compensation as, at that point, the aid was certain and the company had never stopped operating as a going concern. On 1 January 2010 the bank was split into two parts, assets and banking, the sale went through on 1 January 2012. The government said it had no plans to sell Northern Rock, there would be no further job losses, except for the ones already announced. Virgin also pledged to keep the headquarters of the bank in Newcastle upon Tyne, the combined business now operates under the Virgin Money brand. On 12 October 2012 Northern Rock plc was renamed Virgin Money plc, by this time the Northern Rock website had effectively become a soft redirect to Virgin Moneys website. This problem had been anticipated by the markets, which drew greater attention to it. On 14 September 2007, the bank sought and received a liquidity support facility from the Bank of England and this led to panic among individual depositors, who feared that their savings might not be available should Northern Rock go into receivership. The bank is managed at arms length by the government through UK Financial Investments, the bank planned to repay the government debt within three to four years, primarily by encouraging mortgage customers to take their mortgage to another lender
8.
Gosforth
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Gosforth is an affluent, well established area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, situated to the north of the city centre. Gosforth constituted an urban district from 1895 to 1974, when it became part of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne and it has a population of 23,620. There are two wards that bear the Gosforth name, East Gosforth and West Gosforth, and modern-day Gosforth includes other wards such as Parklands. Richard Welford notes that the names of North and South Gosforth come from the north and south of the River Ouse, in 1777, Gosforth contained 7 townships of North Gosforth, South Gosforth, Coxlodge, Kenton, Fawdon, East Brunton and West Brunton. By order of the Local Government Board on 20 September 1872, after the 1894 Local Government Act, it became the South Gosforth Urban District Council. A year later, by a Northumberland County Council order dated 14 March 1895, on 9 September 1903, an inquiry was held into the Gosforth Scheme, but the proposal was refused. The parishes of Coxlodge and South Gosforth were amalgamated into the parish of Gosforth in 1908, Gosforth then extended its boundaries after the County of Northumberland Review Order 1935, to include part of Castle Ward Rural District. This comprised parts of East Brunton, Fawdon and North Gosforth civil parishes, the Gosforth Urban District Council was finally abolished on 1 April 1974 to become part of the City of Newcastle Metropolitan Borough Council. In the 19th century, Gosforth was the location of a number of collieries, including Gosforth, Gosforth Colliery was located in South Gosforth, while Coxlodge Colliery was west of the Great North Road. Coxlodge Colliery comprised three pits, the Bower Pit, the Regent or Engine Pit, where the Regent Centre now stands, the modern-day centre of Gosforth, straddling the Great North Road, originated in 1826 as a settlement known for several decades as Bulman Village. A stone bearing the name Bulman Village survives and was incorporated in the façade of a later building, the Blacksmiths Arms public house on Gosforth High Street stands on the site of the original blacksmiths forge. At the 2001 census there were 23,620 people living in Gosforth, in the 19th century Gosforths population was largely deemed by the coal trade. In 1801 there were 1,385 inhabitants, most of whom lived in Kenton, in 1831 the population had risen to 3,546, partly due to the opening of the Fawdon and Coxlodge collieries. Between 1831 and 1871 the population grew by a very small amount to 3,723. There have been a number of finds in Gosforth, with the earliest piece being a prehistoric flint flake that was found in 1959. In 1863 a 2nd-century Greek Colonial coin was found in a garden in Bulman Village, a Roman altar was found in North Gosforth. It has a business complex called the Regent Centre, which houses organisations including HM Revenue & Customs. Gosforths main high school is Gosforth Academy, and some of the schools in Gosforth are Westfield School
9.
Newcastle upon Tyne
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Newcastle is the most populous city in the North East and forms the core of the Tyneside conurbation, the eighth most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. Newcastle is a member of the English Core Cities Group and is a member of the Eurocities network of European cities. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it became a county of itself, the regional nickname and dialect for people from Newcastle and the surrounding area is Geordie. Newcastle also houses Newcastle University, a member of the Russell Group, the city developed around the Roman settlement Pons Aelius and was named after the castle built in 1080 by Robert Curthose, William the Conquerors eldest son. The city grew as an important centre for the trade in the 14th century. The port developed in the 16th century and, along with the lower down the River Tyne, was amongst the worlds largest shipbuilding and ship-repairing centres. Newcastles economy includes corporate headquarters, learning, digital technology, retail, tourism and cultural centres, among its icons are Newcastle United football club and the Tyne Bridge. Since 1981 the city has hosted the Great North Run, a marathon which attracts over 57,000 runners each year. The first recorded settlement in what is now Newcastle was Pons Aelius and it was given the family name of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who founded it in the 2nd century AD. This rare honour suggests Hadrian may have visited the site and instituted the bridge on his tour of Britain, Pons Aelius population at this period was estimated at 2,000. Fragments of Hadrians Wall are visible in parts of Newcastle, particularly along the West Road, the course of the Roman Wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort in Wallsend—the walls end—and to the supply fort Arbeia in South Shields. After the Roman departure from Britain, completed in 410, Newcastle became part of the powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, conflicts with the Danes in 876 left the river Tyne and its settlements in ruin. After the conflicts with the Danes, and following the 1088 rebellion against the Normans, Monkchester was all, because of its strategic position, Robert Curthose, son of William the Conqueror, erected a wooden castle there in the year 1080. The town was known as Novum Castellum or New Castle. The wooden structure was replaced by a castle in 1087. The castle was again in 1172 during the reign of Henry II. Much of the keep which can be seen in the city dates from this period. Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was Englands northern fortress, incorporated first by Henry II, the city had a new charter granted by Elizabeth in 1589
10.
