500 London jobs to go as HSBC axes back-room staff to cut costs

Banking giant HSBC is axeing more than 500 London jobs.

The redundancies are part of a worldwide programme of cut-backs in its global banking and market division.

About 1,100 mainly back-office jobs will go - half of them at the bank's Canary Wharf headquarters. They represent about four per cent of the bank's global wholesale banking workforce.

It is one of the biggest single job shake-outs in the City since the start of the credit crunch. Many other banks have been shedding staff but generally on a smaller scale.

HSBC spokesman Gareth Hewett said: "We're taking these steps in the light of the current global business and economic environment and our cautious outlook for 2009.

"Markets continue to be challenging and difficult, but our strategy leaves us well-positioned for the next wave of global growth, when it comes."

The Asia-focused bank is faring better than many in the crisis but even so last month reported its steepest profit decline since 2001 on subprime mortgage losses.

Even before the latest stage of the crisis, which saw Lehman Brothers hit the wall, the City has been shedding jobs in increasing numbers.

Before the Lehman collapse and the proposed bail-out of the rest of Wall Street, estimates for job losses in London financial services over the next year were up to 40,000.

Last month Commerzbank planned to axe whole departments at Dresdner Kleinwort as part of its e9 billion (£7.3 billion) merger with Dresdner Bank. In the past year, some 120,000 jobs in the industry have been lost around the world.

This year, Citigroup has cut more than 14,000 jobs and posted three straight quarters of losses. UBS of Switzerland has shed 7,000 employees as writedowns led to losses in the past four quarters.

HSBC was one of the first banks to flag big losses on US mortgages, with a $10.6 billion (£5.78 billion) writedown early last year. In total it has reported $27.4 billion (£14.9 billion) of writedowns in the crisis.

At the time of its first announcement, the bank warned that loan-loss provisions would exceed analyst expectations.

By September last year it said it was closing down its Decision One subprime mortgage unit and eliminating 750 jobs.

The early admission of losses has helped HSBC in that it is suggested as a potential buyer of distressed banks in the US.

It had been thought a contender for Washington Mutual, assets of which were sold to JP Morgan Chase last night.

HSBC has raised $5.1 billion (£ 2.77billion) of capital since the beginning of 2007.

Bradford & Bingley yesterday cut 300 jobs at its mortgage processing office in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.

In total tens of thousands of jobs are expected to be lost in the financial services industries of the City and Canary Wharf during the downturn.

However, many are being told that work is available in the Middle East and Far East, which have been less badly affected by the credit crunch.

Jonathan Prynn & Bill Condie, Evening Standard

Foreclosure fallout: Houses go for a $1

Ron French / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- One dollar can get you a large soda at McDonald's, a used VHS movie at 7-Eleven or a house in Detroit.

The fact that a home on the city's east side was listed for $1 recently shows how depressed the real estate market has become in one of America's poorest big cities.

And it still took 19 days to find a buyer.

The sale price of the home may be an anomaly, but illustrates both the depths of the foreclosure crisis in Detroit and the rapid scuttling of vacant homes in some of the city's impoverished neighborhoods.

The home, at 8111 Traverse Street, a few blocks from Detroit City Airport, was the nicest house on the block when it sold for $65,000 in November 2006, said neighbor Carl Upshaw. But the home was foreclosed last summer, and it wasn't long until "the vultures closed in," Upshaw said. "The siding was the first to go. Then they took the fence. Then they broke in and took everything else."

The company hired to manage the home and sell it, the Bearing Group, boarded up the home only to find the boards stolen and used to board up another abandoned home nearby.

Scrappers tore out the copper plumbing, the furnace and the light fixtures, taking everything of value, including the kitchen sink.

"It about doesn't make sense to put the family out," Upshaw said. "Once people are gone, you're gonna lose the house in this neighborhood."

Tuesday, the home was wide open. Doors leading into the kitchen and the basement were missing, and the front windows had been smashed. Weeds grew chest-high, and charred remains marked a spot where the garage recently burned.

Put on the market in January for $1,100, the house had no lookers other than the squatters who sometimes stayed there at night. Facing $4,000 in back taxes and a large unpaid water bill, the bank that owned the property lowered the price to $1.

$1 sale to cost bank $10,000

While it's not unusual for $1 to be exchanged when property is transferred for legal reasons, listing a home in the Multiple Listing Service for $1 was surprising and unsettling to Kent Colpaert, the listing real estate agent for the property.

