City minister battles for UK to issue blockchain gilts October 2, 2024 City minister Tulip Siddiq is pushing for the UK to begin issuing gilts on the blockchain, despite resistance from other areas of the government. ‘Digital gilts’ would be a government bond issued and traded using blockchain technology, and Siddiq has been fighting for the prospect to modernise the UK financial system. “The underlying asset would [...]
‘Pension death tax’ on the cards as Reeves looks to raise cash September 24, 2024 Tom Selby, director of public policy at AJ Bell, said many of the possible reforms come with "significant practical and political challenges".
How Rightmove became London’s (and the FTSE 100’s) most profitable company September 3, 2024 From an unknown tech start-up to the undisputed king of the UK’s online property sector, Rightmove is a shining example of how to turn a simple idea into a whole lot of profit. In its most recent full-year results, the London-listed property portal astounded investors by revealing it had achieved a record 71 per cent operating profit margin – [...]
City sounds alarm over Starmer’s ‘painful’ Budget warning August 28, 2024 City figures have sounded the alarm over the Prime Minister’s warning of a “painful” Budget this autumn, urging him not to “punish risk takers” and warning against “taxing wealth creators”. Sir Keir Starmer delivered his first major address from the No10 Rose Garden on Tuesday as he cautioned that the state of the public finances [...]
Investors brace for Prudential results as stock price continues to disappoint August 26, 2024 Investors in insurance giant Prudential are bracing themselves for its half-year results this week after the company has struggled to keep its stock price stable over the last two years. The FTSE 100 constituent has seen its share price drop by nearly a third over the past year, slumping to its lowest point since 2012. [...]
Dividend tax payers double over last three years as bill soars to £18bn August 20, 2024 The number of people expected to pay dividend tax has almost doubled over the last three years, new data has revealed. Around £18bn is expected to be brought in from the dividend tax in the 2024/25 financial year, according to a Freedom of Information request from AJ Bell, with almost 3.6 million taxpayers forking over [...]
FTSE the exception: Global markets rally past ‘Black Monday’ after US recession fears ease August 16, 2024 Global markets have continued to rally after the ‘Black Monday’ event last week, which saw stock markets crash over fears of a US recession. Since then, markets have now bounced back, as fears over recession have faded after strong US retail sales data and unemployment numbers. The Japanese Nikkei 225, which fell almost 20 per [...]
Inside Asda’s turnaround plan to win back customers from supermarket rivals August 9, 2024 It’s a difficult time to be at Asda’s helm – with sales down as well as competitors eating into its market share, the supermarket giant has announced an ambitious three-point turnaround plan to stave off further declines. Without a permanent CEO – the position has been empty since 2021 and filled on an interim basis [...]
Will private equity set its sights on AJ Bell, M&G or River Global after the Hargreaves Lansdown takeover? August 9, 2024 The takeover battle for Hargreaves Lansdown seemed to have finally reached a resolution this morning, and within hours of the details being announced, analysts were already speculating as to which London-listed asset manager could be next to fall to private equity. Ben Bathurst, analyst at RBC, said today that the planned investment by the private [...]
FTSE 100: London inches towards all-time high as markets anticipate rate call July 29, 2024 FTSE 100 stocks started the week with a surge, rising one per cent in the three hours after the opening bell, as the market holds its breath on whether the Bank of England will cut interest rates later this week. After the record performance of the FTSE 100 in May, where the index hit an [...]