Virgin Money UK
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Virgin Money plc is a UK-based bank and financial services company owned by the Virgin Group and founded by Sir Richard Branson in March 1995. It was originally known as Virgin Direct, and pioneered index tracking by launching a value Personal Equity Plan into the market, in the 2000s Virgin Money expanded its operations around the world. Virgin Money announced plans to become a bank, and attempted to purchase Northern Rock in 2007 before it was nationalised by the British Government. Virgin applied for its own banking licence from the Financial Services Authority in 2009, Virgin bought Northern Rock plc in January 2012 and rebranded the business as Virgin Money. The holding company for Virgin Money, Virgin Money Holdings plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE250 Index, in 1997 Australias AMP bought Norwich Unions 50% stake in Virgin Direct. In 2000, virginmoney. com was launched as a comparison website. In 2001 RBS bought out Virgins stake in the One Account joint venture, in 2002, Virgin Direct merged with virginmoney. com to form the current company. In the 2000s Virgin Money expanded its operations around the world, in April 2004 the Virgin Group took 100% ownership of Virgin Money, buying the remaining 50% stake for £90 million from AMPs HHG arm. In 2007 Virgin made a bid to acquire the Northern Rock bank and you will see us become a consumer bank within the next couple of years. In October 2009, Virgin Money applied to the FSA for a banking licence. In February 2011 they announced their intention to lease an office in Edinburgh. On 8 January 2010, Virgin Money announced the acquisition of Church House Trust for £12.3 million, although Church House Trust had no branches, it provided Virgin with a banking licence. As part of the acquisition, Virgin agreed to invest a further £37.3 million of new capital into the business, on 26 January the deal was declared unconditional. In late January Sir Brian Pitman became the Chairman of Virgin Money, following Pitmans death Sir David Clementi was appointed Chairman. In April 2010, WL Ross & Co, LLC invested £100 million in Virgin Money for a 21% stake in the company. WL Ross had previously supported Virgin Money in their previous bid for Northern Rock, james Lockhart, Vice Chairman of WL Ross, joined the Virgin Money board. The initial bid was not successful and Northern Rock was then nationalised, during 2011 the Government again asked suitors to come forward with proposals for Northern Rock. On 17 November 2011, it was announced that Virgin Money were to buy Northern Rock plc for £747 million, by July 2012 a further £73 million was paid as deferred consideration
11.
Regent Centre
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Regent Centre is a large business park in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The Centre is home to a variety of companies, including banking group Virgin Money whose Head Office is located on the site, the Centre has its own transport interchange with a station on the Tyne and Wear Metro and integrated bus station. North British Properties started to build Regent Centre in 1970 and finished in 1981, at completion it was the largest office complex in Europe, the land is the former site of the Regent Pit of the Coxlodge Colliery. The centre unveiled a new logo and identity in late 2008, the current owner-developer is Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate who purchased it along with the rest of the Fordgate Groups Jupiter Portfolio in June 2014. Regent Centre houses the Regional HQ of HM Revenue & Customs as well as the DVLA, other tenants include the Labour Party, and Gleeds. Notable former tenants have included The Sage Group and AMEC, the Newcastle regional centre for the Open University was housed here, although it was relocated to Gateshead in 2009. There is also a hair salon/coffee shop as well as a physiotherapy specialist, previously there had been a branch of Barclays Bank located in the Regent Centre buildings. There is also an Asda superstore close by, which in mid 2007 had an extension built which houses a Restaurant, across from ASDA there is a Marks & Spencer food store, that site used to house a furniture store, and had previously been a Jaguar Cars showroom. Gosforth High Street is also within a few minutes walk, st Charles Primary school is located on Regent Farm Road, across from the Virgin Money buildings, between Regent Centre and a housing estate, Regent Farm Estate. Planning applications were granted to expand and modernise a large section of the Regent Centre site, in April 2007, work began on this area of land which is also called Regent Point, building work began in early 2008 on the 100,000 sq ft building. It is a four story building with a glazed corner tower. This plot was vacant from many years, as the original Regent Centre building which occupied it was demolished in 1999, there have been many different accepted plans for this site, including plans for a 5 story building in 1998. In 2004 there were plans for a 7 story building with space on the ground floor. Developer Fordgate Group appointed Bowmer & Kirkland as the contractor for Regent Point. The architects were Howarth Litchfield Partnership, The consulting engineers were Cundall, caunton Engineering Ltd supplied and erected over 600 tonnes of beam and column structural steelwork. The building has a BREEAM rating of Excellent, in November 2013, Regent Point was purchased by the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust, represented by GVA, for an disclosed sum. The Virgin Money bank has its headquarters on a site that is adjacent to and this complex is called Jubilee House. The Red Box Design Group has been involved with the development of all of the standing buildings for the bank
12.
Moelis & Company
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Moelis & Company is a global independent investment bank that provides financial advisory services to corporations, governments and financial sponsors. The firm advises on strategic decisions such as mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings and it was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in New York, with 17 offices in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. It has 650 employees including 450 investment bankers, of the 100 managing directors, averaging more than 20 years of experience each,66 are former sector and product heads. Matthew Prest, the head of European corporate finance firm Close Brothers. Early European restructuring mandates included the £1.5 billion recapitalization of the Co-operative Bank, in June 2009 Mark Aedy joined Moelis as head of EMEA Investment Banking based in the London office. Early mandates in Europe included advising Natixis on the €30.0 billion disposal of most of its complex credit derivative portfolio, in August 2009 Moelis opened an office in Sydney, Australia, led by a team from JP Morgan. The firm opened a Dubai office in January 2011 while advising the Government of Dubai on the $24.9 billion restructuring of its investment holding company, the firm also expanded into Asia by opening a Hong Kong office. In January 2012, Moelis announced an alliance agreement with the second largest Japanese bank, SMBC. Together they have advised on significant cross-border M&A, including Osaka Securities Exchanges ¥278.4 billion combination with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, in March 2014, the firm expanded into South America, opening an office in São Paulo, Brazil. In April 2014, the firm completed its public offering. Moelis had advised on over $1 trillion in transactions by the time of its IPO, employees maintain ownership of the majority of the company. In June 2014, Moelis established a private funds advisory business with four hires, in February 2015, the firm opened its Washington DC office, following the hire of Eric Cantor, former House Majority Leader, in September 2014. In April 2017, the firm held a public offering for its Australian business
13.
