Frasers Group set to accuse Boohoo of undisclosed payments to founder’s son January 22, 2025 Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is set to open a new front in its war of words with Boohoo this evening, accusing the fast fashion firm of allegedly paying its founder’s son £2m-a-year but failing to tell shareholders, City AM has learned. In the latest attack of a long-running spat between the two companies, Frasers is [...]
Spending cuts risk ‘doom loop’, ex-Bank of England economist warns January 22, 2025 Andy Haldane warned cutting government spending would be harmful for the UK’s longer term fiscal position, because it would weigh on growth. The Chancellor will receive fresh economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in March which will take into account sluggish growth since the Budget and higher government borrowing costs. These forecasts [...]
‘Pension death tax’ raid attacked by Hargreaves Lansdown and AJ Bell January 22, 2025 Britain’s biggest wealth management firms have mounted a coordinated attack on Rachel Reeves’ plans to slap inheritance tax on undrawn pension pots today, describing the proposals as “flawed and potentially damaging” to grieving families. In a letter to the Chancellor, the bosses of Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell, Interactive Investor and Quilter, which collectively manage some [...]
Wonks think a wave of asset management mergers is inevitable January 22, 2025 Across the European continent, a surge of mergers and acquisitions among asset managers has begun. Yesterday, Italian and French giants Generali and Natixis agreed to a €1.9 trillion (£1.61 trillion) merger to create the second largest asset manager in Europe. Meanwhile, BNP Paribas recently bought out AXA’s investment arm, and rumours continue to swirl about [...]
Saba Capital falls at first hurdle in activist trust campaign January 22, 2025 Saba Capital’s first battle over the board of a UK investment trust has failed, with investors widely rejecting its attempt to unseat the board of a targeted trust. In a shareholder vote today, 65 per cent of Herald trust shareholders voted to kill the activist hedge fund’s proposals, which aimed to depose and replace the [...]
Further tax rises ‘a good bet’ after Chancellor’s borrowing blow January 22, 2025 Borrowing in the month of December was at its third highest level since monthly records began back in 1997, excluding only the pandemic and 2009.
Heathrow: Starmer won’t say if he backs London airport expansion January 22, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has refused to say whether he would back the expansion of Heathrow Airport after voting against a third runway in 2018. The Prime Minister said would not be “comment on speculation” on the issue, as emphasised the government is “committed to growth” when asked about reports ministers could be set to approve [...]
President Trump threatens to double tax rates for foreign firms January 22, 2025 Donald Trump has threatened to double tax rates for foreign nationals and companies in the US in what he said was a bid to hit back at “discriminatory” duties on American firms. The President set out a memo on his ‘America first’ trade policy on Monday which referred to an almost 100-year old element of [...]
Bank of England: Goldman Sachs expects deep interest rate cuts January 22, 2025 Markets are significantly underestimating the chance that the Bank of England will have to step up the pace of cutting interest rates, Goldman Sachs has argued. Traders anticipate just two interest rate cuts this year with one more cut priced in for 2026, which would leave the benchmark Bank Rate at 4.0 per cent. It [...]
PRA under pressure to cut red tape as growth plans fail to excite the City January 22, 2025 The banking regulator is under pressure to go further and faster in its efforts to cut red tape from the City after it outlined plans to boost the growth of firms within its remit last week. In a letter to the Prime Minister and Chancellor, the PRA, which sits within the Bank of England and [...]
