Property funds suffer in UK while banks suffer in Europe

July 6, 2016
bank of england interest rate

The Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, has given UK banks the green light to lend an extra £150bn to households and businesses,  he warns that the Bank of England cannot offset the full impact of the Brexit vote.

Investors in Standard Life’s property funds have been told that they cannot withdraw their money, after the firm acted to stop a rush of withdrawals following the UK’s decision to leave the EU,  according to a report in The  Guardian the firm halted trading on its Standard Life Investments UK Real Estate Fund and associated funds at midday on Monday,  it reportedly said the suspension would remain in place until it is “practicable” to lift it, and that it would review the decision at least every 28 days.

Aviva the savings and investment group announced yesterday that it  has suspended redemptions from its £1.8bn property fund, it took the decision following the Brexit vote, which triggered a surge of requests from investors to pull their money out of its UK Property Trust.

Meanwhile Europe’s banking sector appears to be bracing itself for chaos, not that it can blame that on “Brexit”, most likely this was being conveniently held back so as not to have any negativity on the EU referendum vote. In Italy, politicians begged the European Union for permission to bail out troubled lenders sitting on more than £300bn of bad loans, in Portugal it has been urged to tighten down on Austerity and the International Monetary Fund has stated  that Germany’s Deutsche Bank posed more risk to the global financial system than any other lender.

The pound drops against the dollar to its lowest since 1985. $1.27

 

Allen Walkey

Highly experienced businessman with a successful career in property sales and investment both in the UK and abroad. Now a freelance writer and blogger for the property and Investment Industry, keeping readers up-to-date with changes and events in a rapidly changing world.

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