DEBATE: Will a global minimum corporate tax lead to real change for multinational giants? June 9, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has agreed to back a deal with G7 nations to create a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15 per cent. The agreement has been hailed a world-first to crack down on multinationals shifting profits to low-tax countries in order to skirt tax rules. The proposal, however, has also been [...]
Haldane: Rishi ‘played a blinder’ but inflation fears are very real June 9, 2021 The threat of inflation is very real for chief economist at the Bank of England Andy Haldane, who this morning said the UK could “overshoot” its inflation target for longer than planned. Speaking on LBC this morning Haldane said there are “punchy pressures on prices” across the UK economy. A combination of high prices on [...]
Sunak pushes for City of London exemption from G7 tax plan June 9, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is pushing for an exemption for the City of London from the G7’s recently agreed global tax plan. Sunak is looking for a deal for financial services, the Financial Times first reported, in wake of fears that global banks with head offices in London could be affected. Major banks are headquartered in [...]
Bank of England launches climate stress test for banks and insurers June 8, 2021 The Bank of England has set out its first climate stress test for the UK’s top banks and insurers but have said the results will not currently be used to determine capital requirements. The test will scrutinise the resilience of Britain’s financial system to stresses from a shift to a net zero-carbon economy as well [...]
Rishi Sunak promises to protect the City from Brussels’ financial services bid June 8, 2021 Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, promised that the City will remain “competitive and dynamic” even in the face of Brussels’ bid to unseat it from its crown, in a private call with banks. Sunak described the financial services industry as a “crown jewel” and, according to reports, said the country will fight to protect it. The [...]
The race is on to put climate change centre stage June 8, 2021 With the countdown to COP 26 well underway, this article looks at how the race is on to put climate change at centre stage. Sustainability is the key theme for ICAS for the month of June. Throughout June, we will be focussing on the three strands of sustainability: environmental, social and governance (ESG), in our [...]
Tory rebellion on foreign aid cuts thwarted by speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle June 7, 2021 A Tory rebellion over Boris Johnson’s foreign aid cuts has been thwarted by House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle as he called the amendment tabled “out of order”. However, Hoyle also said the issue should be “debated and aired” in the Commons and urged the government “to give this House the due respect it deserves…the [...]
‘Stablecoin’ payments must be regulated like banks, says Bank of England June 7, 2021 The Bank of England has said payments made with ‘stablecoin’ should be regulated in the same way as payments made by banks if they become widely used. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency usually pegged to a traditional currency and thus are intended to avoid the volatility usually associated with crypto. “The prospect of stablecoins [...]
G7 leaders ink landmark global tech tax agreement June 5, 2021 The G7 has agreed a landmark deal to crack down on tax avoidance by major tech companies. The group of rich nations today committed to a global minimum corporation tax rate of at least 15 per cent on a country by country basis. “We commit to reaching an equitable solution on the allocation of taxing [...]
Sunak ‘confident’ of tech tax progress ahead of G7 finance meeting June 4, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said he is “confident” of making “concrete progress” towards a global deal for taxing digital giants when the G7 finance ministers meet over the weekend. Taxing firms such as Amazon and Facebook has become an area of disagreement between the US and a number of other countries. Earlier this week the [...]