Waymo founder: ‘I never envisioned a London rollout’ October 22, 2025 As Waymo prepares for its UK launch, founder Sebastian Thrun admitted he “never envisioned” London being home to autonomous cars. The driverless taxis have taken the US by storm, and the company will soon enter Europe, hitting the streets of the capital before the end of the year. The company, owned by Google parent Alphabet, [...]
Reeves’ tax grab could ‘wipe £4bn out of the stock market’ October 22, 2025 One of the UK’s leading trading platforms has warned Chancellor Rachel Reeves that raising retail investor taxes could wipe billions off the stock market, undermining government attempts to boost domestic investing and strengthen the London market. According to research from trading platform IG, a two percentage point increase in both dividend and capital gains tax [...]
Lifetime ISA hands £1bn boost to Treasury coffers amid debate over purpose October 21, 2025 The Lifetime ISA has provided the Treasury with a significant fiscal boost each year since 2021, despite the government continuing to question whether it is ultimately fit for purpose. According to research from CBI Economics, commissioned by Moneybox, the Lifetime ISA (LISA) has delivered a net boost of £1bn to date for the government since [...]
Spike in employer pension contributions could throw UK businesses into insolvency October 21, 2025 Rumours over potential spikes to employer pension contributions in the upcoming Budget has thrown UK companies into a frenzy, with some admitting it could put them at risk of insolvency. According to research from consultancy Barnett Waddingham, nearly 20 per cent of businesses fear they could become insolvent if an increase to employer pension contributions [...]
Plus500 boss: Scrapping shares tax would boost market efficiency October 20, 2025 Scrapping stamp duty on shares would help improve market efficiency and bolster the health of London’s capital markets, the boss of Plus500 has said after a jump in customers’ deposit sizes helped the trading platform beat analyst expectations. David Zruia told City AM that trading volumes would invariably go up if the Chancellor heeded growing [...]
Government must increase financial education in order to boost investment, think tank warns October 20, 2025 The government must do more to encourage wealth building and increase financial knowledge as Brits continue to turn away from retail investing, a think tank has warned. According to the latest report from the Startup Coalition, only 50 per cent of adults invest in the stock market, leaving billions in low-yield accounts and cash ISAs, [...]
Oaktree Capital co-founder voice doubts that macroeconomic fears caused gold’s rally October 20, 2025 Howard Marks, co-founder of investment firm Oaktree Capital, has voiced his scepticism over gold’s rallying run, believing economic conditions have not caused the surge and there is “no intelligent way to assess the intrinsic value”. Speaking on The Master Investor podcast with Wilfred Frost, Marks attributed the precious metal’s long standing run to popularity, believing [...]
Betfred founder: Tax rises are “biggest threat” to the industry October 19, 2025 Betfred shops could vanish from UK high streets if Chancellor Rachel Reeves carries out a potential tax raid in the November budget, the company’s co-founder and chairman has warned. Fred Done, who founded the business in 1967 with his brother, hailed tax rises as the “biggest threat” to the industry he has seen in his [...]
Reeves seeks to boost UK share ownership in ISA overhaul October 18, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is looking to boost UK share ownership as part of her plans to overhaul ISAs, with potential measures including a minimum holding of British companies and a stamp duty tax break. The move is an evolution of the previously scrapped Conservative plan to create a ‘Brit ISA’ and comes as Reeves searches [...]
IG pockets £75m after disposal of future exchange platform to beef up crypto capabilities October 16, 2025 Investment broker IG has disposed of its future exchange platform, Small Exchange Inc, as part of a partnership with global crypto exchange Kraken. IG sold the Chicago-based company, which it purchased in 2023, to Payward Inc., the parent company of popular cryptocurrency platform Kraken, for $100m (£74.9m). The sale consisted of $32.5m in cash and [...]