Uncertainty around UK’s green energy policy deters investors February 24, 2014 THE UK’S renewable energy market has become less attractive to investors worldwide due to political uncertainty and cancelled projects, according to a new report released by EY today. The UK has now slipped into fifth place in the rankings, falling behind Japan, according to quarterly statistics from the accountancy firm. “The UK’s fading appeal is the direct [...]
Letters to the Editor – 19/02 – UK tax hypocrisy, Best of Twitter February 18, 2014 UK tax hypocrisy [Re: Savers will pay a terrible price for Europe’s latest stealth tax, yesterday] Yes the proposed EU financial transaction tax (FTT) is a ruinously daft idea, but we should remember that it’s an idea we came up with first. The UK levied a tax on financial transactions first, in 1694, at the [...]
Major retailers call for shake-up of bricks and mortar tax system February 17, 2014 BRITAIN’S retailers have today called for the link between business rates and rateable property value to be scrapped over fears that retailers with lots of property are being unfairly hammered. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and accountants EY have put forward several alternatives to the current business rates system: replacing it with a tax based [...]
Stamp duty is feeding the growing bubble in London’s house prices February 16, 2014 SUPPORTERS of financial transaction taxes (FTT), often known as Robin Hood taxes, claim that they can make markets safer. But a look at London’s frothy housing market makes this argument difficult to sustain. FTTs remove liquidity from markets, making bubbles more likely to form. And it looks like London house prices are booming thanks to [...]
Letters to the Editor – 13/02 – Confused guidance, Scottish sterling, Best of Twitter February 12, 2014 Confused guidance [Re: Carney’s new focus is spare capacity. Here’s what you need to know, yesterday] Having clearly demonstrated that it is utterly incapable of producing credible forecasts for inflation, GDP, and unemployment, the Monetary Policy Committee is now going to determine policy based on something (spare capacity) that is not only unforecastable, but unmeasurable [...]
City Moves for 12 February 2014 | Who’s switching jobs February 11, 2014 Cushman & Wakefield The real estate services firm has announced the appointment of David Mills as a partner and head of portfolio valuation. He was most recently at BNP Paribas Real Estate, where he was a director in its portfolio valuation practice. Standard Chartered The bank has hired Michael Benz as group head of private banking. He [...]
House building spending to hit record in 2017 February 9, 2014 INVESTMENT in housing will surpass its pre-crisis peak in 2017, according to a new forecast out today from EY’s Item Club. Spending on building and maintaining houses will rise by 6.8 per cent this year and 10.1 per cent next year, eventually beating the 2006’s £68bn record in 2017. Such a strong increase may be [...]
City Moves for 07 February 2014 | Who’s switching jobs February 6, 2014 City Index Mark Preston has been appointed chief executive at the online broker. He has over 25 years’ experience in trading and banking. Preston was previously chief executive of Europe for CIBC, co-head of corporate markets at Lloyds Bank, and a principal at Valere Capital. BNP Paribas Securities Services The investment custodian has made four appointments [...]
Letters to the Editor – 07/02 – Spillover effects, Charity lobby, Best of Twitter February 6, 2014 Spillover effects [Re: Global growth has peaked for now – but no need to panic, Wednesday] We’re all talking about the spillover effects of US monetary policy on emerging markets at the moment, but consider the situation over the next five to ten years. Governments across the West will surely embrace rising prices as a [...]
London’s housing shortage is cramming young families into shared homes February 6, 2014 The number of families living in shared houses ballooned by 70 per cent in the decade up to the last census, as typically young families are increasingly locked out of a the UK’s harsh housing market. The Office for National Statistics has broken down some census data on the number of concealed families in England [...]