Bank of England

Nationwide saw profits rise by almost a third last year, helped by an increase in mortgage lending, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Thursday's expected interest rate increase will put the squeeze on employees already suffering from a slowdown in average take-home pay, according to Voca, the company which processes all of the UK's automated payments.

Friends Provident has beaten City expectations with a 40% surge in third-quarter life and pensions sales and a UK market share of 6.9% in the second quarter, says the Guardian .

Banks came under fire yesterday for over-charging customers less than 24 hours after Treasury minister Ed Balls defended their profit record and asked what more the Government could do for them, reports the Daily Telegraph .

The Bank of England's monetary policy committee has frozen the base interest rate at 4.75% for the second successive month amid growing anticipation that it will most likely increase the rate in November.

House prices rose by 1% in September according to the latest figures from the Halifax, taking the annual rate of house price inflation to 8% - its lowest rate since April.

The number of mortgage approvals fell to 119,000 in August, according to figures from the Bank of England.

STERLING LEAPT TO a two-year high yesterday as there is growing expectation of further rises in UK interest rates, according to the Scotsman .

Gross mortgage lending hit a new record in August, reaching £32.7bn, the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reveals.

The private equity firm that controls Gartmore, the investment group, is proposing a merger that would create a £40bn giant boasting some of the UK's top fund managers, the Mail on Sunday reported yesterday.