RBS And NatWest Hit By Mobile Banking Glitch

Mobile banking services for RBS and NatWest have been hit by an IT glitch, along with an unconnected problem that affected some Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland online users.

In a statement given to Sky News, a spokesperson for RBS Group said: "Some customers may have had trouble getting into mobile banking today between 8.40am and 2.30pm.

"All services are back up and running as normal.  We apologise for any inconvenience this caused."

A spokesman for Lloyds Banking Group said there was a temporary issue on Friday morning that affected mobile and online services for a small number of customers who were trying to set up payments at Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland.

The apology seen by NatWest smartphones users

A Lloyds spokesman said: "We are aware that a small number of customers experienced issues accessing payments this morning.

"The issue has now been rectified and we are working with those customers who were affected."

The RBS Group has been hit be a sequence of system-wide IT failures in the past, which affected RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank.

More recently, it has suffered 'pay day problems'  in the past, when workers expect to see funds enter their accounts.

Branch and cash machines are believed to be unaffected by the latest woes.

In its last annual results, the group said it was investing heavily in computer infrastructure to modernise its systems.

A number of banks were affected in February when workers expected funds to be deposited.

According to the British Bankers' Association, the use of mobile devices for banking services has doubled in the past 12 months.

RBS saw more than 17 million log ins in one week, through its mobile app, earlier this month.

In late December the group was hit by its fourth IT failure, after a cyber attack left online users unable to access accounts.

That followed an outage in early December, on one of the year's busiest shopping days.

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Barclays Fined £26m Over Trader's Gold Fixing

Barclays Bank has been fined more than £26m by the City watchdog over failings related to gold price manipulation by one of its former traders.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the bank failed to adequately manage conflicts of interest between itself and customers.

It said oversight failures occurred between 2004 and 2013 led to the £26,033,500 fine.

The trader manipulated the rate in the bank's interest just a day after UK and US regulators fined it $450m (£290m) over attempted rigging of the Libor - an interbank lending rate - that has global impact.

Barclays was fined for oversight failures and not for the price manipulation by the worker.

It agreed to settle the case at an early stage, saving itself a 30% additional penalty.

Gold fixing is a financial term used to describe the somewhat arcane price-setting mechanism that allows investors to buy and sell gold at a single quoted price.

Barclays is one of four banks that sets the price of the precious metal twice a day, in US dollars, on the London Gold Exchange and in Paris and Zurich.

It joined the group in 2004, and the other members are Scotiabank, Societe Generale and HSBC.

The FCA said: "On 28 June 2012, former Barclays trader Daniel James Plunkett exploited the weaknesses in Barclays' systems and controls to seek to influence that day's 3pm setting of the gold price and thereby profited at a customer's expense.

Barclays boss Antony Jenkins has apologised for the latest scandal

"As a result of Plunkett's actions, Barclays was not obligated to make a $3.9m (£2.3m) payment to its customer, although it later compensated the customer in full.

"Plunkett's actions boosted his own trading book by $1.75m - £1m - (excluding hedging)."

The watchdog also fined Mr Plunkett £95,600 and has banned him from performing any function in relation to any regulated activity.

He can, however, work in financial markets in other countries.

The FCA said the trader used the phrase "mini puke" in an email to describe the drop in gold price ahead of the June 28 pricing figure.

Responding to the latest fine imposed by regulators, Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins said: "We very much regret the situation that led to this settlement.

"Barclays has undertaken a significant amount of work to enhance our systems and controls and is committed to the highest standards across all of our operations."

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee welcomed the ongoing attempts to improve integrity of the much-maligned banking sector.

Andrew Tyrie MP, the former chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, said: "It is essential that the regulators do what is necessary to give us confidence that the integrity of these markets is being maintained.

"It is equally essential that the drive to improve standards with the fundamental reforms outlined by the Parliamentary Commission among others is maintained."