Cerberus Capital Management
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Cerberus Capital Management, L. P. is an American private equity firm, specializing in distressed investing. The firm is based in New York City, and run by Steve Feinberg, who co-founded Cerberus in 1992 with William L. Richter, who currently serves as a senior managing director. The firm has affiliate and/or advisory offices in the United States, Europe and Asia Cerberus has more than US$40 billion under management in funds, the company is a U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission Registered Investment Advisor. Investors include government and private sector pension and retirement funds, charitable foundations, university endowments, insurance companies, family savings, Cerberus is named after the mythological three-headed dog that guarded the gates of Hades. Feinberg has stated to his employees that while the Cerberus name seemed like an idea at the time. Over time, Cerberus has grown to include 11 offices in 9 countries, the firm is active in private equity investment, lending, specialty finance, real estate investment, and securities trading. The firm’s current investment portfolio includes more than 40 companies around the world with a hold time of more than five years. Cerberus maintains the Cerberus Operations & Advisory Company LLC of senior operating executives to support the firm’s due diligence, Cerberus utilizes an operations team of over 100 staff, approximately half of whom are currently employed by portfolio companies, to help source, analyze and monitor portfolio investments. On July 1,2016, Cerberus Capital Management acquired ABC Group, on June 23,2016, GE announced a sale of its consumer finance business, GE Money Bank, to an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management. On May 27,2016, Cerberus Capital Management sold its 57% state in Blue Bird Corporation, on December 17,2015, Cerberus Capital Management announced a $605 million strategic partnership with Avon Products, Inc. According to terms of the agreement, Cerberus will be buying 80% of Avon North America, in addition, the investment will result in a nearly 17% stake in Avon Products, Inc. On March 6,2014, Cerberus announced a Definitive Merger Agreement with already owned Albertsons, September 16,2013, Cerberus closed Accurate Metal Solutions. Over 400 employees at 2 locations, Anaheim, CA and Oxnard, CA, on December 18,2012, the company began divesting its assets in Freedom Group. As of September 24,2013, they had not sold any of the Freedom Group, on May 31,2012, Cerberus Capital Management completed the sale of textile company Guilford Mills to Lear Corporation. On March 8,2012, an affiliate of Cerberus closed its acquisition of a controlling interest in AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive, AT&T received approximately $750 million in cash, a $200 million note and a 47-percent equity interest in YP Holdings LLC. David Krantz, former CEO and president of AT&T Interactive, was named CEO of YP, on January 18,2012, RG Steel, LLC announced that affiliates of Cerberus committed new capital to the company. On October 27,2011 Cerberus and Chatham Lodging Trust closed their purchase of Innkeepers USA Trust for $1.02 billion, Innkeepers operates hotels, including the Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, and other brands. On October 4,2011, Cerberus and Garanti Securities announced the formation of a joint initiative to pursue investments in Turkey with a commitment of $400 million
14.
HM Treasury
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The leading pronoun in the departments name varies depending upon the gender of the reigning monarch. The beginnings of the Treasury of England have been traced by some to a known as Henry the Treasurer. This claim is based on an entry in the Domesday Book showing the individual Henry the treasurer as a landowner in Winchester, where the royal treasure was stored. The Treasury of the United Kingdom thus traces its origins to the Treasury of the Kingdom of England, the Treasury emerged from the Royal Household. It was where the king kept his treasures, the head of the Treasury was called the Lord Treasurer. Starting in Tudor times, the Lord Treasurer became one of the officers of state. In 1667, Charles II of England was responsible for appointing George Downing, the builder of Downing Street, to reform the Treasury. The Treasury was first put in commission in May or June 1660, the first commissioners were the Duke of Albermarle, Lord Ashley, W. Coventry, J. Duncomb, and T. Clifford. After 1714, the Treasury was always in commission, the commissioners were referred to as the Lords of the Treasury and were given a number based on their seniority. Until 1827, the First Lord of the Treasury, when a commoner, also held the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, while if the First Lord was a peer, since 1827, however, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has always been Second Lord of the Treasury. During the time when the Treasury was under commission, the junior Lords were each paid £1600 a year, some of the other whips are nominally Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury, though they are all members of the House of Commons. Whip is a party, rather than a government, position and this has led to the Government front bench in the Commons being known as the Treasury Bench. However, since the no longer have any effective ministerial roles in the Treasury. Lord Young of Cookham, who serves currently as a government whip in the House of Lords, has named as Treasury spokesman. Ramsden is now sole Head of the GES, the previous Head of the GES was Sir Nick Stern. Management support for GES members is provided by the Economists in Government team, banknotes in the UK are normally issued by the Bank of England and a number of commercial banks. Treasury notes had full legal status and were not convertible for gold through the Bank of England. They replaced the coin in circulation to prevent a run on sterling
15.
Prudential plc
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Prudential plc is a British multinational life insurance and financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in London in May 1848 as The Prudential Mutual Assurance Investment and Loan Association to provide loans to professional and its Prudential UK division has around 7 million customers and is a leading provider of life insurance and pensions in the UK. In December 2013 Prudential acquired the Ghanaian life insurance company, Express Life, Prudential subsequently rebranded the business as Prudential Ghana. In September 2014, it purchased Kenyan life insurer Shield Assurance, Prudential has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE100 Index. It had a capitalisation of approximately £41,630 million as of 4 February 2015. Prudential has secondary listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, the company was founded on 30 May 1848 in Hatton Garden in London as The Prudential Mutual Assurance Investment and Loan Association providing loans to professional and working people. The army of premium collection agents was for many years identified with the Prudential as the Man from the Pru and it moved to its traditional home at Holborn Bars in 1879 and converted to a limited company in 1881. The Prudential Assurance Company Limited was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1924, in 1986, Prudential acquired the American insurer Jackson National Life. In 1997, Prudential acquired Scottish Amicable, a business founded in 1826 in Glasgow as the West of Scotland Life Insurance Company, in 1998, Prudential set up Egg, an internet bank within the UK. The subsidiary reached 550,000 customers within nine months but had difficulty achieving profitability, in June 2000 an initial public offering of 21% was made to allow for further growth of the internet business but in February 2006 Prudential decided to repurchase the 21% share of Egg. Egg was subsequently sold to Citibank in January 2007, in 1999, M&G, a UK fund management company, was acquired. In June 2000, the Company was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange to help focus on the US market, in October 2004 Prudential launched a new subsidiary, PruHealth, a joint venture with Discovery Holdings of South Africa selling private medical insurance to the UK market. In April 2008 Prudential outsourced its back office functions to Capita, on 1 March 2010, Prudential announced that it was in advanced talks to purchase the pan-Asian life insurance company of AIG, American International Assurance for approximately £23 billion. The deal later collapsed and AIA ended up raising money in an IPO, in December 2013, Prudential announced the purchase of Ghana’s Express Life Company. Express Life was subsequently rebranded as Prudential Ghana, in September 2014, Prudential purchased Kenyan life insurer Shield Assurance and rebranded it as Prudential Kenya, further expanding the company’s presence in Africa. On 10 March 2015, it was announced that the CEO, Tidjane Thiam, would leave Prudential to become the next CEO of Credit Suisse. On 1 May 2015, it was announced that Mike Wells, head of the companys US business, would succeed Tidjane Thiam as CEO, the Company has four business units, Prudential UK, Europe & Africa, the business offers pensions, annuities, savings and investments. They are particularly known for the sale of with-profit bonds and pensions, corporate pension schemes, bulk annuities
16.