"I've never seen a home listed for $1," Colpaert said.

"But it's been hit hard: It's just a shell."

On Tuesday, Realtor.com listed one other single-family home, one duplex and one empty lot at $1 in Detroit.

Dollar property sales are the financial hangover from the foreclosure crisis, said Anthony Viola of Realty Corp. of America in Cleveland.

Lenders that made loans to unqualified buyers during the height of the subprime market now find themselves the owners of whole neighborhoods of vacant, deteriorating homes.

"No one has much sympathy for these banks that made subprime loans," Viola said. "And in some cities like Cleveland, judges aren't letting them sit on the properties -- they're ordering them to tear them down or sell them."

So desperate was the bank owner of 8111 Traverse Street to unload the property that it agreed to pay $2,500 in sales commission and another $1,000 bonus for closing the $1 sale; the bank also will pay $500 of the buyer's closing costs. Throw in back taxes and a water bill, and unloading the house will cost the bank about $10,000.

"It doesn't make sense in some neighborhoods to keep paying costs and costs," Colpaert said. "It can make more financial sense to give it away."

Buyer calls it an investment

Colpaert declined to provide the name of the prospective purchaser, because the deal had not been through closing. The agent did say that the buyer agreed to pay the full list price of $1, and planned to pay cash.

The buyer, a local woman, considers the home to be an investment property and will not live there, Colpaert said, though exactly how soon the buyer can expect to recoup her four-quarter investment is questionable. Replacing the guts of the house will costs tens of thousands of dollars, and the owner will have trouble keeping scrappers from stealing the improvements as quickly as they're installed. Home demolition costs about $5,000, Colpaert said.

Meanwhile, the new owner will owe $3,900 in property taxes in 2009 on her dollar purchase unless she challenges the tax assessment.

While selling a home for the amount of change most people could find between their couch cushions is unusual, some abandoned homes in Detroit sell for $100; vacant lots can be purchased for $300.

"My 14-year-old son could buy a block of Detroit property," said Ann Laciura, senior servicing specialist for the Bearing Group.

You can reach Ron French at (313) 222-2175 or rfrench@detnews.com.

Conveyancing Company Advice

The Legal Practitioners’ Liability Committee (LPLC) has advised that any conveyancing company that is wholly owned by legal practitioners or one or more principals of an incorporated legal practice will need to: 

• obtain a licence under the Conveyancers Act 2006 (Act); and
• appoint a non lawyer director who is a licensee under the Act.

The LPLC has further advised that any such company will need to obtain insurance in accordance with the Act rather than from the LPLC. Further information is available from the Business Licensing Authority website.

Source Friday Facts - LIV 

Apartment building dives

THE credit crisis is taking its toll on apartment construction, with the number of new blocks started diving 17.1 per cent in the June quarter.

New private houses are still being built, with a 4.1 pwer cent rise in commencements in the quarter, but economists believe the total number of new dwelling units being built is not enough to keep pace with growth in the population.

Commonwealth Bank economist James McIntyre said the national stock of houses was rising at its slowest pace since months after the introduction of GST in 2000.

"With strong population growth and continued growth in incomes, rents will continue to rise at near 10 per cent levels for some time," he said.

The world credit crisis has made it much more difficult to arrange finance for any sort of commercial building. Apartments make up about 30 per cent of all new housing.

Mr McIntyre said housing construction was running at about 157,000 new homes a year, while demand from rapid population growth is rising at between 190,000 and 210,000 a year.

Turnover in the existing housing market remains slow, as individuals become more wary about taking on housing debt.

Auction clearance rates down to around 50 per cent or less in all state capitals except for Melbourne, according to Australian Property Monitors.

Perth is the worst effected market, with only 21 per cent of the properties put to auction in the last two months actually being sold.

Property is also failing to sell in Brisbane, with only 30 per cent of the houses put up for auction in August selling. In Sydney, the clearance rate last month was 52 per cent while it was 62 per cent in Melbourne and 40 per cent in Adelaide.

"Auction clearance rates for all capital cities are well below their average and significantly below the rates witnessed this time last year," APN economist, Liam O'Hara said.

The number of properties being put up for auction has been increasing in most cities

David Uren, Economics correspondent | September 16, 2008 | The Australian

Identity Farming

  by Bruce Schneier
     Chief Security Technology Officer, BT
            schneier@schneier.com
           http://www.schneier.com

Let me start off by saying that I'm making this whole thing up.