The gold price manipulation scandal is the latest issue to tarnish the reputation of Barclays.

It recently suffered a shareholder backlash - announcing a 32% fall in annual profits to £5.2bn but raising its staff bonus pool by 10% to £2.38bn.

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Blackstone In Joint Bid For Friends' Tax Arm

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The private equity giant Blackstone has joined forces with a US-based specialist insurer to table a bid for the tax planning arm of Friends Life, the FTSE-100 financial services group.

Sky News understands that Blackstone and Philadelphia Financial will make a joint offer for Lombard, which specialises in wealth planning solutions for some of the world's wealthiest people.

Philadelphia Financial targets high net-worth families through a network of intermediaries, and is understood to view Lombard as an attractive opportunity to expand that area of its business.

Friends Life has been in talks to sell the division for more than six months and is understood to have set a deadline in June for offers from interested parties.

Permira, another private equity group, is also expected to lodge a bid, while interest from Warburg Pincus, another private equity firm, is said to have waned.

Responding to Sky News' disclosure of the sale plan last November, Friends Life, which was then called Resolution, said: "Resolution notes the recent speculation in the press regarding the potential disposal of its Lombard division, which comprises Lombard International Assurance S.A. and Insurance Development Holdings AG, and confirms that it is currently in discussions regarding the possible disposal.

"There is no certainty these discussions will result in a transaction being agreed. A further announcement will be made as and when appropriate."

Analysts say the Lombard unit, which is being auctioned by investment bankers at Barclays, could be sold for £400m.

Based in Luxembourg, Lombard offers "wealth planning solutions to high and ultra-high net worth individuals".

The business is viewed as non-core by Friends Life's board and a sale would see the company re-orient itself towards its home market in the UK, analysts said.

Lombard uses Luxembourg's light-touch tax regime to help shield clients' assets from the taxman and is understood to include dozens of billionaires among its key customers.

Insiders said that Friends Life was also likely to consider the sale of Friends Provident International (FPI), which provides life assurance and investment products in Asia, the Middle East and some other markets, in due course, although no sale process for that business had yet been formally planned.

FPI has offices in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Isle of Man, and primarily distributes through independent financial advisers and strategic partnerships.

Andy Briggs, Friends Life's chief executive, said late last year that it was planning to compete more aggressively with specialist annuity providers such as Just Retirement, which recently floated on the London Stock Exchange.

In March, it issued updated guidance on its plans in the wake of George Osborne's shake-up of the annuities market.

He said: "There is a negative implication for new business flows in the individual annuity market, as some people utilise the increased flexibility provided by the Chancellor's proposals.

"However, we believe that annuities will continue to be an important product for those who value the guaranteed income throughout increasingly long retirement periods."

Blackstone, Permira and Friends Life all declined to comment on Friday.

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Fracking: Southern England 'Ripe For Drilling'

Large reserves of shale oil are expected to be revealed as a new report today highlights the possibility of fracking across southern England.

The long-awaited survey by the British Geological Survey (BGS) is likely to confirm substantial reserves in Conservative strongholds Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire.

It comes as communities affected by fracking will reportedly be offered average payouts of £800,000 in a bid to win over opponents of the technique.

Prime Minister David Cameron, a supporter of fracking, will announce the extra compensation in addition to a one-off payment of £100,000 and a 1% share of profits, according to the Times.

Anti-fracking protests took place last year in Balcombe, West Sussex

The BGS has already suggested there could be enough shale gas in the north of England to supply Britain for 40 years.

And it now it appears large areas of the south are in line for the controversial extraction technique.

The South Downs National Park lies across much of the area likely to hold reserves totaling several billion barrels of oil.

Supporters believe fracking will lead to lower energy bills and create thousands of jobs.

But critics claim it harms the environment, including potentially causing small earthquakes and polluting water supplies.

Fracking firm Cuadrilla faced fierce protests last year over its exploratory drilling plans at Balcombe, West Sussex, with some activists arrested.