The Blackstone Group
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The Blackstone Group L. P. is an American multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services firm based in New York City. As the largest alternative investment firm in the world, Blackstone specializes in equity, credit. Blackstone was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions boutique by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, over the course of two decades, Blackstone has evolved into one of the worlds largest private equity investment firms. In 2007, Blackstone completed a $4 billion initial public offering to become one of the first major private equity firms to list shares in its management company on a public exchange. Hamilton E. James is the current president, chief operating officer, as of 2011, Blackstone is the worlds fifth-largest private equity firm by committed capital, focusing primarily on leveraged buyouts of more mature companies. The firm also invests through minority investments, corporate partnerships, and industry consolidations, the firm focuses on friendly investments in large capitalization companies. Blackstones private equity business employs approximately 120 investment employees in New York City, London, Menlo Park, California, Mumbai, Hong Kong, in 2009 Blackstone purchased Busch Entertainment. In 2012, Blackstone acquired a controlling interest in Utah-based Vivint, Inc. a home automation, security, former notable investments include Universal Studios Parks, which was sold to Comcast. The real estate business has raised approximately $28 billion for a variety of vehicles, including six US-focused funds. Blackstone also raised a real estate special situations fund focusing on non-controlling debt, the special situations fund invests directly in real estate as well as private and publicly traded real estate-related securities. The purchase and subsequent profitable IPO of Southern Cross led to controversy in the UK, part of the purchase involved splitting the business into a property company, NHP, and a care home business, which Blackstone claimed would become the leading company in the elderly care market. In May 2011, Southern Cross, now independent, was almost bankrupt and it denied blame, although Blackstone was widely accused in the media for selling on the company with an unsustainable business model and crippled with an impossible sale and leaseback strategy. After the subprime mortgage crisis, Blackstone Group LP has bought more than $5.5 billion single-family homes for rent, to be sold when the prices rise. Blackstone has agreed to sell a selection of Northern California office buildings for the sum of $3.5 billion, in 1990, Blackstone created a fund of hedge funds business to manage the internal assets for Blackstone and its senior managers. Over the years, this evolved into Blackstones marketable alternative asset management segment. Among the investments included in this segment are funds of funds, mezzanine funds, senior debt vehicles, proprietary hedge funds. The combination of Blackstone and GSO created one of the largest credit platforms in the asset management business. GSO was founded in 2005 by Bennett Goodman, Tripp Smith, the GSO team had previously managed the leveraged finance businesses at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and later Credit Suisse First Boston, after the acquisition of DLJ
17.
Companies House
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Companies House is the United Kingdoms registrar of companies and is an executive agency and trading fund of Her Majestys Government. It falls under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy, all forms of companies are incorporated and registered with Companies House and file specific details as required by the current Companies Act 2006. All registered limited companies, including subsidiary, small and inactive companies, must file annual financial statements in addition to annual company returns, only some registered unlimited companies are exempt from this requirement. The United Kingdom has had a system of company registration since 1844, the legislation governing company registration matters is the Companies Act 2006. Company registration in Scotland commenced in 1856, with the first company registered being The Daily Bulletin Limited, the remaining staff were transferred to the office of the Queens and Lord Treasurers Remembrancer, who took on the role of Registrar of Companies for Scotland. England and Wales are treated as an entity with a unified register. Companies must advise Companies House of their registered office, which may be in England and Wales, in Scotland. Consequently, on incorporation, companies will be either Registered in England and Wales, Registered in Scotland, the Companies House office in Cardiff handles companies incorporated in England and Wales. These companies are subject to English law, there was another office at Nantgarw, Wales, however this location was closed in 2011. The London office at Abbey Orchard Street is purely a facility to file and view documents, the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales is the Chief Executive Tim Moss. The role of Chief Registrar is not a one and the incumbent is a civil servant. The previous Chief Executive was Gareth Jones, Companies House is also responsible for dissolving companies. The Edinburgh office handles companies incorporated in Scotland and these companies are subject to Scots law. The Registrar of Companies for Scotland is Aoife Martin, the Companies Act 2006 was fully implemented on 1 October 2009 and the Northern Ireland companies register was fully integrated into Companies House. Companies House maintains an office in Belfast, headed by the Registrar of Companies for Northern Ireland. Before 1 October 2009 all limited companies in Northern Ireland were registered with the Department of Enterprise, Trade, in February 2008, The Times and Computer Weekly broke a story that almost 4,000 of the names on the Companies House register of director. All UK limited companies have at least one person acting in the director role. In this post, we’re going to look at what this position entails, were on international watchlists of alleged fraudsters, money launderers, terror financiers and corrupt officials
18.
BBC News
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BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the worlds largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, the service maintains 50 foreign news bureaux with more than 250 correspondents around the world. James Harding has been Director of News and Current Affairs since April 2013, the departments annual budget is in excess of £350 million, it has 3,500 staff,2,000 of whom are journalists. BBC News domestic, global and online news divisions are housed within the largest live newsroom in Europe, parliamentary coverage is produced and broadcast from studios in Millbank in London. Through the BBC English Regions, the BBC also has regional centres across England, as well as national news centres in Northern Ireland, Scotland, all nations and English regions produce their own local news programmes and other current affairs and sport programmes. As with all media outlets, though, it has been accused of political bias from across the political spectrum. The British Broadcasting Company broadcast its first radio bulletin from radio station 2LO on 14 November 1922, on Easter weekend in 1930, this reliance on newspaper wire services left the radio news service with no information to report. The BBC gradually gained the right to edit the copy and, in 1934, however, it could not broadcast news before 6 PM until World War II. Gaumont British and Movietone cinema newsreels had been broadcast on the TV service since 1936, a weekly Childrens Newsreel was inaugurated on 23 April 1950, to around 350,000 receivers. The network began simulcasting its radio news on television in 1946, televised bulletins began on 5 July 1954, broadcast from leased studios within Alexandra Palace in London. The publics interest in television and live events was stimulated by Elizabeth IIs coronation in 1953 and it is estimated that up to 27 million people viewed the programme in the UK, overtaking radios audience of 12 million for the first time. Those live pictures were fed from 21 cameras in central London to Alexandra Palace for transmission and that year, there were around two million TV Licences held in the UK, rising to over three million the following year, and four and a half million by 1955. This was then followed by the customary Television Newsreel with a commentary by John Snagge. It was revealed that this had been due to producers fearing a newsreader with visible facial movements would distract the viewer from the story. On-screen newsreaders were finally introduced a year later in 1955 – Kenneth Kendall, Robert Dougall, mainstream television production had started to move out of Alexandra Palace in 1950 to larger premises – mainly at Lime Grove Studios in Shepherds Bush, west London – taking Current Affairs with it. It was from here that the first Panorama, a new programme, was transmitted on 11 November 1953. On 28 October 1957, the Today programme, a radio programme, was launched in central London on the Home Service. In 1958, Hugh Carleton Greene became head of News and Current Affairs and he set up a BBC study group whose findings, published in 1959, were critical of what the television news operation had become under his predecessor, Tahu Hole
19.
