financial news Tag

Important interest rate announcements were made in June, both in the UK and the US. The US Federal Reserve announced its seventh 0.25% increase in interest rates since December 2015, taking the level to 1.75%-2.00%. The rise had already been incorporated in market prices by...

The latest quarterly review of the FTSE 100 revealed common misunderstandings about how the index is drawn up. Every quarter FTSE Russell, which operates all the FTSE indices, decides which companies are promoted or demoted from the FTSE 100 index. There had been speculation that the...

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has introduced limits on its offerings for wealthier savers.  In mid-June NS&I announced a revision to the terms of its popular Guaranteed Growth and Guaranteed Income Bonds. The interest rates were left unchanged, but the maximum investment per person, per...

Important changes affecting Chinese market indices took effect in June 2018, which could affect emerging market funds. On 1 June 2018, the index provider MSCI added 233 domestic Chinese stocks to its emerging market and global indices. MSCI has some of the most widely used indices...

A new report has proposed taxing the baby boomers to help resolve major issues around intergenerational fairness. The report, published by the Intergenerational Commission in May, offers ten policy recommendations which would represent a radical overhaul of the UK tax system. Examples include replacing inheritance tax...

The way savings are taxed is being reviewed by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS). The OTS is looking at the way in which savings and investment income is taxed, which can be very complicated. According to its paper, published in May 2018, “the interactions...

The income threshold at which student loan repayments begin rose on 6 April 2018. English and Welsh students who started their courses after 31 August 2012 can now earn £25,000 a year – up from £21,000 – before they have to start repaying their student...

HMRC is starting the tax year with their annual reminder to submit your tax return. HMRC’s reminder might seem early, but its statistics show that 750,000 people (6.5%) missed the deadline for 2016/17, potentially facing an immediate £100 penalty, even if they had no outstanding...

With Brexit now less than a year away, how insular are your investments? Brexit – or more accurately the start of the transition/implementation period of the UK leaving the EU – begins on 29 March 2019. By the end of the following year, the UK’s...

Important changes for venture capital schemes and enterprise investment have recently come into effect.  New ‘risk-to-capital’ conditions apply to investments in venture capital trusts (VCTs), enterprise investment schemes (EISs) and seed enterprise investment schemes (SEISs). The changes took effect on 15 March 2018, when the...