After the Nvidelity comes the Huangover. Jensen Huang joins long list who confused boardroom and bedroom
Confront women with the true horror of the old age poverty they face to tackle our pensions saving crisis April 22, 2016 Women are facing poverty in retirement as they cut back on pension contributions to fund childcare. A report released by The Fawcett Society, which campaigns for women’s rights, found many women are funding childcare out of their own pay packets (not their partners’) – which means stopping pension contributions. It partly responsible for a doubling of [...]
HMRC launches consultation on simpler tax of life insurance bonds April 22, 2016 Life insurance bonds will be taxed in a simpler way after HMRC launched a consultation into how they should be treated. The bonds are popular investments but have a notoriously complicated tax structure. They allow people to put money away, watch the capital grow and also take out regular chunks if they want to. But bond [...]
YouGov Poll: Twice as many people support buy-to-let tax hike than oppose it April 22, 2016 The recent hike in the stamp duty levy for buy-to-let landlords was met with fierce opposition from landlord groups when it came into force on 1 April. However, according to YouGov survey released today, more than twice the number of UK adults were in favour of the three per cent surcharge than those who opposed [...]
EU referendum: I’m a fintech startup founder and here’s why I’m against Brexit April 21, 2016 I’m a strong believer in the rule that politics and business don’t mix. However, as the EU referendum draws closer, businesses need to speak out. Leaving the EU would be harmful for UK fintech as it would create more borders, at a time when we need fewer. Without doubt, the world is a much better place when [...]
Game Digital agrees £100m financing facility with shareholder Duodi’s “associate” Lajedosa April 21, 2016 Struggling computer games retailer Game Digital has agreed a new financing facility to give it breathing room while the business gets back on track. The group has agreed an asset-backed revolving loan facility of up to £100m with Lajedosa Investments, which is described as "an entity associated with Duodi Investments" – the major shareholder of Game, which is [...]
Banking exports will pass £100bn in next decade, but government’s £1 trillion target still some way off April 21, 2016 The government will spectacularly miss its target to increase the value of UK exports to £1 trillion by the end of the decade, a new report has said, as the City of London looks set to continue punching above its weight on the global stage. In a report launched today, Barclays said that the value [...]
Nearly 60,000 companies hit by National Living Wage already in “significant financial distress”, insolvency firm warns April 20, 2016 The National Living Wage (NLW) risks tipping thousands of vulnerable companies over the edge as they struggle to absorb higher staff costs, one of the UK’s leading insolvency firms has warned. More than 1.8m workers were given a pay rise on 1 April after a new minimum wage came into force, requiring employers to pay at least £7.20 per [...]
Ardian raises $10.8bn to invest in secondary private equity funds and says “market has come of age” April 19, 2016 The second-hand private equity market has "come of age", Ardian declared as it announced new funding worth $10.8bn (£7.5bn). The private equity firm, which until 2013 was Axa Private Equity and is now largely employee-owned, said it has raised $27.4bn for secondary investment in the last five years. Ardian today announced it had fundraised $10.8bn for secondary [...]
Pensions: Baroness Ros Altmann “delighted” there was not a move to pensions ISA system April 19, 2016 Baroness Ros Altmann is "delighted" that the chancellor of the exchequer did not turn incentives on their head with a move to a so-called pension Isa. Speaking at the Association of British Insurers' conference, Altmann said that she believes turning pensions into Isas would be a disaster, and would "destroy pensions as we know them". "I'm absolutely delighted [...]
Costly EU regulation has not made financial services safer or better – but Brexit is no silver bullet April 18, 2016 The City is split when it comes to Brexit. Certainly, the larger City institutions with significant EU business tend to side with Remain. However, smaller companies and those with a more global business model are more divided. The supporters of the EU value the Single Market. They seem to believe that it promotes free trade [...]