Great Recession
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The Great Recession was a period of general economic decline observed in world markets during the late 2000s and early 2010s. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country, in terms of overall impact, the International Monetary Fund concluded that it was the worst global recession since World War II. According to the US National Bureau of Economic Research the recession, as experienced in that country, began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, the Great Recession was related to the financial crisis of 2007–08 and U. S. subprime mortgage crisis of 2007–09. The Great Recession has resulted in the scarcity of valuable assets in the market economy, under the academic definition, the recession ended in the United States in June or July 2009. In the broader, lay sense of the word however, many use the term to refer to ongoing hardship. The Great Recession met the IMF criteria for being a recession, requiring a decline in annual real world GDP per‑capita. According to the U. S. National Bureau of Economic Research the recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, the years leading up to the crisis were characterized by an exorbitant rise in asset prices and associated boom in economic demand. Further, the U. S. shadow banking system had grown to rival the depository system yet was not subject to the regulatory oversight. US mortgage-backed securities, which had risks that were hard to assess, were marketed around the world, the emergence of sub-prime loan losses in 2007 began the crisis and exposed other risky loans and over-inflated asset prices. With loan losses mounting and the fall of Lehman Brothers on 15 September 2008, the global recession that followed resulted in a sharp drop in international trade, rising unemployment and slumping commodity prices. Several economists predicted that recovery might not appear until 2011 and that the recession would be the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s, Economist Paul Krugman once commented on this as seemingly the beginning of a second Great Depression. Governments and central banks responded with fiscal and monetary policies to national economies. The recession has renewed interest in Keynesian economic ideas on how to combat recessionary conditions, economists advise that the stimulus should be withdrawn as soon as the economies recover enough to chart a path to sustainable growth. Income inequality in the United States has grown from 2005 to 2012 in more than 2 out of 3 metropolitan areas, median household wealth fell 35% in the US, from $106,591 to $68,839 between 2005 and 2011. The majority report of the U. S, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, composed of six Democratic and four Republican appointees, reported its findings in January 2011. There were two Republican dissenting FCIC reports, one of them, signed by three Republican appointees, concluded that there were multiple causes. He wrote, When the bubble began to deflate in mid-2007, There are several narratives attempting to place the causes of the recession into context, with overlapping elements. Four such narratives include, There was the equivalent of a run on the shadow banking system
20.
Great Recession in the Americas
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North America was one of the focal points of the global, Great Recession. While Canada has managed to return its economy nearly to the levels it enjoyed prior to the recession, the cost of staple items dropped dramatically in the United States as a result of the recession. The United States entered 2008 during a market correction, a subprime mortgage crisis. In February,63,000 jobs were lost, a 5-year record, in September,159,000 jobs were lost, bringing the monthly average to 84,000 per month from January to September 2008. Canada was one of the last industrialized nations to enter into a downturn, GDP growth was negative in Q1, but positive in Q2 and Q3 of 2008. The recession officially started in Q4, the almost 1-year delay of the start of the recession in Canada relative to the U. S. is largely explained by two factors. First, Canada has a banking sector not weighed-down by the same degree of consumer-related debt issues that existed in the United States. The United States economy collapsed from within, while the Canadian economy was being hurt by its relationship with the United States. Second, commodity prices continued to rise through to June 2008, supporting a key component of the Canadian economy, the Bank of Canada has since announced that it has two consecutive months of GDP decline. The countrys unemployment rate could rise to 7. 5% in the two years, according to the latest OECD report. On July 23,2009, the Bank of Canada officially declared the recession to be over in Canada, however, the true economic recovery did not begin until November 30,2009. The Canadian economy would expand at a rate of 6. 1% in the first quarter of 2010, surpassing analyst expectations. Economists had expected annualized GDP growth of 5. 9% in the last quarter, the growth in the first quarter is the third straight quarter of economic expansion in Canada, coming on the heels of three consecutive quarters of contraction. March growth came in at 0. 6%, ahead of the 0. 5% estimate,215,900 new jobs have been created in the winter and early spring months of 2010 alone - in the traditional period of time where the Canadian economy is at its most stagnant. Even with the steps taken to create jobs in the Canadian economy, its recovery remains fragile, Canada was also in a recession during the first two quarters of 2015 average both a decline of 0.1 percent of GDP. The recession did not show up until 2009, but the recession already slowed down in 2008, the economic prospects for 2010 in the early 2009 were of a positive growth of 3.5 and some saw a steady recovery by the second quarter of 2010. At the end of 2010, the OECD revealed an estimated growth of 4.5 percent while the Mexican government estimated a growth of over 5 percent, the estimated growth for 2011 range from 3.9 to 4.8. Despite the sustained growth in 2010, it was not enough to cover up the loss of 2009
21.
Great Recession in the United States
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Following the bursting of the housing bubble in mid-2007, and the housing market correction and subprime mortgage crisis the following year, the United States entered a severe recession. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the beginning of the recession as December 2007, unemployment rose from 4. 7% in November 2007 to peak at 10% in October 2009. The bottom, or trough, was reached in the quarter of 2009. The NBER, dating by month, points to June 2009 as the month of the recession. The recovery after the 2009 trough was weak and both GDP and job growth erratic and uneven, a solid, strong pace of job growth was not seen until 2011. American household net worth fell from a peak of $68 trillion in Q32007 to $55 trillion by Q12009. The poverty rate increased from 2006 to 2010, reaching a peak of 15%, after the Great Depression of the 1930s, the American economy experienced robust growth, with periodic lesser recessions, for the rest of the 20th century. The federal government enforced the Securities Exchange Act and The Chandler Act, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 regulated the trading of the secondary securities market and The Chandler Act regulated the transactions in the banking sector. There were a few investment banks, small by current standards, the Reagan Administration in the early 1980s began a thirty-year period of financial deregulation. The financial sector sharply expanded, in part because investment banks were going public, deregulation also precipitated financial fraud - often tied to real estate investments - sometimes on a grand scale, such as the savings and loan crisis. By the end of the 1980s, many workers in the sector were being jailed for fraud. Large investment banks began merging and developing Financial conglomerates, this led to the formation of the giant investment banks like Goldman Sachs, in the early months of 2008, many observers believed that a U. S. recession had begun. The collapse of Bear Stearns and the financial market turbulence signaled that the crisis would not be mild. Under this scenario, the total output, as measured by the gross domestic product, would drop by 2.2 percentage points. The former head of the National Bureau of Economic Research said in March 2008 that he believed the country was then in a recession, and it could be a severe one. A number of private economists generally predicted a mild recession ending in the summer of 2008 when the economic stimulus checks going to 130 million households started being spent. It takes many months before the National Bureau of Economic Research, according to numbers published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in May 2008, the GDP growth of the previous two quarters was positive. However, this estimate has been disputed by analysts who argue that if inflation is taken into account, New Yorks budget director concluded the state of New York was officially in a recession by the summer of 2008
22.
