Caribbean is back on investors’ hot list March 18, 2010 IF you’re considering a spot in the Caribbean that will be both beautiful and a savvy place for your cash, the island of St Lucia is as good as it gets. Its natural beauty is considered by many to be the most intense in the Caribbean – and it also has a strong local culture [...]
Get to grips with the details of ISAs March 17, 2010 A RECENT survey by Halifax said that 37 per cent of households now have an ISA. But how many of us actually use our full annual allowance or, more to the point, even know what our yearly tax-free entitlement is? And for experienced investors who already put their money to work elsewhere, the paltry returns [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 15, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES RBS eyes £10bn debt buy-back as it plans balance sheet shake-up Royal Bank of Scotland is planning a vast balance sheet restructuring in an attempt to boost its capital strength and its standing with bond investors. The move could involve at least £10bn (€11bn) of the bank’s £28bn of debt being bought back [...]
Spring clean your tax affairs for April March 11, 2010 ONE of the drawbacks of starting your own business is that you have to become an expert in everything from day one. This includes the maze that is our tax laws. Come the new financial year, these are only going to become more complicated. So what can entrepreneurs do to put their financial houses in [...]
LISTED PRODUCT NEWS March 10, 2010 DEUTSCHE OFFERS INDONESIA ETF Deutsche Bank’s ETF division db x-trackers has launched the world’s first UCITS III-compliant China and Indonesia ETFs. Listed in Singapore, the China ETF tracks the CSI 300, which replicates the performance of A-shares that are listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen indexes. DB x-trackers is scheduled to launch the Indonesia ETF, [...]
Shore Capital returns to profitability March 9, 2010 BOUTIQUE investment bank Shore Capital Group swung strongly back into the black over 2009, boosted by a revival in trading activity on the markets. Shore’s adjusted pre-tax profit came in at £14.6m for the year to December, compared to a loss of £1.3m in 2008. Revenue almost doubled to £39m. The group said its equity [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 2, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES HGCAPITAL SAYS GOLDSHIELD UNDERSTATED PROFITS FOR YEARS Goldshield Group understated its profits by several million pounds over a number of years, according HgCapital, the private equity group that backed a £179m management buy-out of the drugmaker last year. HEDGE FUNDS RAISE BETS AGAINST EURO Hedge funds are raising their bets against the euro [...]
Be bold, George, and watch the poll lead grow February 28, 2010 So in the end Britain did climb out of recession in the 4th quarter, with the figure revised up to 0.3 per cent from the initial 0.1 per cent estimate. This was better than most forecasts but the Treasury was right to be cautious post announcement. For a start the quarter on quarter numbers looked [...]
Confusion over tax regime is damaging UK February 24, 2010 ON Monday, the prime minister released a draft Tax Framework for Business at a global trade conference, apparently aimed at reassuring multinationals, worried about the UK’s tax policy. The problem with this framework is that it offers no guidance at all on the direction of travel. Rather, its statements are a mixture of vague aspirations [...]
KINGMAKER CLEGG: BAN BANK BONUSES February 23, 2010 SENIOR bankers should no longer be paid bonuses, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said yesterday. Clegg, who will play the role of kingmaker after the election if polls pointing to a hung parliament are correct, said the ban should apply to all variable pay – including deferred stock. It would cover executive board members and [...]