HMRC in £1.6bn cigarette and alcohol duty crackdown March 21, 2016 HMRC raked in £1.63bn over the past 12 months from investigations into underpaid cigarette and alcohol taxes, new data shows today. Revenues from investigations into so-called sin taxes are up six per cent on the year ending March 2015, according to figures retrieved by accountants UHY Hacker Young. The UK’s black market in cigarettes and alcohol [...]
Non-Opec member Oman yet to be invited to Doha meeting March 20, 2016 Oman has said it’s yet to receive an invite to a historic meeting of oil producers, where they’re expected to discuss freezing output to support prices. This is despite Oman being the largest non-opec oil producer in the Middle East, pumping out around 1m barrels per day. "We have been exchanging some views with other oil [...]
Navinder Singh Sarao, who has been accused of contributing to the Flash Crash, to discover whether he has been successful in avoiding extradition to the US on Wednesday March 20, 2016 Navinder Singh Sarao, the British trader accused of contributing to 2010's flash crash, will find out on Wednesday whether or not he has won his battle to avoid being extradited to the US. Sarao appeared in Westminster Magistrates' Court last month for the extradition hearing, where lawyers representing the US government argued that he was allegedly heavily engaged in [...]
Euribor trials: European arrest warrants secured for the five former traders who declined to appear at court hearing in January March 20, 2016 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has secured European arrest warrants for five former traders who declined to attend a court date earlier this year. The fraud squad obtained the warrants from a London court late last week in relation to four Germans and one Frenchman accused of playing a role in manipulating the Euro Interbank [...]
Libor scandal: Former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes to discover whether any of his assets will be confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act March 20, 2016 Tom Hayes will soon find out whether any of his assets will be confiscated as proceeds of crime after a court hearing on the matter drew to a close last Friday. Assets that the former UBS and Citigroup trader, who was found guilty last August on eight counts of conspiracy to defraud for his role [...]
Brent and WTI crude: Oil prices hit 2016 high above $42 March 18, 2016 Oil rose above $42 per barrel today, helped by growing optimism that producers could agree a production freeze deal and a weak dollar. Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 1.64 per cent to $42.22 per barrel, having touched a 2016 high of $42.31 earlier in the day. West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, added 1.8 [...]
European Central Bank’s chief economist Peter Praet says interest rates could go ever lower March 18, 2016 The European Central Bank's chief economist Peter Praet has said the bank can take interest rates even lower if the Eurozone economy fails to pick up. Speaking to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Praet said that rates are yet to reach their lower limit. "As other central banks have demonstrated, we have not reached the physical lower [...]
Retirement savings: Equity release allowing over-55s to unlock over 100 weeks’ worth of pay from their properties, offering alternative funding for their later years March 18, 2016 Over-55s using equity release products in the second half of last year unlocked over 100 weeks' worth of pay from their property, according to a report out today. The research by the Equity Release Council discovered that customers using drawdown mortgage products in the last six months of 2015 withdrew an average of £49,607, which is equivalent to [...]
Euribor trials: European arrest warrant to be requested for the five traders who declined to appear at court hearing in January March 17, 2016 Five traders who have been accused of playing a part in manipulating the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) might soon be making their way to the UK to face charges. It is understood that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will tomorrow approach a London court seeking an European arrest warrant for five individuals who declined to [...]
Libor scandal: Former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes lost the best part of £1m on trading as he tried to raise funds to pay for his legal fees March 17, 2016 Tom Hayes lost the best part of £1m trading to try to raise money to pay his legal fees, a court was told today. Hayes, who was found guilty on eight counts of conspiracy to defraud last August for his role in manipulating Libor, has been attending a hearing at the Old Bailey since Monday to [...]