Bank of England

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.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee(MPC) has opted to hold rates at their current level of 4.75%.

House price inflation has fallen back just over 1% since May, despite rising by the same amount in August alone, the latest figures from the Halifax House Price Index reveal.