Imagine you're in charge of infiltrating sleeper agents into the United States. The year is 1983, and the proliferation of identity databases is making it increasingly difficult to create fake credentials. Ten years ago, someone could have just shown up in the country and gotten a driver's license, Social Security card and bank account -- possibly using the identity of someone roughly the same age who died as a young child -- but it's getting harder. And you know that trend will only continue. So you decide to grow your own identities.

Call it "identity farming." You invent a handful of infants. You apply for Social Security numbers for them. Eventually, you open bank accounts for them, file tax returns for them, register them to vote, and apply for credit cards in their name. And now, 25 years later, you have a handful of identities ready and waiting for some real people to step into them.

There are some complications, of course. Maybe you need people to sign their name as parents -- or, at least, mothers. Maybe you need to doctors to fill out birth certificates. Maybe you need to fill out paperwork certifying that you're home-schooling these children. You'll certainly want to exercise their financial identity: depositing money into their bank accounts and withdrawing it from ATMs, using their credit cards and paying the bills, and so on. And you'll need to establish some sort of addresses for them, even if it is just a mail drop.

You won't be able to get driver's licenses or photo IDs in their name. That isn't critical, though; in the U.S., more than 20 million adult citizens don't have photo IDs. But other than that, I can't think of any reason why identity farming wouldn't work.

Here's the real question: Do you actually have to show up for any part of your life?

Again, I made this all up. I have no evidence that anyone is actually doing this. It's not something a criminal organization is likely to do; twenty-five years is too distant a payoff horizon. The same logic holds true for terrorist organizations; it's not worth it. It might have been worth it to the KGB -- although perhaps harder to justify after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991 -- and might be an attractive option for existing intelligence adversaries like China.

Immortals could also use this trick to self-perpetuate themselves, inventing their own children and gradually assuming their identity, then killing their parents off. They could even show up for their own driver's license photos, wearing a beard as the father and blue spiked hair as the son. I'm told this is a common idea in Highlander fan fiction.

The point isn't to create another movie plot threat, but to point out the central role that data has taken on in our lives. Previously, I've said that we all have a data shadow that follows us around, and that more and more institutions interact with our data shadows instead of with us. We only intersect with our data shadows once in a while -- when we apply for a driver's license or passport, for example -- and those interactions are authenticated by older, less-secure interactions. The rest of the world assumes that our photo IDs glue us to our data shadows, ignoring the rather flimsy connection between us and our plastic cards. (And, no, REAL-ID won't help.)

It seems to me that our data shadows are becoming increasingly distinct from us, almost with a life of their own. What's important now is our shadows; we're secondary. And as our society relies more and more on these shadows, we might even become unnecessary.

Our data shadows can live a perfectly normal life without us.

Data shadow essay:
http://www.schneier.com/essay-219.html

Interesting commentary.
http://www.examiner.com/x-536-Civil-Liberties-Examiner~y2008m9d4-Im-not-myself-today-or-manufacturing-a-new-you orhttp://tinyurl.com/5g883m

This essay  previously appeared on Wired.com.
http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2008/09/securitymatters_0904 or http://tinyurl.com/5kmh2s

Auction clearances surge

• Chris Vedelago | The Age
• September 15, 2008

MELBOURNE'S auction clearance rate has surged to a six-month high as buyers continue to return to the market following the recent interest rate cut.

The Real Estate Institute of Victoria says the number of properties that sold at auction at the weekend rose to 68%, up four percentage points on last week and nine percentage points in a fortnight.

Just two weeks ago the clearance rate had dropped to 59% — its lowest point in more than three years.

REIV chief executive Enzo Raimondo said the rebound was the result of renewed interest in the market with the start of the spring property season, and growing buyer confidence after the Reserve Bank this month cut the official interest rate for the first time in nearly seven years.

But some analysts caution that these kinds of rapid, short-term movements in sales are often driven more by emotional reactions than a careful reading of the market.

"Sentiment is fairly clear from the RBA about the interest rate and that's got to be having some influence, but I don't know whether it translates into a nine percentage point difference," the director of strategic research with analyst group Charter Keck Cramer, Robert Papaleo, said.

"The market tends to over-react on the upside as well as the downside, and with (the interest rate cut) being the first bit of positive news in a while, people may have gotten a little too confident.

