The UK clocked up £732m worth of fraud in 2015, up from £717m the year before, with crimes committed in London and the South East accounting for more than half the value January 19, 2016 Frauds in the UK in 2015 were worth £732m, up from £717m in 2014. A report out today by professional services firm KPMG, which studied fraud cases that reached UK courts with losses worth £100,000 or more, also discovered that the average value of fraud per case studied had risen to £2.4m, up from £2m in 2014. Crimes committed [...]
Irish government debt falls below 100 per cent of GDP mark to 99.4 per cent, or €204.2bn in money terms January 19, 2016 General government gross debt in Ireland has fallen below the 100 per cent of GDP mark for the first time since 2011. According to figures released today by the Central Statistics Office, general government gross debt in the country for the third quarter of 2015 was €204.2bn (£157.2bn), which is 99.4 per cent of annualised GDP. [...]
UK pensions: Charges for accessing pensions early to be capped as many who wish to use the pension freedoms face a fee for doing so January 19, 2016 Chancellor George Osborne has today announced that a limit on the amount that people can be charged for accessing their pension pot early will soon be introduced. Speaking in the House of Commons, Osborne said that nearly 700,000 of those who were eligible to use the pension freedoms rules, which came into effect in April last year, to gain access [...]
What would encourage fathers to provide more childcare? Parliament select committee takes evidence at 10:30 – Drop in favour of opinion piece January 19, 2016 NULL
UK pensions: More than half would favour a move to a flat rate pensions tax relief scheme, but the pensions industry might struggle to adapt, warns pensions company January 19, 2016 More than half of pensions savers are in favour of a shift to flat rate pensions tax relief. A survey released today by pensions company Aegon discovered that 60 per cent of customers would favour a move to a flat rate of 33 per cent for pensions tax relief, which is currently applied at the same rate people [...]
UK is one of the top 10 countries for attracting skilled migrants – but lack of vocational training and gender pay gap is holding it back January 19, 2016 The United Kingdom has been ranked seventh in the world for attracting skilled migrants, ahead of Germany and France – but behind the United States. According to research due to be unveiled today at Davos by Adecco Group, Insead and the Human Capital Leadership Institute, Switzerland is most able to attract, develop and retain highly-skilled workers, while the UK maintains its [...]
IG Group Holdings share price down after company reports small dip in profit but also net trading revenue growth in half year results January 19, 2016 IG Group Holdings today revealed profit before tax of £98.6m for the six months ended 30 November 2015, down 2.8 per cent from £101.4m last year. Despite this, net trading revenue growth for the derivatives trading company was stronger, increasing 8.8 per cent to £214.8m, up from £197.4m the year before, while new client numbers were ahead of the company's prior [...]
UK pensions: State pensions statements to go digital potentially as early as April, as service currently in public beta testing, says pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann January 18, 2016 Pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann has today said that statements for the state pension could potentially be digital from April onwards. Speaking in front of the Work and Pensions Select Committee regarding its inquiry into understanding the new state pension, Altmann revealed that the new digital system was currently in public beta testing and the Department for Work [...]
Rolls-Royce share price down as outlook downgraded to negative by Standard & Poor’s January 18, 2016 Standard & Poor's (S&P) today downgraded its outlook rating for Rolls-Royce from stable to negative. The ratings agency, which has dropped its expectations over the manufacturer's profits and cash flow generation for 2016, pinpointed near-term business challenges, particularly in the company's civil aerospace and marine divisions, as the reasoning behind the downgrade. S&P, which affirmed its A/A-1 [...]
Mazars merges with Chinese audit firm ZhongShen ZhongHuan January 18, 2016 Professional services firm Mazars announced today that it completed a merger with Chinese audit firm ZhongShen ZhongHuan in December last year. The newly-merged firm will operate in 77 countries, including 15 offices with 1,800 professionals in mainland China that were originally run by ZhongShen ZhongHuan. Mazars, which has had a presence in China for almost two decades, [...]
