Banks have been blamed by Financial Planners for tarnishing their profession and giving the general public a false perception of how they work.

Lloyds Banking Group has today been hit with fines totalling £218m for serious misconduct relating to the Special Liquidity Scheme, the Repo Rate benchmark and the London Interbank Offered Rate.

Vacancy levels in the financial services sector have risen by around 7%, according to year-on-year statistics released this month by a recruitment firm.

Aberdeen Asset Management has reported net outflows of nearly £9bn for the latest quarter, including a single client withdrawal of about £4bn.

An extra £1 million prize will be up for grabs in the Premium Bonds prize draw from the end of this week, arising from the Budget reforms.

Nearly 90% of key annuity providers and pension experts believe that pensions will be withdrawn as lump sums for purposes other than retirement income following the Budget reforms.

Assets under management at Parmenion have shot through the £1bn barrier in the past financial year.

New research has shown that consumers should not be shunning annuities on the basis of value for money, according to the International Longevity Centre UK.

A mother whose son committed suicide after falling prey to pension fraudsters has spoken of her devastation as a new campaign against the crime was launched today.