Licences have already been approved for areas such as Lancashire, with further swathes of the country said to have fracking potential.

Fracking involves fracturing underground rocks to release oil and gas

The technique, widely used in the US, involves high pressure liquid being pumped deep underground to split shale rock and release gas and oil supplies.

Ministers are also said to be planning to give energy firms the right to lay pipelines under houses without worrying about tresspass laws.

This would mean they would not have to get permission from homeowners.

Business Secretary Vince Cable told Sky News that drilling under houses had been going on for years in the coal industry.

"It's not been any issue," said the Liberal Democrat MP.

"We're talking about activity well, well below ground level - not under people's gardens. Providing that's clearly understood, it creates less of a problem."

Mr Cable said people involved in the fracking debate appeared to be "over-reacting in both directions".

"People are terrified this is going to pollute and compromise the environment - it doesn't have to do that.

"People think it's going to be some great economic bonanza - I doubt that."

Oil and gas in the North Sea is still attracting investment and is a key part of the UK's energy supply, the Business Secretary told Sky.

"There is a danger that people get so obsessed by the long-term possibilities of fracking... It's a long way to go.

"People think this is some miracle round the corner - it certainly isn't that. Providing there are proper safeguards for the environment, and there have to be proper safeguards, there is no reason why it should create a backlash."

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New Trains In Seven-Year Rail Franchise Win

Three new state-of-the-art electric train fleets are to be rolled out on the busiest rail routes in London and the South East.

The new Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise will be run by Govia, with rival FirstGroup missing out.

Govia has been awarded a seven-year contract, which includes construction of nearly 1,400 new carriages.

Govia is 65% owned by the Go-Ahead Group and 35% by France's Keolis.

Go-Ahead Group CEO David Brown said: "I'm delighted the (Depatment for Transport) has chosen us to operate this important and complex franchise and to play an instrumental role in delivering the benefits of the Government's £6bn Thameslink programme.

"This will be the UK's busiest franchise and we will be introducing 50% more capacity into central London during peak times, with 26% more morning peak carriages providing 10,000 additional seats."

Services and capacity are expected to be improved to scores of destinations, including Brighton, King's Lynn, Cambridge, Peterborough, Bedford, Luton and Gatwick.

The improved service is due to be fully operational by the end of 2018 and will also include improved staffing and stations, along with a simplified ticket structure.

Rail minister Stephen Hammond said: "A world-class railway is a vital part of our long-term economic plan.

"That's great news for businesses and the hundreds of thousands of passengers who use these vital services every day."

The new franchise, the largest ever in terms of passenger numbers, is a blow to the current Thameslink operator FirstGroup.

Govia presently operates the other rail contract incorporated into the new franchise.

Twenty-four trains will be able to travel between Blackfriars and St Pancras each hour.

New tunnels will also link Peterborough and Cambridge to the existing Thameslink network, boosting access from the North to Gatwick and Brighton.

Govia beat competition from four short-listed bidders - Abellio, FirstGroup, MTR and Stagecoach - to run the key commuter contract from September.

The Go-Ahead Group's partner Keolis is 70% owned by French rail operator SNCF.

After the announcement, FirstGroup CEO Tim O'Toole said: "I am disappointed that we will not be operating the new franchise and taking the Thameslink programme on to its next stage.

"We submitted a strong bid which would have delivered high quality services for passengers, value for taxpayers and an economic return for shareholders."

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Hewlett-Packard To Cut Up To 16,000 More Jobs

IT giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) is to cut up to 16,000 worldwide, after 11 quarters in a row of declining revenues.

The announcement was made after its latest results were released unexpectedly before markets closed in the United States on Thursday.

Shares in HP fell 2.3% on the news of revenue falling.

Sales were down in the latest quarter by 1%, to $27.31bn, which was below analysts' expectations.