Great Recession in Europe
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The European recession is part of the Great Recession, which began inside the United States. The crisis spread to Europe rapidly and affected much of the region with several countries already in recession as of February 2009, and most others suffering marked economic setbacks. The global recession was first seen in Europe, as Ireland was the first country to fall in a recession from Q2-Q32007 – followed by growth in Q42007 –. Only 11 out of the 71 listed countries with quarterly GDP data escaped a recession in this time period. The few recessions appearing early in 2006-07 are commonly never associated to be part of the Great Recession, one year before the maximum, in Q1-2008, only six countries were in recession. The number of countries in recession was 25 in Q2‑2008,39 in Q3‑2008 and 53 in Q4‑2008, at the steepest part of the Great Recession in Q1‑2009, a total of 59 out of 71 countries were simultaneously in recession. The number of countries in recession was 37 in Q2‑2009,13 in Q3‑2009 and 11 in Q4‑2009, one year after the maximum, in Q1‑2010, only seven countries were in recession. The recession data for the overall G20-zone, depict that the Great Recession existed as a global recession throughout Q3‑2008 until Q1‑2009. Subsequent follow-up recessions in 2010‑2013 were confined to Belize, El Salvador, Paraguay, Jamaica, Japan, Taiwan, as of October 2014, only five out of the 71 countries with available quarterly data, were still in ongoing recessions. The many follow-up recessions hitting the European countries, are referred to as being direct repercussions of the European sovereign‑debt crisis. The Eurozone recession has been dated from the first quarter of 2008 to the quarter of 2009. In the eurozone as a whole, industrial production fell 1.9 percent in May 2008, European car sales fell 7.8 percent in May compared with a year earlier. Retail sales fell by 0.6 percent in June from the May level, Germany was the only country out of the four biggest economies in the eurozone to register an increase of activity in July though the increase was sharply down. Economic analysts from RBS and capital Economics say the decline raises the risk of the eurozone entering a recession in 2008, in the second quarter, the eurozones economy was reported to have declined by 0.2 percent. The global recession was first seen in Europe, as Ireland was the first country to fall in a recession from Q2-Q32007 – followed by growth in Q42007 –. However, Irelands Central Statistics Office reported growth in GNP of about 0.8 percent, analysts have predicted Irelands economy will contract further in the rest of the year. A report from NCB Stockbrokers predicts gross national product will fall by 1 percent in 2008, an economist from NCB said non-residential investment would fall by 5 percent in 2008 and by 12 percent in 2009. Irelands GDP saw a contraction in the quarter by 0.5 percent
23.
United States housing bubble
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The United States housing bubble was a real estate bubble affecting over half of the U. S. states. Housing prices peaked in early 2006, started to decline in 2006 and 2007, on December 30,2008, the Case-Shiller home price index reported its largest price drop in its history. In October 2007, the U. S. Secretary of the Treasury called the bursting housing bubble the most significant risk to our economy, Land prices contributed much more to the price increases than did structures. This can be seen in the building cost index in Fig.1, an estimate of land value for a house can be derived by subtracting the replacement value of the structure, adjusted for depreciation, from the home price. Using this methodology, Davis and Palumbo calculated land values for 46 U. S. metro areas, Housing bubbles may occur in local or global real estate markets. This may be followed by decreases in home prices that result in many owners finding themselves in a position of negative equity—a mortgage debt higher than the value of the property, the underlying causes of the housing bubble are complex. Factors include tax policy, historically low interest rates, tax lending standards, failure of regulators to intervene and this bubble may be related to the stock market or dot-com bubble of the 1990s. This bubble roughly coincides with the real estate bubbles of the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Spain, Poland, Hungary and South Korea. While bubbles may be identifiable in progress, bubbles can be measured only in hindsight after a market correction. In 2001, Alan Greenspan dropped interest rates to a low 1% in order to jump the economy after the. com bubble and it was then bankers and other Wall Street firms started borrowing money due to its inexpensiveness. The mortgage and credit crisis was caused by the inability of a number of home owners to pay their mortgages as their low introductory-rate mortgages reverted to regular interest rates. Greenspan warned of large double digit declines in home values larger than most people expect, the impact of booming home valuations on the U. S. Prior to that, Robert Prechter wrote about it extensively as did Professor Shiller in his publication of Irrational Exuberance in the year 2000. Hunn wrote, e can profit from the collapse of the credit bubble, however, real estate has not yet joined in a decline of prices fed by selling. Unless you have a specific reason to believe that real estate will outperform all other investments for several years. Many contested any suggestion that there could be a bubble, particularly at its peak from 2004 to 2006. Claims that there was no warning of the crisis were further repudiated in an August 2008 article in The New York Times, in his memo, Mr. Andrukonis wrote that these loans would likely pose an enormous financial and reputational risk to the company and the country. The article revealed that more than two-dozen high-ranking executives said that Mr. Syron had simply decided to ignore the warnings, other cautions came as early as 2001, when the late Federal Reserve governor Edward Gramlich warned of the risks posed by subprime mortgages
24.