"The surging clearance rate has also come at a time when supply levels have been historically low, suggesting the improvement may have more to do with competition for a smaller pool of stock than across-the-board growth in demand."

There were 539 properties put up for auction at the weekend, 29.54% below the level for the same time last year (when the clearance rate was 82%) and 10.3% lower than in 2006 (when sales were at 70%).

The last time supply levels were lower for this weekend in September was during the market downturn of 2004 and 2005.

Buyers' advocate Peter Rogozik said this year's tougher market conditions had led many vendors to keep second-tier properties out of the market for fear they would not sell.

Death, Debt & Divorce

Death, divorce and debt are the market makers for property prices in periods of economic slowdown and a retreating property market. Such vendors are the "willing vendors" who will to a large degree chase the buyers. Executors, divorcees and debt stressed vendors are more likely than not, have to sell. And when buyers are thin on the ground, any reasonable offer will more often than not result in a sale. The 3Ds provide the buoyancy the market needs when other vendors may have deserted the market waiting for better times to return. If vendors don't have to sell, they will happily postpone their decision to sell and wait for more favourable times, especially the investor.

Buyers have been spooked and affected by economic factors: higher interest rates, fuel and food increases, layoffs and the wealth affect of a lower stock market.

Jonathon Dixon, managing director of J. P. Dixon, was quoted in the Domain section of the Age online: He says he has never seen the market turn down as fast as it has over the past few months."It's as skinny as I've ever seen it." In June, Australian property statistics were saying that despite the harsh winds emanating from the US subprime mortgage meltdown, prices here were generally "flat but not falling". In the three months since, the widespread wisdom is that many metropolitan districts have come off 10-15% from the prices that were being achieved in 2007. Last year was an odd market bubble." Too hot," says Mr Dixon "It's a different ball game now."

In an up market, you have buyers chasing vendors. In a down market vendors chase the buyers.

The Reserve Banks about face on interest rate increases may be seen to be the tipping point for the property market. At least another interest rate cut will hopefully restore a sense of normality to the property market and kick start the economy. Investors and owner occupiers have been waiting for such signals that there were to be no more interest rate increases and feel more confident in their buying decisions. And we may well see more vendors and buyers returning to the market, that is, those who have been sitting on the sidelines thus giving more depth to the auction and private sale markets.

Vendors must meet the market

Jonathon Dixon, managing director of J. P. Dixon, an agency servicing the high realty grounds of Brighton, Sandringham, Sorrento and Toorak, has been in the business of moving property for 36 years.

He says he has never seen the market turn down as fast as it has over the past few months."It's as skinny as I've ever seen it."

In June, Australian property statistics were saying that despite the harsh winds emanating from the US subprime mortgage meltdown, prices here were generally "flat but not falling". In the three months since, the widespread wisdom is that many metropolitan districts have come off 10-15% from the prices that were being achieved in 2007.

Last year was an odd market bubble."

Too hot," says Mr Dixon."It's a different ball game now."

But while the agents are all too aware of the slide into a "buyer's market" situation, and while suburban streets are papered with an increasing number of For Sale hoardings, they are chorusing that an awful lot of vendors are yet to catch up with the news that the wind has changed."

Last year was a record-breaking year," says Robert Namour, director of three Barry Plant agencies in the Monash belt of Wheelers Hill, Mount Waverley and Oakleigh. He too says that while the change hit Monash earlier, in February- March, "the change was so sudden it was a shock".

In this tougher selling market, the task of easing vendors into the new reality that their property is not worth what it so recently might have been, is not being helped by intensified competition between agencies touting for business. Some will, says Mr Namour, "lead buyers into being over-optimistic, sometimes by $100,000 or more"."

We've walked away from vendors who are over-optimistic, rather than leading them up the path where they get caught out."

Mr Namour's agency has watched more than a few buyers in his $450,000-$500,000 family home catchment be seduced by other agents promising $600,000 results only to see them come back disillusioned and poorer for the experience."

They put the property back on the market for $100,000 less, plus the time and money it has cost them. The time difference has also cost them in terms of market variance."

Mr Dixon says that at the tip of the top end, properties over $4 million seem relatively unaffected. But vendors selling properties priced between $1.5 million and $3 million, "probably owned by people whose shares have lost one-third of their value, are sweating".

His story of a returning disappointed vendor involves a property that lost $400,000 in the translation from an unrealistic price estimate to "what the market was prepared to pay four months later. It's not too uncommon."

