Financial news

• Tory £1bn inheritance tax cut 'will worsen north-south divide'

  28-02-2017 20:20
  
  Research shows plans to increase threshold at which tax is paid will overwhelmingly benefit rich families in south-east England
  A £1bn Conservative inheritance tax cut will exacerbate the north-south divide, an MP has warned, as figures lay bare the winners and losers of a flagship government policy.People inheriting homes in constituencies in London and south-east England will gain the lion’s share of the benefits from the tax cut, according to research commissioned by the Labour MP
  
  Read more

• Cutting inheritance tax now exposes a warped sense of priorities | Rachel Reeves

  28-02-2017 20:17
  
  This plan to help the wealthiest will entrench the north-south divide. Philip Hammond should dump it and channel the money to early years childcareThere is nothing certain in the world except death and taxes, according to the old proverb. But, unless the government sees sense, we could soon find that there is a new certainty: that death means far lower taxes for the wealthy.It was George Osborne who was behind the deeply flawed plan, to be implemented by 2020, to cut inheritance tax (IHT) to let
  
  Read more

• The Guardian view on Sir Philip Green and BHS: A huge wrong is partly righted | Editorial

  28-02-2017 20:15
  
  After months of threats and shaming, a rough kind of justice has been done on behalf of BHS pensionersWould that Samuel Johnson had been alive this afternoon. The doctor who observed that “the gallows doth wonderfully concentrate the mind” would have had due occasion to update his aphorism. It has been over half a century since Britain sent a man to the gallows, but today’s action by Sir Philip Green shows that a tycoon’s mind can still be concentrated – only now it
  
  Read more

• Most financial businesses in the UK worry about the effects of disruption - BetaNews

  28-02-2017 20:00
  
  BetaNews
  Most financial businesses in the UK worry about the effects of disruption
  BetaNews
  More than three quarters (78 percent) of financial organizations in the UK worry about what digital disruption can do to their industry, according to a new Fujitsu report. The company claims this makes the financial industry the most concerned one ...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Philip Green agrees to pay £363m into BHS pension fund

  28-02-2017 19:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Retail tycoon says deal is part of a cash settlement with Pension Regulator which has now halted its enforcement action Sir Philip Green has agreed to hand over £363m in cash to rescue the BHS pension scheme, and settle one of the biggest City rows of recent decades.
  The deal with the Pensions Regulator, which is likely to help the billionaire keep his knighthood, follows the controversial collapse of the BHS department store chain last April, which led to the loss of 11,000 jobs and left
  
  Read more

• 'Nationalism is GOOD!' US financial expert lauds post-Brexit BOOM - Express.co.uk

  28-02-2017 17:55
  
  Express.co.uk
  'Nationalism is GOOD!' US financial expert lauds post-Brexit BOOM
  Express.co.uk
  A US financial expert has laid waste to fears over nationalism, insisting the UK's economy has only benefited from its decision to liberate itself from the grips of Brussels. By Joe Barnes. PUBLISHED: 16:55, Tue, Feb 28, 2017 | UPDATED: 17:00, Tue, Feb ...
  
  Read more

• UK will NEVER escape: UK's financial industry to be scrutinised MORE by EU ... - Express.co.uk

  28-02-2017 13:23
  
  Express.co.uk
  UK will NEVER escape: UK's financial industry to be scrutinised MORE by EU ...
  Express.co.uk
  BRUSSELS has warned Britain's finance industry it will not be allowed to trade with Europe unless it accepts ultra-strict transparency rules being hammered out in its Parliament today. By Vickiie Oliphant. PUBLISHED: 11:54, Tue, Feb 28, 2017 | UPDATED: ...en meer »
  
  Read more

• India should repeal retrospective taxation law: UK India Business Council - Financial Express

  28-02-2017 13:09
  
  Financial Express
  India should repeal retrospective taxation law: UK India Business Council
  Financial Express
  UK India Business Council (UKIBC) CEO Richard Heald said the residual issues of retrospective tax still impact external perceptions of India as an investment environment. By: PTI | New Delhi | Published: February 28, 2017 5:39 PM. UK India Business ...en meer »
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• UK’s housing market is broken, and only a radical solution can fix it | Peter Hetherington

  28-02-2017 13:00
  
  Rising land values should fund councils to build affordable homes rather than fuel developers’ profitsBritain has a lamentable housebuilding record. For the past three decades, relative to population size, it has built fewer houses than any other western European country.That was the recent admission of the communities and local government secretary, Sajid Javid, in a candid assessment of the country’s inability to provide the most basic resource for its people: a roof over their hea
  
  Read more

• Why have all attempts to fix Britain’s housing crisis failed? Look to the land | Toby Lloyd

  28-02-2017 12:57
  
  The housing white paper is the latest in a long line of policies and initiatives that have failed to address, or even understand, the role of land in the economyThe title of the recent housing white paper suggested a new urgency to government policy. It’s not hard to see why that’s needed. Homelessness is rising fast and a whole generation finds itself priced out, yet unable to get one of a dwindling number of social homes. The sudden return to a world where working families must ren
  
