News

Nuclear loss threatens Toshiba

February 14, 2017

Toshiba chairman Shigenori Shiga resigned on Tuesday, hours after the Japanese conglomerate revealed details of a multi-billion dollar loss. Earlier Toshiba had delayed issuing its results, but it then said it was set to report a net loss of 390bn yen ($3.4bn) in the year to March 2017. The company said it expected to take […]

Property tax has sting in the tail

February 14, 2017

A new a wealth tax on properties in Portugal valued at more than €600,000 (£507,700) has been introduced by the Portuguese government, a leading UK property website reports. The new property levy, which is an annual rate of 0.3% on properties valued at over €600,000, replaces a 1% charge on homes valued above €1m (£846,000), […]

‘Avoid UK investments’ – top consultancy

February 13, 2017

Europe’s largest management consultancy has warned against investing in Britain. In an interview with The Times, Charles-Edouard Bouée, the chief executive of Roland Berger, which is Europe’s largest management consultancy and competes with the likes of McKinsey and Bain & Co, said that businesses are still underestimating the complexity of Brexit negotiations. “We’re advising our […]

Short of cash, Indians go digital

February 13, 2017

Mobile and digital payments will overtake physical card payments as the predominant non-cash payment mode in India in 2017, driven by demonetisation, according to a report by Deloitte India, titled ‘Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions 2017’. “Demonetisation has forced a behavioural change in the Indian consumer. While FinTechs used the ‘carrot’ approach to entice […]

Billionaires switch to renting

February 13, 2017

Foreign billionaires are renting rather than buying luxury homes in London following increases in tax bills on upmarket properties. Lettings that cost more than £3,000 a week – £156,000 a year – increased by 28% in the last three months of 2016, according to research by the property data service LonRes, the UK’s Guardian reports. […]

City’s future increasingly bleak

February 10, 2017

Brexit could result in London losing its status as the financial “gateway to Europe”, according to one of Germany’s most influential banking regulators. Dr Andreas Dombret, who sits on the board of the Bundesbank, said that any deal struck between the UK and the European Union following Brexit would be “miles away from access to […]

HSBC ‘may have missed the boat’

February 10, 2017

Asia focused HSBC is keen on making acquisitions in wealth and asset management. Over the past few years while HSBC was naval gazing, Asia has seen several deals completed. Has HSBC missed the boat again? The main thrust of HSBC’s attention over the past few years was whether the bank was going to move out […]

New Zealand haven for hot money

February 10, 2017

A flamboyant Malaysian financier linked to an international money-laundering probe has laid bare New Zealand’s surprising appeal as a destination for the ultra- rich to park their wealth, the Straits Times reports. Family members of Mr Low Taek Jho, who is suspected by US officials of diverting money from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), are beneficiaries […]

Darker prospects for post-EU UK

February 9, 2017

Britain’s departure from the European Union could cause output losses of as much as 9.5 per cent, according to new research. Calculations using models that incorporate productivity measures show a negative impact on gross domestic product per capita of almost four times that of previous estimates, according to John Van Reenen, a professor of applied […]

Hungary near bottom of pile

February 9, 2017

Hungary has fared poorly in a report released by the Central Statistical Office that details household wealth statistics, the first such survey ever conducted in the country, according to the Budapest Beacon. The survey was coordinated by the Household Finance and Consumption Network of the European Central Bank, which has conducted similar surveys in Eurozone countries since 2006, with […]