Bank of England

The Bank of England has warned lenders it is considering changes to the way bonuses are measured to make it far harder for investment bankers to justify their multi-million pound awards.

The Bank of England has today warned UK banks they must consider raising more capital in the next few months to cope with the "exceptionally threatening" environment.

The FTSE 100 has moved 3% higher after the world's major central banks announced a move to boost liquidity within the financial system.

The UK will take five and a half years to recover to pre-recession levels, said Bank of England external MPC member Martin Weale in a speech today to the National Institute of Social and Economic Research (NIESR).

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously in favour of keeping bank rate at a record low of 0.5% and maintaining QE at current levels, while warning inflation is unlikely to fall as fast as expected.

Fears of a financial crisis hitting the UK are at their highest level since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bank of England research has revealed.

Consumer Prices Index inflation could fall to 3% by the end of Q1 2012 as the impact of the VAT hike and high oil prices falls away.

Update: European shares fell today - mirroring overnight losses in Asia and the US - on continued concerns about the eurozone debt crisis, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying Europe faces its "hardest hour" since World War II.

The Bank of England has been forced to cut growth forecasts for the UK to 1% amid fears of a double-dip recession brought on by the eurozone crisis.

The Bank of England (BoE) has kept interest rates at the historic low of 0.5% for the 33rd straight month, and held fire on additional quantitative easing measures after pumping an extra £75bn into the facility last month.