  Read more

• Landline charges for 2m customers to be cut as telecoms watchdog steps in

  28-02-2017 12:09
  
  Ofcom condemns poor value on landline-only accounts with plan to force biggest provider BT to trim bills by up to £7 a monthOfcom has slammed telecom providers for offering landline-only customers poor value for money, as it unveiled plans to force BT, the dominant provider, to cut bills by at least £5 a month, benefiting about 2.3 million people.The regulator has reviewed how the market is working for customers who buy only a landline service from a provider – either because t
  
  Read more

• Northern Ireland financial services now employ 32000 - Belfast Telegraph

  28-02-2017 10:21
  
  Belfast Telegraph
  Northern Ireland financial services now employ 32000
  Belfast Telegraph
  Financial and professional services in Northern Ireland account for 32,000 jobs, contributing £1.9bn to the economy here, according to a report out today. A report published by TheCityUK said that while London was the core of the UK's financial ...en meer »
  
  Read more

• Provident Financial says impact from Brexit minimal this year - London South East (registration) (blog)

  28-02-2017 09:03
  Provident Financial says impact from Brexit minimal this year
  London South East (registration) (blog)
  Feb 28 (Reuters) - British subprime lender Provident Financial PLC said rising unemployment and inflation in the wake of Britain's decision to leave the European Union is unlikely to have a significant impact in 2017 as it reported a 14 percent rise in ...en meer »
  
  Read more

• Refugees turned entrepreneurs: ‘I needed to think about the future’

  28-02-2017 08:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Founders who escaped war in their home countries describe their routes to enterprise, each requiring a healthy dose of hard work and perseveranceIt was nearly five years ago when Razan Alsous fled Syria with her husband and three children and arrived in Huddersfield with all their belongings squeezed into one suitcase. Ambitious and determined to carve out a new, and better, life, Alsous sought to find a job. But despite her scientific background and pharmacy degree, it was a massive battle; com
  
  Read more

• Raising pension age will mean many people die before getting it, say MPs

  28-02-2017 08:01
  
  Government should move away from ‘triple lock’ guarantee, says work and pensions select committeeFurther increases in the state pension age could push it to the point where many working people die before qualifying for it, MPs have warned, in a report that calls for the end of the “triple lock” guarantee on pensions. Related: The new retirement: how an ageing population is transforming BritainContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• BME career progression 'could add £24bn a year to UK economy'

  28-02-2017 08:01
  
  Review of race in the workplace makes economic as well as moral case for more diverse workforcesHelping black and minority ethnic (BME) people to progress in their careers at the same rate as their white counterparts could add £24bn to UK economy each year, a government-backed review has found.The report into race in the workplace found recruitment processes, a tendency by managers to promote people similar to themselves and, in some cases, outright discrimination had all held back workers
  
  Read more

• Does YouGov ever pay out for surveys or is it a sham?

  28-02-2017 08:00
  
  I have been filling in surveys for about four years but am still no closer to the elusive £50 it promisesI have been completing YouGov surveys for what feels like years, hoping that I might eventually make some money out of it. There are no details on my profile but I would guess it must be about four years. Surveys used to come in every week, then they slowed down. Now I get one every two weeks and every second or third is a prize draw, so a waste of my time. The surveys take about 15 min
  
  Read more

• Payday loans complaints rise 22% despite FCA clampdown

  28-02-2017 07:01
  
  Ombudsman says it is now receiving about 200 such complaints a week, but PPI remains the worst offenderComplaints to the financial ombudsman about payday loans have risen to almost 200 a week – and not all of those experiencing problems necessarily fit the image of low-income borrowers relying on short-term loans to get by.During the second half of 2016 the Financial Ombudsman Service received 5,095 new payday lending complaints, up 22% on the first six months of the year. This increase ca
  
  Read more

• Coca-Cola U-turn could help UK catch up on can and bottle recycling

  28-02-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  European countries using deposit return schemes, such as Estonia, have recycling rates far better than the UKMore firms are expected to announce bottle deposit return services after Coca-Cola unexpectedly came out in favour of the idea.Pepsi, Nestlé, Unilever and M&S have already committed to producing more eco-friendly bottles by using plant-based materials or less plastic, and an uptick in that trend could now be on the cards. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• The Nightly Show: Britain's latest crack at US-style late-night TV

  28-02-2017 01:10 via theguardian.com
  
  ITV has shifted News at Ten to provide an alternative to the BBC, but does the transatlantic format work on this side of the pond?The return of a popular whodunnit mystery on ITV on Monday night at 9pm – the third and final series of Broadchurch – was followed at 10pm by the arrival of what some observers regard as an unpopular whydunnit mystery: the displacement of the longstanding factual flagship, News at Ten, by a new half-hour entertainment series, The Nightly Show.This has been
  
  Read more

• Spring budget 2017: drop in government borrowing predicted

  28-02-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Forecasts likely to be cut by cumulative £29bn between 2015-16 and 2020-21 but sustainability issues remain, says thinktank Solid economic growth and strong tax receipts since the Brexit vote have put Philip Hammond on course to announce a drop in government borrowing when he presents his spring budget next week, a leading thinktank has predicted.The Resolution Foundation said it would be the first time since March 2014 that a chancellor could stand at the dispatch box and announce borrowi
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!