John Benson of eFinancialCarreers says:

“Were bonuses to be capped unilaterally in the UK, the country would run the risk of an exodus of top financial talent.”

Are these people not aware of what is happening around them? I am constantly amazed by the ignorance shown in the financial field, it is all a game to them- at least the ones that are still employed. It is wrong to generalise but from recent events they are an ungracious bunch who cannot accept responsibility for their part in the current financial crisis.

That they have been able to get away with it for so long also puts a question mark over the FSA.

If top financial talent includes the likes of  Goodwin at RBS and Crosby from HBOS who have bought the banks to their knees, then let us risk the ‘exodus’.

There are real fears that the merger would shift worries about HBOS funding to a larger bank.

There are also concerns being shown over the US Government’s bail out for it’s banks, with financial experts in the USA suggesting that the plan had not been thought through properly.

Sterling has also suffered further against the Euro which traded at 79.35 pence.

“Sterling is being hit on all sides at the moment with a broad-based dollar rebound and the realisation that the UK economy is facing a very difficult period,” said Geraldine Concagh, economist at AIB Group Treasury in Dublin.

The signs are that the dollar has seen the worst of it’s decline in the money market, but the news is not so good for the UK pound, at least in the short term.

Rising  unemployment, slowing wage growth, falling house prices, large trade and budget deficits, and slowing economic growth against the highest level of inflation in years have put the pound under immense pressure.

Financial experts are predicting that the Bank Of England will step in to reduce interest rates by the end of this year.

The figures show a drop of 28% on the previous years posting, but the bank still managed to make £5.2billion on the first half year trading.

HSBC blamed spiralling US debts and the writing off of £5million in loans that it does not expect to be repaid, for the reduction in profits. The bank is fairing ‘better than most’ in a difficult market, helped by booming business in Latin America and the Middle East.

None the less William Hill still managed to announce profits for the first six month’s trading in 2008 of £145million.

The company say that profits are down by 10% blaming a slump in telephone betting. But internet betting grew by 21% in the same period and now looks set to overtake traditional business within a few years.

Experts are concerned that the take up may be so bad that it will leave underwriters Morgan Stanley & Dresdner with as much as £3.6bn worth of the banks stock.

HBOS had hoped to rally support from it’s estimated 800,000 small private investors who were given around 200 shares each following the demutualisation of Halifax Building Society ten years ago.

While the offer made by HBOS may have looked attractive when it was announced in April, since then the share price has plunged in value. The hammering taken last week as UK banks in general were hit on the stock exchange, saw HBOS share drop to a low of 228p against the original discounted rights issue price of 275p.

The next few days could be crucial for the bank and it will be interesting to see how experts Morgan Stanley & Dresdner emerge from the farce.

Speculation that two US mortgage providers might have to raise fresh capital and make further write-downs prompted a ’sell off’ on Wall Street, making things very uncomfortable for a host of financial stocks on the UK market.

Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, said: “Today’s fall marks a full entry into bear market territory, even though most investors will have been feeling that this has been here already for some months. At this precise moment, it is difficult to identify from where a positive catalyst might emerge,” he added.

Fears over rising inflation are a concern for homeowners who are looking to the Bank of England for some respite, but any thoughts of a cut in the interest rate this week are most unlikely, despite the boost a cut would give the economy.

With crude prices refusing to drop below $140 per barrel and food prices increasing almost weekly, the threat of inflation remains severe and most experts expect the bank rate to remain unchanged.

The figures will infuriate the general public, currently caught in the aftermath of the diabolical greed and extraordinary bad management that has all but collapsed the financial market.

GMB general secretary Paul Kenny speaks for us all when he says that the government should stand up to the financial industry which has received help from the Bank of England in the wake of the credit crunch.

“There can no longer be any doubt that the multimillionaire elite who run the City and the financial sector are out of control and divorced from economic realities.” said Kenny.

He has also called for an immediate enquiry to substantiate whether the recent £50bn bailout to banks by the taxpayer is being used to fund bonuses.

The Bank of England and CBI bosses have condemned the bonus culture in the financial world, considering it to be the main cause for the financial problems now facing world banks.

The City is responsible for over 30% of UK output and has brought the whole economy to its own level  - a far cry from Alistair Darling’s budget predictions of 2 per cent growth, followed by 2.5 per cent next year.

Confusion amongst analysts is driven by conflicting messages from the retail sector; consumers are fleeing the high street, yet in fact the spending downturn has not been as severe as predicted.

The IMF predicts UK growth at around 1.6 per cent, whilst comments from David Blanchflower of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee - they who set the interest rates – were that house prices could fall by 30% before stabilising.

Other pundits state there is currently a 1 in 3 chance of a UK recession during the next two quarters.

As noted on UK Finance News, the case has revolved around whether the OFT has the right to rule on overdraft charges – not necessarily whether the charges themselves are fair – although the implication is that the OFT is best placed to judge that.

To date, scores of customers’ refund claims have been stacking up in County Courts pending this ruling. Their right to base claims on an earlier OFT ruling, relating to credit card charges has been reestablished.

However, cases may still be frozen until 22nd May – the date by which the Banks are given leave to appeal.