Friends Provident (FP) has revealed a 24pc fall in UK new life and pensions business in the first nine months of this year, while the group also said it will continue to peruse opportunities to dispose of its 52pc share in F&C through a capital reduction....

Friends Provident's UK life and pensions business has been badly hit by turbulent market conditions and changes in the group's focus, with total sales plunging 24% over the first nine months of the year and a huge 47% in Q3.

Royal London Group saw its new life and pensions business climb 14% in the first nine months of the year.

Three prominent multi-managers have fallen victim to restructuring and are set to be replaced.

Abbey has today cut some of its fixed rate mortgages by up to 0.35%, while holding rates on its tracker products.

AWD Chase de Vere is launching a bespoke wealth management service offering sophisticated financial planning techniques to high net worth clients.

Royal London suffered a 42pc fall in gross new business over nine months for its Asset Management arm, RLAM, though group life and pensions business was up, driven by a strong performance from Scottish Life.

BT leads the floundering FTSE's decline, announcing an ‘unsatisfactory' performance in its Global Services unit, as the index falls 80.22 points (1.87%) to 4211.43.

Axa has increased its financial underwriting limits for personal and business protection, in a bid to streamline the application process for customers.

Five HBOS executives overlooked for boardroom roles when the high street lender is taken over by Lloyds TSB could demand pay-offs of up to £7m, according to a report in The Guardian .