Financial services are economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions . Financial services encompass a broad range of service sector activities, especially as concerns financial management and consumer finance .
18-581: BGL Group (formerly Budget Group Limited) is a financial services company based in Orton Southgate , Peterborough , England. Its main lines of business are vehicle and home insurance, with a range of supplementary products such as breakdown cover, legal protection and personal accident cover. The company was founded in 1992 by Douw Steyn as the Budget Insurance Company, an underwriter . Budget Insurance Services Limited (BISL)
36-485: A business, helps businesses raise money from other firms in the form of bonds (debt) or share capital (equity). The primary operations of commercial banks include: The United States is the largest commercial banking services location. New York City and London are the largest centers of investment banking services. NYC is dominated by U.S. domestic business, while in London international business and commerce make up
54-402: A complementary service in 2005, and sold Budget Retail in 2006. In July 2007 the company changed its name to BGL Group, launching an eco-friendly car insurance site, ibuyeco.co.uk, and relaunching the comparethemarket.com insurance price comparison site.. Along with this South Africa's first comparison website was launched Hippo.co.za that compares insurance and other personal finance products from
72-582: A range of South African brands. Before Hippo.co.za, consumers had to call around for hours trying to find the cheapest quote to suit their needs. This was a market changer for the South African market. The year 2009 saw the creation of comparethemeerkat.com – online meerkat comparison website as part of a spoof advertising campaign featuring a CGI meerkat character named Aleksandr Orlov . French price comparison sites LesFurets.com and CreditMieux.com were acquired in 2010, and Dutch site Verzekeringssite.nl
90-530: A significant portion of investment banking activity. FX or Foreign exchange services are provided by many banks and specialists foreign exchange brokers around the world. Foreign exchange services include: London handled 36.7% of global currency transactions in 2009 – an average daily turnover of US$ 1.85 trillion – with more US dollars traded in London than New York, and more Euros traded than in every other city in Europe combined. New York City
108-580: A variety of reasons. Some smaller financial centres, such as Bermuda , Luxembourg , and the Cayman Islands , lack sufficient size for a domestic financial services sector and have developed a role providing services to non-residents as offshore financial centres . The increasing competitiveness of financial services has meant that some countries, such as Japan, which were once self-sufficient, have increasingly imported financial services. The leading financial exporter, in terms of exports less imports,
126-875: Is the United Kingdom , which had $ 95 billion of financial exports in 2014. The UK's position is helped by both unique institutions (such as Lloyd's of London for insurance, the Baltic Exchange for shipping etc.) and an environment that attracts foreign firms; many international corporations have global or regional headquarters in the London and are listed on the London Stock Exchange , and many banks and other financial institutions operate there or in Edinburgh . Multinational corporations Too Many Requests If you report this error to
144-600: Is the largest center of investment services, followed by London. The United States, followed by Japan and the United Kingdom are the largest insurance markets in the world. A financial export is a financial service provided by a domestic firm (regardless of ownership) to a foreign firm or individual. While financial services such as banking, insurance, and investment management are often seen as domestic services, an increasing proportion of financial services are now being handled abroad, in other financial centres , for
162-408: Is traditionally among those to receive government support in times of widespread economic crisis. Such bailouts, however, enjoy less public support than those for other industries. A commercial bank is what is commonly referred to as simply a bank. The term " commercial " is used to distinguish it from an investment bank , a type of financial services entity which instead of lending money directly to
180-534: The United States partly as a result of the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act of the late 1990s, which enabled different types of companies operating in the U.S. financial services industry at that time to merge. Companies usually have two distinct approaches to this new type of business. One approach would be a bank that simply buys an insurance company or an investment bank , keeps the original brands of
198-669: The American Occupy Wall Street civil protest movement of 2011. Styles of financial institution include credit union , bank , savings and loan association , trust company , building society , brokerage firm , payment processor , many types of broker , and some government-sponsored enterprise . Financial services include accountancy , investment banking , investment management , and personal asset management . Financial products include insurance , credit cards , mortgage loans , and pension funds . The term "financial services" became more prevalent in
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#1732780113230216-531: The UK commercial insurer of the same name, established in 2001). in 2013 the FSA intervened and forced BISL to change its policy cancellation terms, as a result of which BISL stated: "BISL has agreed to change the cancellation terms in its policies. This is because we believe the original terms were confusing and unfair". The BGL Group employs 2,852 staff across the UK with sales of £714 million and profits of £172 million to
234-546: The acquired firm, and adds the acquisition to its holding company simply to diversify its earnings . Outside the U.S. (e.g. Japan ), non-financial services companies are permitted within the holding company. In this scenario, each company still looks independent and has its own customers, etc. In the other style, a bank would simply create its own insurance division or brokerage division and attempt to sell those products to its own existing customers, with incentives for combining all things with one company. The financial sector
252-436: The company launched its own uninsured loss recovery business, ACM ULR, and in the same year it ran a PR and marketing campaign for Bennetts, helping to establish the bike insurer as a leading brand in the United Kingdom market. In 2004, Budget was noted as providing the most competitive home insurance, and the cheapest motor insurance cover. The company opened its Cape Town Contact Centre in 2004, set up Comparethemarket.com as
270-491: The end of June 2019. Financial services The finance industry in its most common sense concerns commercial banks that provide market liquidity , risk instruments , and brokerage for large public companies and multinational corporations at a macroeconomic scale that impacts domestic politics and foreign relations . The extragovernmental power and scale of the finance industry remains an ongoing controversy in many industrialized Western economies, as seen in
288-604: Was acquired in 2012. The latter was rebranded as hoyhoy.nl in 2014. In 2013, BGL group launched Beagle Street , the first online-only life insurer in the UK. In 2022 Beagle Street was acquired by OneFamily . In 2015, Bennetts was sold to Saga Group . The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a 30% stake in BGL in November 2017 for £675 million. In January 2022, BGL sold its insurance business to Markerstudy, leaving Comparethemarket as its primary remaining business. BGL
306-715: Was advised by Dentons on the transaction. The BGL Group, part of the greater TIH (Telesure Investment Holdings) have subsequently grown their portfolio of sites across the globe which now include, Compare the Market Australia, LesFurets.com in France, Koalay and Hesapkurdu in Turkey, Hoyhoy in Holland. The group's main company name is BISL Limited, which was founded in 1996 – trading under the names of Budget, Dial Direct, Bennetts, Junction, ACM ULR, Fusion (no connection with
324-524: Was founded in 1997 and the following year Budget Insurance Company ceased underwriting and became an intermediary business, marketing policies underwritten by a panel of insurers. In 1999 it acquired Arnott Century, and changed its name to Budget Retail. The group acquired Dial Direct and Bennetts in 2001. In 2002 it launched an affinity business, called Junction which was a major contributor to its growth through partners such as Post Office , M&S Money , Bradford & Bingley and Yes Insurance. In 2003,
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