United States housing market correction
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A real estate bubble is a type of economic bubble that occurs periodically in local, regional, national or global real estate markets. As early as 2003 Shiller questioned whether or not there was, united States housing prices experienced a major market correction after the housing bubble that peaked in early 2006. Prices of real estate then adjusted downwards in late 2006, causing a loss of market liquidity, chief economist Mark Zandi of the research firm Moodys Economy. com predicted a crash of double-digit depreciation in some U. S. cities by 2007–2009. Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research was the first economist to identify the housing bubble, investor Peter Schiff acquired fame in a series of TV appearances where he opposed a multitude of financial experts and claimed that a bust was to come. The housing bubble was partly subsidized by government-sponsored entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, fortune magazine labeled many previously strong housing markets as Dead Zones, other areas were classified as Danger Zones and Safe Havens. Fortune also dispelled four myths about the future of home prices, in Boston, year-over-year prices dropped, sales fell, inventory increased, foreclosures were up, and the correction in Massachusetts was called a hard landing. The previously booming housing markets in Washington, D. C, san Diego, California, Phoenix, Arizona, and other cities stalled as well. The Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service showed that in summer 2006, several home builders revised their forecasts sharply downward during the summer of 2006, e. g. D. R. Horton cut its yearly earnings forecast by one-third in July 2006, home Construction Index was down over 40% as of mid-August 2006. Six months later on 10 April 2007, Kara Homes sold unfinished developments, causing prospective buyers from the year to lose deposits. As the housing market began to soften from winter 2005 through summer 2006, the Financial Times warned of the impact on the U. S. economy of the hard edge in the soft landing scenario, saying A slowdown in these red-hot markets is inevitable. It may be gentle, but it is impossible to rule out a collapse of sentiment, the effect on the worlds economy could be depressing indeed. It would be difficult to characterize the position of home builders as other than in a hard landing, angelo Mozilo, CEO of Countrywide Financial, said Ive never seen a soft-landing in 53 years, so we have a ways to go before this levels out. I have to prepare the company for the worst that can happen, following these reports, Lereah admitted that he expects home prices to come down 5% nationally, and said that some cities in Florida and California could have hard landings. The plunge in sales was the steepest since 1989. The new home market also suffered, the biggest year over year drop in median home prices since 1970 occurred in April 2007. Median prices for new homes fell 10.9 percent according to the U. S. Department of Commerce. Based on slumping sales and prices in August 2006, economist Nouriel Roubini warned that the sector was in free fall and would derail the rest of the economy
25.
Subprime mortgage crisis
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The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a nationwide banking emergency that contributed to the U. S. recession of December 2007 – June 2009. It was triggered by a decline in home prices after the collapse of a housing bubble, leading to mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. Declines in residential investment preceded the recession and were followed by reductions in household spending, spending reductions were more significant in areas with a combination of high household debt and larger housing price declines. A proximate cause was the rise in subprime lending. S, a high percentage of these subprime mortgages, over 90% in 2006 for example, were adjustable-rate mortgages. These two changes were part of a trend of lowered lending standards and higher-risk mortgage products. When U. S. home prices declined steeply after peaking in mid-2006, as adjustable-rate mortgages began to reset at higher interest rates, mortgage delinquencies soared. Securities backed with mortgages, including mortgages, widely held by financial firms globally. Concerns about the soundness of U. S. credit and financial markets led to tightening credit around the world and slowing growth in the U. S. The crisis had severe, long-lasting consequences for the U. S. the U. S. entered a deep recession, with nearly 9 million jobs lost during 2008 and 2009, roughly 6% of the workforce. One estimate of lost output from the crisis comes to at least 40% of 2007 gross domestic product, U. S. housing prices fell nearly 30% on average and the U. S. stock market fell approximately 50% by early 2009. As of early 2013, the U. S. stock market had recovered to its pre-crisis peak, Economic growth remained below pre-crisis levels. Europe also continued to struggle with its own crisis, with elevated unemployment. The immediate cause or trigger of the crisis was the bursting of the United States housing bubble which peaked in approximately 2005–2006. However, once interest rates began to rise and housing prices started to drop moderately in 2006–2007 in many parts of the U. S. borrowers were unable to refinance. Defaults and foreclosure activity increased dramatically as easy initial terms expired, home prices fell, as housing prices fell, global investor demand for mortgage-related securities evaporated. This became apparent by July 2007, when investment bank Bear Stearns announced that two of its hedge funds had imploded and these funds had invested in securities that derived their value from mortgages. When the value of these securities dropped, investors demanded that these hedge funds provide additional collateral and this created a cascade of selling in these securities, which lowered their value further. Economist Mark Zandi wrote that this 2007 event was arguably the proximate catalyst for the market disruption that followed
26.
Anglo Irish Bank hidden loans controversy
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FitzPatrick subsequently resigned his position and was followed within twenty-four hours by the banks non-executive director, Lar Bradshaw and chief executive, David Drumm. A new chairman of Anglo, Donal OConnor, was appointed from the board. A number of investigations have been launched into the reasons behind the three resignations, the Central Bank of Ireland is carrying out a review of the banks dealings, although its Financial Regulator, Patrick Neary, has also since resigned his position. So too have a number of chairmen, directors and executives involved with Anglo, Irish Life and Permanent. Within days of the admission, an announcement was made that Anglo Irish Bank would be one of three that would be recapitalised by the Irish government. The recapitalisation of Anglo Irish Bank was expected to be effected in mid-January 2009, Lenihan instead unexpectedly announced the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank the night before the EGM due to difficulties he encountered with the recapitalisation process. The nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank on 21 January 2009 followed two more resignations earlier that month, on 7 January 2009, another director, Willie McAteer, resigned, becoming the fourth casualty of the controversy. Two days later the Financial Regulator Patrick Neary retired amidst much criticism over his handling of the affair, taoiseach Brian Cowen denied claims that he was protecting a Golden Circle of wealthy financiers from being identified. This mysterious group of ten businessmen is said to have received loans from Anglo Irish Bank in return for buying shares, in a move designed to keep the bank afloat. Starting in 1986, Seán Seanie FitzPatrick spent eighteen years as executive of Anglo Irish Bank. When he became the chairman in 2005, handing over the position of chief executive to David Drumm. The Anglo share price peaked at €17.60 in May 2007, Anglo was valued at nearly €13 billion and FitzPatricks 4.5 million Anglo shares were worth nearly €80 million at this time. Prior to FitzPatricks resignation, the Anglo share price had dropped to €0.32. The inspectors noticed that a loan was provided to FitzPatrick at Anglo Irish Bank. The Regulator discovered at a date that similar loans were provided to FitzPatrick in September 2008. When the issue was raised with Anglo Irish Bank it was discovered there were further loans between the two banks over an extended period of eight years. It is uncertain which officials, if any, within the bank knew about the loans, every Anglo annual report contains a note displaying the total loans given to directors of the bank. This total is measured at a point in time
27.
