The UK’s competition policy must be fit for a world of tech giants and hidden cartels March 11, 2019 Competition is the oxygen of the capitalist system. From Adam Smith on, there have been warnings of the threats to economic health if competition is restricted by would-be monopolists or cartels. In the UK, the system is policed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). It rarely hits the headlines except for occasional controversial cases like [...]
HMRC launches first investigations using new corporate money laundering powers March 10, 2019 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has launched its first criminal investigations under a new money laundering offence, freedom of information requests reveal. The tax authority is investigating a handful of cases under the corporate criminal offence of failure to prevent the facilitation of UK tax evasion which was introduced in the Criminal Finances Act 2017 [...]
Billions of pounds available by backing Theresa May’s deal, says Philip Hammond March 9, 2019 Chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond has said getting behind Theresa May's Brexit deal would free up billions of pounds in extra public spending or tax cuts. Hammond also dismissed the importance being placed on the Irish backstop, which could force the UK into an EU customs union in order to avoid a hard Irish border, claiming they are "not [...]
Should the rich be taxed more? March 8, 2019 | City Talk Compared with other developed countries, the UK has a very high level of income inequality, something which many of us feel uncomfortable about. According to the Equality Trust, UK households in the bottom 10 per cent of the population have, on average, a disposable (or net) income of £9,644, with the top 10 per cent [...]
The Democrats have embraced the Trump trend of childish insults and illiterate ideas March 8, 2019 My worse fear has been realised: the 2020 presidential race is upon us. Like many readers, I’m not ready to re-board the political and emotional rollercoaster of 2016. But I cannot deny reality anymore: 2020 is in full-swing. Donald Trump has altered the tone and standards of debate in US politics. Many of his supporters [...]
Countrywide shares tumble as it confirms heavy losses amid housing market slowdown March 7, 2019 Shares in estate agency Countrywide dropped more than eleven per cent today after it confirmed a widening of its full-year losses and warned of a tough year ahead. The figures Full-year revenue fell seven per cent to £627.1m, driven by a pipeline deficit in sales. The firm’s losses widened from £207.3m to £218.2m. Adjusted earnings before [...]
There are plenty of reasons for investors to be optimistic about China March 6, 2019 Since the election of Donald Trump, one story has dominated global markets news: the trade war between China and the US. As negotiations reached a critical phase last month, markets fluctuated as setbacks led to breakthroughs, only for talks to stall again. But while investors are right to worry about currents of protectionism in the world’s [...]
Activist investor strikes upbeat tone as Just Eat interim boss rules himself out of the race March 6, 2019 A major Just Eat shareholder who has pressed the company to merge with a rival today welcomed the takeaway giant’s interim boss decision to rule himself out of the race for a permanent chief executive. Activist investor Cat Rock Capital Management, which owns a 1.7 per cent stake in Just Eat, said today that it appreciated Peter [...]
How to use an Isa to invest in peer-to-peer loans March 6, 2019 Since peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms began to enter the market in 2005, savers have used the services to hand out more than £10bn to borrowers. Aside from providing a significant boost to the UK economy, P2P offers attractive interest rates to lenders by cutting the banking sector from the borrowing process. The Innovative Finance Isa [...]
The Innovative Finance Isa didn’t get off to a flying start – so how’s it doing now? March 6, 2019 When the Innovative Finance Isa and its not-so-catchy acronym, IFISA, entered the scene back in April 2016, it’s fair to say that it didn’t get off to a great start. This was partly because, compared to its Isa cousins, the IFISA didn’t get much publicity (admittedly, the UK was two months away from the EU referendum, [...]