UK steel crisis: Politicians clash as Tata board meets in Mumbai March 29, 2016 Politicians clashed as the board of Tata Steel met in Mumbai today to decide the fate of thousands of British jobs. Reports suggest the board is discussing the 1,050 UK redundancies announced in January, and whether to back a rescue plan for the Port Talbot plant in Wales. Tata is looking to streamline its business, a move which [...]
Negative interest rates spark 2016 gold rush – but can German buyers push prices even higher? March 29, 2016 Almost a quarter of world GDP lies in economies whose central banks now have negative interest rates of some form. This experimental policy – used variously to weaken strengthening currencies and attempt to stimulate growth – has its fans, but investors have not been among them. “There’s a sense that central banks are running out [...]
The Investment Association reveals productivity plan aimed at bolstering the UK economy through long-term investment March 22, 2016 The Investment Association has today unveiled its plans to boost the UK's productivity through long-term investment. Among the Productivity Action Plan's key areas of focus for removing barriers to long-term investment are improving investor engagement, enhancing company reporting to better show to what extent firms are contributing to the economy and contributing more to the debate on tax [...]
City Moves for 22 March 2016 | Who’s switching jobs March 22, 2016 RPC Consulting RPC Consulting – the insurance consultancy arm of RPC – has appointed four senior insurance actuarial professionals to its team in London and Cambridge. Pete Lee, James Norman and Tony Lovick all worked at EMB (now Willis Towers Watson). Natasha Regan joins from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). Pete has over 25 years’ [...]
UK pensions freedoms: Number of defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) pension transfers lower than expected, finds Financial Reporting Council report March 21, 2016 We hope you didn't bet your pension pot on there being a big switchover from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) schemes when the pension freedoms came into force last year – research published today by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) discovered that there has been relatively low levels of scheme swapping. The study by [...]
Retirement savings: Equity release allowing over-55s to unlock over 100 weeks’ worth of pay from their properties, offering alternative funding for their later years March 18, 2016 Over-55s using equity release products in the second half of last year unlocked over 100 weeks' worth of pay from their property, according to a report out today. The research by the Equity Release Council discovered that customers using drawdown mortgage products in the last six months of 2015 withdrew an average of £49,607, which is equivalent to [...]
The UK legal sector is vital to the City’s international success March 17, 2016 The City of London’s position as a world leader in finance and business is widely acknowledged. I know this only too well from my own work, both as an international commercial barrister and as the current chairman of the Bar of England and Wales. But the City is being challenged by other financial centres in [...]
Give booming London more control of tax to create a virtuous circle of new homes and better transport March 10, 2016 For decades, transport has been at the top of Londoners’ list of concerns. Weary commuters reading their copy of City A.M. on today’s commute will know all too well how delays and congestion can make travelling in the morning peak draining. But as a result of the sustained efforts of successive mayors, borough leaders and [...]
EU referendum: How Brexit could affect your business March 8, 2016 After years of heated debate and soap opera style ‘will we/won’t we’ plot twists, Britain is finally having a referendum on leaving the EU. Regardless of your personal view on the issue, as a business owner this is one debate you can’t ignore. This month the Financial Reporting Council urged companies to include the potential [...]
Why Chinese equity crowdfunding is taking its lead from the UK – and what challenges the sector faces March 3, 2016 Despite a relatively slow start, the past two years have seen exponential growth in the Chinese equity crowdfunding sector, and there are indications that it could skyrocket in the 12 months to come. Chinese New Year on 8 February kicked off the Year of the Monkey, but will 2016 be a year of alternative finance [...]