03/07/2012
We believe the potential for negative events in Europe will keep the euro on the defensive against the dollar and sterling, but the downside looks limited in the near term given investors in general are already broadly holding negative positions.
03/07/2012
So what is the state of play on the government's ambition to correct the perceived lack of credit for small and medium-sized businesses?
03/06/2012
it’s becoming the chosen vehicle for many investors who demand more than just financial growth from their money.
03/05/2012
Well we shouldn't complain
03/02/2012
HMRC pushes back
Following breaches in the Banking Code of Practice on Taxation, retrospective tax legislation is to be introduced.
02/27/2012
The growth figures may be insipid, the headlines may seem dour...
There are some positive dots that we can join together when looking at the UK economy, which when viewed as a connected string, is beginning to show a slightly more creditable and credible pattern.
02/23/2012
Signs of opportunity among the wreckage of European equities - Coutts
Although we remain cautious regarding exposure to European equities in general, selective opportunities may be emerging, as long as global central banks maintain the easy- money stance that is helping to fuel appetite for risk.
02/23/2012
Kleinwort Benson's new CIO says "animal spirits" at play in the markets
Crisis, what crisis?
02/23/2012
Paying the piper….
HM Revenue & Customs have now started to issue the £100 penalty notices to those people in self-assessment that did not submit their return by the deadline of 2 February 2012.
02/22/2012
Global Investment Banking Revenue to Drop 4%
The analysts upgraded their estimate for fixed-income, currencies and commodities sales to a 13 percent drop for the first quarter from a decline of 26 percent after a “material improvement” at the start of the year, the analysts said, while t
02/21/2012
Adviser confidence starts to rise
Advisers are feeling more confident about the UK economy but unemployment and government spending cuts are of growing concern, according to Skandia’s latest Adviser Confidence Barometer.
02/20/2012
Learning a lesson from the Americans
Following my comments about the missing financial infrastructure in the UK, I was recently comparing the US banking and financial structures with our own.
02/20/2012
Moody’s credit warning and rising unemployment mean radical growth policies are needed
Last week began badly when Moody’s changed Britain’s credit outlook from stable to negative
02/17/2012
Looking beyond the Greek tragedy
Central banks continue to ease policy and risk appetite amongst investors has increased. In the very near term however we remain somewhat wary that markets have rallied too strongly and that further profit taking and lower markets are quite possible.
02/15/2012
No crisis of capitalism but time to take stock
Deutsche Bank’s Middle East chief offers his perspective on the bigger picture.
02/15/2012
More pension tax changes to come?
As we predicted in our last Weekly Tax Brief, higher rate tax relief for pension contributions is once again in the firing line.
02/13/2012
Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.
02/11/2012
“Beware of big round numbers,” says the latest advice from the Local Government Association to Britain’s city councils presentation of their annual budgets.
02/09/2012
No reasonable person contests the idea that we should all pay our proper dues. Nevertheless, in a week when it has emerged that HMRC wrote off £10.9 billion last year (with the Treasury expressing ‘some surprise’ according to the Public
02/06/2012
Oh please stop wringing your hands, politicians, and apparently blaming everyone else except yourselves.