Japan’s insured loss may surpass $60bn March 14, 2011 JAPAN’S tsunami damage may cost insurers more than $60bn (£37bn), and lead to premiums rising for the first time in years, analysts said yesterday. Reinsurers such as Swiss Re and Munich Re are likely to consider this a “one-in-200-year” event, which would mean they face losses of up to €2bn (£1.7bn) each. The losses are [...]
The 50p top rate of tax to hit UK growth and cut tax receipts, claims think tank March 9, 2011 THE 50p top rate of income tax will hammer British growth and actually reduce government tax receipts, a Westminster think tank will say today. “Evidence from overseas shows that high top tax rates fail to produce public revenues and injure economies,” the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) argues. Labour mobility among high earners, relocation by businesses, [...]
The glass is half full for ISA investors in stocks and shares March 9, 2011 WITH the end of tax year deadline swiftly approaching, investors should make sure that they take advantage of the generous £10,200 allowance for individual savings accounts (ISA). This can either be used in its entirety for stocks and shares or up to £5,100 can be put into a cash ISA with the remainder in stocks [...]
Why Britain must reject a Tobin tax March 8, 2011 IT is amazing how many intelligent people believe in free lunches. The latest instance of this bizarre intellectual affliction can be found in yesterday’s vote by MEPs in Brussels to slap a Tobin tax on financial transactions in the EU. The vote fortunately has no legal power, but European parliamentarians believe their scheme would raise [...]
Antofagasta to pay $1bn extra to shareholders March 8, 2011 CHILE-FOCUSED miner Antofagasta revealed a huge special dividend of almost $1bn (£619m) yesterday to share last year’s rewards from booming copper prices and increased production. The firm said pre-tax profit rose 79 per cent to $2.5bn, boosted by an 18 per cent rise in copper production. However, the results missed some forecasts once one-off gains [...]
Hedging your portfolio with CFDs March 7, 2011 IF YOU don’t already, perhaps you should consider hedging your portfolio with contracts for difference (CFD). Provided you have enough time to actively manage your positions and are familiar with their workings, CFDs are worthy of some serious consideration. For many investors, the idea of using leverage to hedge is enough to put them off [...]
ACWHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 3, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES HEDGE FUNDS HEAD FOR MALTA TO ESCAPE REGULATION Some of London’s biggest hedge fund managers are shifting their operations to Malta in response to both the rising costs of business and the growing regulatory burden in the UK. The Mediterranean island is emerging alongside traditional rivals to London, such as Swiss towns Geneva [...]
Scrap dozens of tax reliefs, Osborne told March 3, 2011 INCOME tax and national insurance tax should be merged and dozens of tax allowances abolished, according to recommendations published by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS). The OTS, convened in July by chancellor George Osborne to overhaul the UK’s increasingly complex tax system, has suggested that the Treasury get rid of 47 tax reliefs that [...]
Impressive results that should give the share price a much-needed lift March 3, 2011 AVIVA’s results and strategy update should cheer investors for several reasons. The winter weather that has hindered other insurers’ results didn’t even dent its £2.4bn pre-tax profit. Its strength in life insurance and commitment to cost-cutting are welcome, particularly against a backdrop of new regulation such as the ban on using gender in insurance calculations [...]
Time to tackle our terrible tax code March 3, 2011 AMAZINGLY, the world’s fastest talker can speak 637 words aloud a minute. Yes, seriously. The record-holder is a Londoner called Steve Woodmore, who has featured repeatedly in the Guinness Book of Records. Tolstoy’s War and Peace comes in at a hefty 1,204 pages; it would therefore take 12 and a half hours for our record-holder [...]