Waiting on a good exchange rate? April 3, 2020 | City Talk In time of uncertainty, currencies can be even more volatile. With the entire world ramping up efforts to control the Covid-19 pandemic, the toll on people’s lives is tragic and immeasurable, but there is also huge economic uncertainty, having a profound effect on the markets never seen before, causing currency volatility. Market movements Even after [...]
The impact of coronavirus on dividends April 2, 2020 | City Talk As UK banks temporarily suspend all dividend payments, we discuss the effect coronavirus could have on a vital source of income for investors. What’s happening to dividends? The coronavirus crisis and oil price war are having a profound impact on economic growth and the cash position of companies. Many businesses in the most affected sectors [...]
How are criminals getting our information? April 1, 2020 | Sponsored In these difficult times, we should be vigilant against criminals using the publicity around Coronavirus as a chance to target people with fraudulent emails, phone calls, text messages or social media posts. Most of us think we’re too smart to get caught out by fraud and scams but, the truth is, criminals are increasingly using sophisticated [...]
Criminals are using COVID-19 to scam the public – don’t become a victim April 1, 2020 | Sponsored Law enforcement, government and private sectors partners are working together to encourage members of the public to be more vigilant against fraud, particularly about sharing their financial and personal information, as criminals seek to capitalise on the Covid-19 pandemic. Criminals are experts at impersonating people, organisations and the police. They spend hours researching you for [...]
Ethical investment funds — not making the grade? April 1, 2020 Survey after survey has shown that people want their money invested ethically. But what does that mean? And, crucially, do so-called “ethical” funds provide what savers are looking for, or is there a mismatch here? Ethically-labelled investment funds have a list of exclusions — various types of company that they will not invest in because [...]
What impact is Covid-19 having on global economies and markets? March 31, 2020 | City Talk The impact of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic continues to play out. The extent to which the virus will spread, both between and within countries remains unclear, and the duration and impact are highly uncertain. Sadly, the human impact continues to grow, and the virus has now claimed the lives of over 22,000 people, as [...]
Money mules – doing the launderers’ donkey work March 31, 2020 | Sponsored Money laundering is a huge business. Between 2-5% of global GDP (gross domestic product), or $800 billion – $2 trillion US dollars, is laundered globally in one year.[1] One of the many ways of laundering money is through the use of money mules How does it work? Money mules take part in money laundering activities [...]
The fight against tax crime and money laundering March 31, 2020 | Sponsored There is no such thing as a victimless crime. The devastation financial crime causes is real and often affects some of our country’s poorest and most vulnerable communities. Tax crime costs the UK economy tens of billions of pounds every year. In order to prevent this, HMRC works closely with UK law enforcement agencies and [...]
Simple advice on avoiding financial scams March 31, 2020 | Sponsored With the consequences of a scam often going well beyond pure financial losses, it is essential that every colleague in your business knows how to spot the signs. Businesses have always been highly attractive targets for fraudsters. Why? Money and data – both the company’s and that of their customers and supply chain partners. That [...]
Criminals exploit technology so why can’t law enforcement? March 31, 2020 | Sponsored According to Helena Wood at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the UK has been “sleepwalking” through the growth of economic crime, to a point where it is a systemic national security risk. But there is technology to take the fight to criminals. Fraud accounts for one in three of all allegations of crime and [...]