Between 11,000 and 16,000 jobs are to be lost, on top of 34,000 cuts announced in a May 2012 restructure plan.

Last December, HP announced it would slash 1,100 jobs at three of its UK sites in the first quarter.

Chief executive Meg Whitman, the former boss of eBay, has struggled to turn around the fortunes of the firm.

The firm is under pressure amid a global decline in PC sales amid growing demand for laptops and greater tablet use.

The company said in a release that the increased cuts come "as HP continues to re-engineer the workforce to be more competitive and meet its objectives".

HP said net income in the second quarter, to April 30, was up 18% to $1.27bn (£750m).

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Fat Face Pulls Float As City IPO Fashion Fades

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The fashion retailer Fat Face is expected to abandon its planned flotation in a move that could mark a turning point in the City's frenzy of recent company listings.

Sky News understands that the chain, which is controlled by the private equity firm Bridgepoint, decided on Wednesday evening to call off its initial public offering (IPO), which was due to raise £110m.

An announcement could be made as soon as Thursday.

Advisers to the company are said to have informed board members that there was insufficient demand at the level at which it wanted to sell shares to new investors.

City insiders said the decision was less a reflection of Fat Face's appeal to prospective shareholders and more about a broader recent change in confidence among City institutions.

In recent weeks, Card Factory, another retailer, has disappointed after coming to the market, while Saga said on Wednesday it was cutting the price range for its IPO despite what it claimed was buoyant demand.

So far this year, Appliances Online, which has also traded down since its debut, Pets At Home and Poundland have floated, with the sofa retailer DFS also poised to do so in the coming months.

Fat Face is chaired by Sir Stuart Rose, the former Marks & Spencer (M&S) boss, who also chairs the online grocer Ocado.

Fat Face has more than 200 stores in the UK and Ireland, and plans to open shops in Boston in the US during the next 18 months.

Fat Face's announcement of its intention to float would say it was seeking gross proceeds from investors of tens of millions of pounds to fund its growth.

The chain was established in 1988 selling T-shirts in the Alps.

Its controlling shareholder, Bridgepoint, has been an investor since 2007, and has not had an entirely trouble-free period of ownership, having to inject additional capital during difficult trading conditions.

However, the company has been performing strongly in recent times, with sales understood to have approached £180m in 2013, and robust like-for-like revenue growth.

Fat Face could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

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Ebay Users Urged To Change Their Passwords

By Tom Cheshire, Sky Technology Correspondent

Ebay has asked its users to change their passwords following a cyberattack that compromised the site's database.

The database, which was compromised between late February and early March, involved hackers infiltrating the database by accessing the log-in details of eBay employees.

The database included eBay customers' names, encrypted password, email address, physical addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth. 

However, the company says extensive tests carried out on its networks confirmed the breach had not resulted in any unauthorised activity for its users or compromise of their financial data. 

Ebay said it was "best practice" for users to change their passwords as it would "help enhance security for eBay users".

The company first learnt of the initial break-in two weeks ago, and a subsequent forensic analysis confirmed that a customer database had also been compromised.

The company said it has seen no increase in fraudulent activity since the hack. Paypal - which eBay owns - is unaffected, and it runs from a different database, according to the company.

"Working with law enforcement and leading security experts, the company is aggressively investigating the matter and applying the best forensics tools and practices to protect customers," eBay said in a statement.

Customers of eBay who use the same password for other websites should change their passwords on all sites.

The new cyberattack is only the latest in a recent string of high profile incidents. In February, the details of 2,200 Tesco clubcards were leaked online. Last year, US retailer Target lost the credit card details of 40 million customers.

A recent Verizon report found 1,367 serious data breaches in 2013, dubbed "the year of the retailer breach", saying it was a year of "large-scale attacks on payment card systems."

