The ombudsman disagreed saying literature sent to customers was not sufficiently

The ombudsman disagreed, saying literature sent to customers was not sufficiently clear that the discount or cap would be based on the old rate and that they were entitled to believe it could be moved to the new, better, deal.Halifax has been ordered to pay compensation to the Wrights for their inconvenience and to rebate the “few hundred pounds” by which they have overpaid since their complaint.The bank said it was “disappointed” with the ruling and would not automatically compensate all customers with a discount mortgage tied to the old standard variable rate. It then wrote to most of its 2.5 million mortgage customers asking whether they wanted to move from the old standard variable rate to the new one, which it guaranteed would not be more than one percentage point above the Bank of England’s base rate.But when the Wrights asked for their mortgage to be transferred Halifax refused, saying they already had a special discount deal that was based on its old rate.Halifax and Nationwide have argued that customers with discounts or capped mortgages have contracts which cannot be altered. Thousands of customers of Halifax can fight for compensation from Britain’s biggest mortgage lender after the City watchdog ruled yesterday that it was treating some customers unfairly by refusing to move them on to its most competitive lending rate. We almost have to look back and call this a recession-ette, rather than a recession,” said Diane Swonk, the chief economist at Bank One in Chicago.Ian Shepherdson, an economist at High Frequency Economics, told The New York Times: “The real story here is that because there was a big response from the government and from the private sector, they demonstrated that even though people were miserable and unhappy about what happened on 11 September, that almost immediately afterward if they were given an incentive to go and spend money, they took it.”. President Bush is currently trying to get an economic stimulus package passed by Congress.Analysts said a jump in government spending and a rush by consumers to take advantage of zero-per cent financing for purchases of new cars powered the fourth-quarter GDP “We are well-positioned for recovery here. The only negative quarter for GDP occurred in the third quarter and recessions are usually recognised after two consecutive quarters showing a downturn.

Many analysts believe that economic weakness, not inflation, is the pre-eminent threat and that the Fed can always cut rates at a later date.Peter Coolidge, a senior equity trader at Brean Murray & Co, said: “Right now the market is focused on getting the numbers right and seeing if there are any other shoes to drop.” Even though the US economy has been in recession since last March, the downturn has been unusually mild by historical standards. Amid the sporadic signs that the economy may be improving, it was widely expected the Fed would maintain a cautious tone and leave rates as they were – a course of action it followed. Now, what’s going to be rewarded is a simple, clear statement of earnings.”Last year the Fed cut interest rates 11 times, bringing its key federal funds interest rate to a 40-year low of 1.75 per cent. “If we can’t use the GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) numbers, we’re going to be reticent to make new commitments.”Nat Paull, a portfolio manager at New Amsterdam Partners, said: “People are concerned about any negative surprises that are going to crop up from financial statements.

Instead the fourth-quarter figures revealed a small but crucial increase of 0.2 per cent, lifting hopes the worst is over for the sagging economy.”The numbers confirm what we’ve seen in economic data so far – that the economy is in recovery and that the recession probably ended sometime late last quarter,” said Dan Laufenberg, the chief US economist for American Express Financial Advisors.But although investors will have taken heart from the latest figures, analysts said investors on Wall Street were still unnerved by the scandal surrounding the collapse of the energy trader, Enron.”It’s continued nervousness on accounting,” said William Muggia, the president and chief investment officer at Westfield Capital Management. The US Federal Reserve last night left interest rates unchanged amid hopes that America’s faltering economy may have turned the corner after GDP figures for the last quarter of 2001 revealed a surprise growth.
Economists had predicted the latest GDP figures would show a decline of up to 1 per cent after figures for the third quarter showed the economy had shrunk by 1.3 per cent. These recognise that competition is the best way to protect customer interests.”. For Consignia, the regulator’s approach represents death by a thousand cuts.”Peter Skyte, national secretary of the Communications Managers Association, which represents 15,000 Consignia managers, said the plans posed a real risk to the universal service, adding that competition should be “gradual, measured and controlled”.But the consumer group Postwatch applauded the plan “The regulator has produced a balanced set of proposals. Initially, licences will last for seven years but after that they will be indefinite.Allan Leighton, Consignia’s new chairman, said the Postcomm proposals threatened the universal service: “Competitors can now cherry pick the profitable parts of our business, which substantially pay for the ‘one price anywhere in the country’ promise. In the second phase of competition a further 30 per cent of the market will be freed up from April 2004 when rival operators will be allowed to handle bulk mailings of between 500 and 1,000 items.Restrictions on market entry will be abolished altogether in March 2006, theoretically enabling domestic customers to send and receive letters using firms other than the Royal Mail.Mr Corbett said that complete liberalisation could be brought forward by one or even two years depending on how successful the first stages proved. The top 10 bulk mail users – including banks, government departments and mail order companies – send out 2.5 billion to 5 billion items of mail a year.

This consists of large business users mailing out 4,000 items or more at a time. “We believe the most effective way to change this is for the company to face real competition.”Under the proposals, 30 per cent of the market, worth about £1.5bn a year, will be opened to competition in April. But Consignia, the Royal Mail’s parent company, warned it meant “death by a thousand cuts” and postal unions said it could spell the end of the universal service which guarantees deliveries to every address in the country for the same price.Unveiling the long-awaited proposals, Postcomm’s chairman, Graham Corbett, rejected the fears expressed by Consignia and the unions and said that the Royal Mail should be able to withstand the introduction of competition without services being jeopardised.”The current postal monopoly is clearly not providing its customers with the service they want and is failing to contain its costs,” Mr Corbett said. Nearly a third of the Royal Mail’s £5bn postal monopoly will be open to rivals this April, with the entire market opened to competition from 2006, under proposals published by the industry regulator today.
Consumer groups welcomed the move by Postcomm to liberalise postal services. The general counsel who received the letter quit his job later – a decision the company insists was unrelated.. Auditing is really about independently validating the numbers, not just saying, ‘management told us, therefore it is so’.” He said the $644m oversight appeared to be a straight error, but added that Andersen had been unable to prove it had conducted a proper audit.The letter from the former General Crossing executive, Roy Olofson, alleged more deliberate forms of improper accounting practices within the company, including inflated revenue and cash-flow figures. Gregory Kutz, who wrote the GAO report on the Nasa episode, told the Houston Chronicle: “Their [Andersen's] work did not meet professional standards.