Not much good news out there from the traditional banking industry still, with the Lloyds group announcing plans to make 9,000 staff redundant and close 200 branches and Barclays announces further provisions for mis selling PPI and rate manipulation.

The large Australian banking giant the NAB, National Australia Bank, also a big player in New Zealand, has decided  to call it a day on the banks it has tucked into its portfolio over here, now dragging down its overall economic performance. The Clydesdale and Yorkshire bank networks owned by the NAB may well be on the market in the near future as the bank looks to retrench to the areas where their core expertise lies. The Group has also had to make provision for mis selling financial products.