RBS move latest symptom of the credit crunch

But if you are a customer of RBS should you be worried?

The answer appears to be "no". The general view is that customers will not be affected as it is only a concern for shareholders.

And if other banks follow suit, analysts say their customers should not have anything to worry about.

While that may be reassuring, it is clear as that the credit crunch is far from over – as anyone trying to obtain a mortgage at the moment will know.

Lenders continue to pull their most competitive products and increase rates on a daily basis. The number of different mortgage products on the market this week fell below the 4,000 mark for the first time since the credit crisis began.

There are now just 3,986 different mortgage deals available, compared with 15,599 at the beginning of last year.

The RBS group also raised some of its fixed-rate deals by up to 0.85 per cent on Thursday, while earlier in the week Britain's biggest lender, Halifax, hiked rates on its short-term mortgages by up to 0.5 per cent.

There is also speculation that HBOS is decrease the amount of procuration fee it pays to mortgage brokers as market conditions tighten.

THE normal staid world of actuaries was rocked last week by what was described as "fireworks" by one member of the profession who attended a special general meeting (SGM) on Wednesday night.

The SGM was to discuss the proposed merger of the Edinburgh-based Faculty of Actuaries and the London-based Institute of Actuaries.

The Faculty council wants the merger to go ahead as soon as possible, but not all members are in favour of this and have backed a resolutions to see more debate on the details.

One of these is consulting actuary Ronnie Sloan.

He said: "The resolutions do not reject the merger proposal, but essentially put it on hold until further opportunity has been given for the Faculty membership to consider possible alternative ways of achieving the stated objectives."

He said the outcome of the SGM was a "win, win, win" for the "rebels". This means that the Faculty council must now review its stance in the light of the resolutions passed.

Gerry Devenney, of Punter Southall, who was also at the meeting, was not impressed with some of the tactics being adopted by the Faculty to push the merger through.

He explained: "I approached Wednesday's SGM with an open mind but, on hearing the debate unfold and how the process had been conducted, I became convinced that the only way forward was to vote for the resolutions along with the majority of those present. This was against the clear recommendation of Faculty council so represents a seminal moment in the evolution of our profession.

"In arriving at their views, the council has failed to consult the wider business community in Scotland. In my view, we should have been savvy enough to ask them the question and humble enough to take on board their views. After all, our profession is intended to serve the public."

An important point is that a lot of Scottish finance directors like to deal with a Scottish actuary who is a member of the Scottish Faculty.