Bernard Madoff
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Bernard Lawrence Bernie Madoff is an American fraudster and a former stockbroker, investment advisor, and financier. He is the former chairman of the NASDAQ stock market. Madoff founded the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960, the firm was one of the top market maker businesses on Wall Street, which bypassed specialist firms by directly executing orders over the counter from retail brokers. Peter has since been sentenced to 10 years in prison and Mark committed suicide by hanging exactly two years after his fathers arrest, Andrew died of lymphoma on September 3,2014. The following day, FBI agents arrested Madoff and charged him with one count of securities fraud, the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission had previously conducted multiple investigations into Madoffs business practices, but had not uncovered the massive fraud. On March 12,2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies, the Madoff investment scandal defrauded thousands of investors of billions of dollars. Madoff said he began the Ponzi scheme in the early 1990s, however, federal investigators believe the fraud began as early as the mid-1980s and may have begun as far back as the 1970s. Those charged with recovering the missing money believe the investment operation may never have been legitimate, the amount missing from client accounts, including fabricated gains, was almost $65 billion. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation trustee estimated actual losses to investors of $18 billion, on June 29,2009, Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison, the maximum allowed. Madoff was born on April 29,1938, in Queens, New York, the son of Jewish parents Ralph Madoff, a plumber and stockbroker, Madoffs grandparents were emigrants from Poland, Romania, and Austria. He is the second of three children, his siblings are Sondra Weiner and Peter Madoff, Madoff graduated from Far Rockaway High School in 1956. Madoff briefly attended Brooklyn Law School, but founded the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, Madoff was chairman of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC from its startup in 1960 until his arrest on December 11,2008. The firm started as a stock trader with $5,000 that Madoff earned from working as a lifeguard. He further secured a loan of $50,000 from his father-in-law which he used to set up Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. His business grew with the assistance of his father-in-law, accountant Saul Alpern, initially, the firm made markets via the National Quotation Bureaus Pink Sheets. After a trial run, the technology that the firm helped to develop became the NASDAQ, the firm functioned as a third-market provider, bypassing exchange specialist firms by directly executing orders over the counter from retail brokers. At one point, Madoff Securities was the largest market maker at the NASDAQ, the firm also had an investment management and advisory division, which it did not publicize, that was the focus of the fraud investigation. Madoff was the first prominent practitioner of payment for order flow and this has been called a legal kickback
28.
Allen Stanford
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Stanford was the chairman of the now defunct Stanford Financial Group of Companies. A fifth-generation Texan who once resided in Saint Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands, he holds dual citizenship, being a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda and he contributed millions of dollars to politicians in both Antigua and the United States amongst other countries. The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Stanfords offices in Houston, Texas, Memphis, Tennessee, on February 27,2009, the SEC amended its complaint to describe the alleged fraud as a massive Ponzi scheme. He voluntarily surrendered to authorities on June 18,2009, on March 6,2012, Stanford was convicted on all charges except a single count of wire fraud. He is serving his 110-year sentence at United States Penitentiary, Coleman in Coleman, in September 2014, Stanford appealed his conviction, however, the appeals court rejected the appeal in October 2015. Stanford grew up in Mexia, Texas and his father, James Stanford, is former mayor of Mexia and a member of the Board of Directors of Stanford Financial Group. His mother, Sammie, is a nurse, after his parents divorced in 1959, Stanford and his brother went to live with their mother. Stanford graduated from Eastern Hills High School in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1974, Stanford graduated from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, earning a BA degree in finance. Stanford started in business in Waco, Texas, opening a gym that failed. His first success in business came from speculating in real estate in Houston after the Texas oil bubble burst in the early 1980s, the men made a fortune in the 1980s, buying up depressed real estate and selling it years later as the market recovered. After his father retired in 1993, Stanford took control of the company, Stanford moved to the Caribbean in the 1980s, first to Montserrat, then to Antigua. Early in 2007, Stanford and Baldwin Spencer, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda and formerly an ally, began verbally feuding in public. Reports surfaced in early February 2009 that the SEC, the FBI, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a former executive told SEC officials that Stanford presented hypothetical investment results as actual historical data in sales pitches to clients. Stanford claimed his certificates of deposit were as safe as, or safer than, the U. S. Ambassador to the Bahamas at the time was reported to have managed to stay out of any one-on-one photos with Stanford during a charity breakfast event. Federal agents raided the offices of Stanford Financial on February 17,2009, the SEC charged Stanford with massive ongoing fraud centered on an eight-billion-dollar investment scheme. Stanfords assets, along with those of his companies, were frozen and placed into receivership by a U. S. federal judge, CNBC reported that Stanford tried to flee the country on the same day as the raids on his headquarters. He contacted a private jet owner and attempted to pay for a flight to Antigua with a credit card, but was refused because the company would accept only a wire transfer. On February 19, acting at the request of the SEC, FBI agents located Stanford at his girlfriends house near Fredericksburg, Virginia, the SEC often files civil charges before criminal charges are filed
29.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is an agency of the United States government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. The CFPB was established as an independent agency, but this status is being reviewed by the US Court of Appeals, according to Director Richard Cordray, the Bureaus priorities are mortgages, credit cards and student loans. The bureau is an independent unit located inside and funded by the United States Federal Reserve and it writes and enforces rules for financial institutions, examines both bank and non-bank financial institutions, monitors and reports on markets, as well as collects and tracks consumer complaints. The CFPB opened its website in early February 2011 to accept suggestions from consumers via YouTube, Twitter, according to its web site, the CFPBs central mission. In July 2010, Congress passed the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, during the 111th United States Congress in response to the Late-2000s recession, the agency was originally proposed in 2007 by Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren. The proposed CFPB was actively supported by Americans for Financial Reform, on July 17, President Obama nominated former Ohio Attorney General and Ohio State Treasurer Richard Cordray to be the CFPB first formal director. However, his nomination was immediately in jeopardy due to 44 Senate Republicans vowing to derail any nominee in order to encourage a decentralized structure to the organization, Senate Republicans had also shown a pattern of refusing to consider regulatory agency nominees, purportedly as a method of budget cutting. Due to the way the legislation creating the bureau was written, until the first Director was in place and he noted lessons learned from experiences with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as support for his argument. Politico interpreted Shelbys statements as saying that Cordrays nomination was dead on arrival, Republican threats of a filibuster in the Senate to block the nomination in December 2011 led to Senate inaction. On July 16,2013, the Senate confirmed Richard Cordray as director in a 66–34 vote, on July 11,2013, the CFPB Rural Designation Petition and Correction Act was introduced into the House of Representatives. One practical effect of having a county designated rural is that people can qualify for some types of mortgages by getting them exempted from the CFPBs qualified mortgage rule. On September 26,2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Safety, if adopted, the bill would have modified the CFPB by transforming it into a five-person commission and removing it from the Federal Reserve System. The CFPB would have renamed the Financial Product Safety Commission. The bill was intended to make it easier to override the CFPB decisions. It passed in the House of Representatives on February 27,2014 and was received by the Senate on March 4 and it was never considered in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Regulatory implementation regarding mortgages is covered on the bureau website, topics provided for consumers include,2013 mortgage rule implementation, resources to help people comply, quick reference charts, supervision and examination materials, and a link for feedback. It also provides information that covers rural or under-served counties, HUD-approved housing counselors. Appendix Q relates to the ratio that must be possessed for qualified mortgages and provides details about how to determine the factors for that calculation