David Emm, a senior security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, said:  "It's difficult to quantify the danger customers may be in following the eBay cyberattack, but of course any personal data in the wrong hands is bad news and it appears that the attackers have gained access to customers' names, email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth, as well as encrypted passwords.

"The fact that this attack took place two to three months ago means the attackers have had additional time with which to attempt to decrypt the stolen passwords as well as make use of the other personal data.

"On the face of it, it looks as though eBay has been slow to respond, but if the company has only just discovered the full extent of the attack it is now doing the right thing by notifying customers in a timely manner."

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Royal Mail Posts £430m In Full-Year Profits

Royal Mail has reported an operating profit of £430m in its first full-year results since privatisation.

The figure for the 12 months to March, after transformation costs, is up from £403m in the previous year - a rise of 6.7%.

But the company warns it is facing a number of "headwinds" including increasing competition in parcels.

It also warned a move to direct delivery of letters by rivals TNT  Post could threaten the financial sustainability of the universal service without action by the regulator Ofcom.

Parcels now contribute more than 50% of Royal Mail's revenue - £4.82bn - after a 7% rise, although volumes remained flat.

The group's letters performance was at the better end of expectations, with revenues down 2% to £4.6bn on a year earlier.

The amount of letters fell by 4%, but the trend improved over the year due to better economic conditions and one-off factors such as energy companies writing to customers about price rises.

The Government still own a 30% stake in the firm, which was sold off last autumn.

Chief executive Moya Greene said: "The competitive environment on the parcels side is more intense. We are taking steps to remain the leader in this growing market."

The privatisation of Royal Mail in October was heavily criticised for not delivering value for money for the taxpayer.

The Government robustly defended the sale against sharp criticism from the National Audit Office, which found that "deep caution" shown by ministers when pricing shares in the Royal Mail cost the taxpayer more than £1bn.

More follows...

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Food Worth £1bn Wasted Every Year Across UK

By Poppy Trowbridge, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Food worth £1bn is wasted in the UK every year before it even reaches our fridges, according to figures obtained by Sky News.

Damage, flawed appearance and the cost of recycling are just some of the justifications used for throwing food away.

Growers, producers and retailers together bin an average of 400,000 tons annually, or more than 950 million meals.

For the first time, Britain's biggest food retailer, Tesco, is expected to publish the amount of food wasted each year within its UK operations.

The figures will show that more than 50,000 tons - about 1% of all products - gets thrown out.

Matt Simister, Commercial Director, Group Food at Tesco, said: "It really does impact a family's budget.

"What we're saying is that we acknowledge that we have a role to play in helping mums to save more money in the household.

Tesco says it is trying to reduce waste at private distribution centres

"We can reduce the wastage in our own operations, but I think more importantly, we can start to influence the wastage that happens across the whole system."

Families throw away around six meals a week.

Over a year, that can cost up to £700, according to the latest figures from the UK's Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) published in November.

So when you add in what is wasted by consumers too, the total value is closer to £13.5bn.

At private distribution centres, Tesco says it's trying to reduce the tonnage of edible waste.

Food that is perfectly edible, but unsuitable for store shelves, is packed up and sent out to charities that feed the hungry.

Even if the economic recovery does ease the pinch on family budgets this year, the cost of some basic foods will continue to rise, according to market experts.

Halving the amount of discarded food is a goal for Wrap

Joe Rundle, a trader at ETX Capital, said: "Corn, coffee, meat … everything is going to go up considerably.

"In the short term there are seasonal factors and environmental issues that have caused the spike."

Brazil, a large coffee producer, has experienced drought, and tension between Ukraine and Russia has prompted a rise in the price of wheat.

"In the long term we are going to see an emerging middle class in the emerging markets that are really going to consume a lot more food and therefore push the price up."

Mr Rundle added: "That will probably mean that consumers are going to have to change the way they consume food and think about the way they waste it."

Wrap wants to halve the amount of discarded food by 2025.

Achieving that target should also mean the cost to consumers comes down too.

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