Being a vendor today, says Tim Fletcher, principal of Fletchers Canterbury, is about being realistic "and having reasonable expectations".

Along with the other agents, he exhorts vendors to listen well to their chosen agent and to trust their judgement about what the market is willing to pay, rather than believing their house will sell for the same price their neighbour achieved five months ago."

If you don't trust your agent," he says, "don't employ them. If you do, respect what they are telling you."

Mr Namour says his people are working harder today to keep close contact and to educate their clients about the current market.

And Mr Dixon says: "Vendors can't afford to be deluded now, because it has been such a quick change on the market. The quickest I have ever seen."

The silver lining for vendors in this situation is, according to Mr Fletcher, "that they will also be buying on the same market".

Selling in a buyer's market

- Be realistic about price. The spring property market of 2008 is down on last year's.

- Research the local market. Go to auctions and see which properties are selling.

- Take advice from your agent, especially that on what is a "good offer" for your home. If you get two similar offers - that's where the price is at.

- Beware of over-optimistic valuations. They might cost you money and time as ultimately it is the market that sets the price.

- Do not buy before selling your own house.

Although 60% of properties are selling at auction, others take longer to sell.

- Follow the golden rules about presenting your property well.

- You will probably be buying on the same buyer's market. So any vendor price disadvantage is ironed out when you buy.

The Age | Jenny Brown | 10 August 2008

Rate cut revives auction action

The Real Estate Institute of Victoria said the number of properties sold at auction yesterday rose to 64% from the more than three-year low of 59% it hit last weekend.

The rebound comes as a growing number of real estate agencies begin closing, selling up or merging in a bid to survive Victoria's property slump.

REIV figures show that more than 100 estate agencies have shut down or changed ownership so far this year, up nearly 28% on the same time last year.

The shake-up may be just the start of a long-term trend in the industry. Macquarie Bank research released last month indicates that 10%-15% of Australian real estate agencies are considering selling part or all of their businesses, compared with just 3% late last year.

REIV chief executive Enzo Raimondo said an increasing number of agencies — particularly small, independently run firms — were facing tough decisions about whether they could continue to operate.

"Some of those agencies that sprang up to take advantage of the good times probably aren't prepared to handle the bad times," he said.

The Sunday Age has found that several larger agencies and franchise groups have closed or consolidated at least eight offices across Victoria this year.

David Morrell, of buyer's advocacy group Morrell & Koren, said the extent of the cost-cutting, job losses and office closures was being concealed by some operators in a bid to protect their image.

The Age | Chris Vedelago | 10 August 2008

Brumby under pressure to cut stamp duty

September 9, 2008 - 1:43PM
• Natalie Craig - The Age
  

The Victorian Government is under pressure to cut stamp duty after Queensland abolished the charge for first home buyers for properties under $500,000.

- Brumby under pressure to cut stamp duty
- Queensland increases exemption to $500,000
- Victoria now highest charges in nation

Victoria now has among the highest stamp duty charges in the country, according to the Property Council, and will lose its competitive advantage over other states if it continues to charge tens of thousands of dollars for the transfer of land.

"In Victoria you're still looking at up to $30,000 stamp duty on your first home,'' said Caryn Kakas, executive director of the council's residential development division.

"Queensland has just upped the ante and we're really going to start falling behind in terms of affordability. We're not going to be able to compete for migrants with the other eastern states.''

Queensland has increased the stamp duty exemption for first home buyers from $350,000 to $500,000, in line with NSW and Western Australia.

Ms Kakas said the Government was struggling to give up revenue from stamp duty, which covers the transfer of land titles from one owner to another.

"Really, you're probably looking at about $200 worth of paper work, which is paid for by the two people transferring the land,'' she said. "It's a completely ineffective tax.''

Victorian Premier John Brumby announced a 10% increase to stamp duty thresholds in May and removed a policy loophole, allowing first-home buyers to access both the stamp duty concession and up to $12,000 in government grants.

This means the buyer of a house worth $317,000 would pay $2460 less stamp duty as well as pocketing the government grants.

But Opposition planning spokesman Mathew Guy said increasing house values will eliminate any savings.

"The Government is still going to achieve more stamp duty than ever before, according to the next forward estimates,'' he said.

"We are just asleep at the wheel in trying to maintain our competitive advantage. The Queensland Government is seeking to be as competitive as possible in terms of taxation and yet we've done nothing about it.''