Why the ethical finance industry is still behind the curve October 4, 2018 Ten years on since the financial crisis, there has already been a great deal of focus and contemplation on how financial services have changed over the past decade. For many consumers, banks are still distrusted, not helped by mis-selling scandals or paltry returns on savings accounts. There has been a notable shift in not only [...]
New rules to improve standards of master trust pensions forces 30 schemes out of market October 1, 2018 New rules which have come into force today aimed at improving standards with master trust pensions have led to 30 schemes leaving the market. From today, master trusts, schemes which bring pensions held by multiple employers under the same board of trustees, will need authorisation from The Pensions Regulator (TPR) to ensure they meet new standards [...]
Live for today, but plan for your future retirement – are you saving enough, and looking after your health? September 26, 2018 UK life expectancy has failed to improve for the first time since 1982, according to figures from the ONS released yesterday. However, life expectancy remains relatively high for both women and men, at 82.9 years and 79.2 years respectively. But how can we ensure that our later years will be happy, healthy and, ultimately, [...]
Taxpayers to foot £65m bill from Carillion redundancies September 25, 2018 Taxpayers are set to cough up £65m in redundancy payouts following the collapse of outsourcer giant Carillion. The liquidated construction services company, which bucked under the weight of a £1.5bn debt pile in January, has so far paid out £50m of the total £65m after thousands of workers were made redundant. The figures also [...]
John McDonnell accused of a ‘wilful misunderstanding of business’ after radical conference speech September 24, 2018 One of the UK's biggest business groups pleaded with Labour not to see enterprise as "the enemy" after shadow chancellor John McDonnell delivered a radical speech at his party's conference. The Institute of Directors, which represents companies across the UK, urged McDonnell to abandon "sweeping measures and angry rhetoric" as he used a [...]
Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell loses conviction appeal with Pensions Regulator September 21, 2018 Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell has lost an appeal against his conviction for failing to provide information to the Pensions Regulator (TPR) following the demise of the department store chain. Chappell was ordered to pay £87,000 in January. Today a judge ruled his conviction would not be overturned because he gave "entirely unbelievable" evidence. In 2015, [...]
Frank Field questions Pensions Regulator as Kodak scheme heads to lifeboat September 19, 2018 Leading Labour MP and chair of the Work and Pension Select Committee Frank Field has demanded answers from the Pensions Regulator (TPR) over its handling of Kodak's struggling KPP2 pension scheme. Yesterday, trustees of the scheme said it was highly likely it would fall into the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), as the business is not performing [...]
Former BHS boss Dominic Chappell claims he went ‘above and beyond’ to help Pensions Regulator September 19, 2018 The man who bought failing department store BHS for £1 in 2015 said he went "above and beyond" to assist the pensions watchdog in its enquires after the business collapsed. After Dominic Chappell's Retail Acquisitions bought BHS from Philip Green in March 2015, the business collapsed a year later, leaving an enormous pensions black hole of [...]
A summer to forget: KPMG reputation dealt another blow after admitting to compliance report misconduct September 19, 2018 Scandal-hit KPMG has admitted to misconduct over compliance reports made for a unit of the Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon Group in another fresh embarrassment for one of the Big Four accountancy firms. The UK’s accountancy watchdog said today that KPMG and one of its partners Richard Hinton accepted they had fallen short of standards [...]
Not what the doctor ordered: Spire suffers profit hit amid drop in NHS referrals September 18, 2018 UK private healthcare provider Spire was diagnosed with falling profits in the first six months of 2018, as a drop in referrals from the NHS ate away at the company’s projected core earnings. Spire Healthcare Group’s share price tumbled more than six per cent in early morning trading, after the firm predicted full-year expected earnings [...]