Former pensions minister Steve Webb has called on the Government to take a stronger role in the development of a pensions dashboard, warning the project risks being left “in the slow lane”. As part of the Budget, Chancellor George Osborne pledged to ensure the industry designs, funds and launches a pensions dashboard by 2019. However, […]
Employees who have been automatically enrolled should be warned away from the Government’s new Lifetime Isa, according to a committee of MPs. In its report on automatic enrolment, the Work and Pensions Committee says the Government should conduct urgent research on the implications of the Lifetime Isa, launched by the Chancellor in the Budget. The […]
The International Monetary Fund has warned London’s status as a global financial centre would be damaged by a vote to leave the European Union. In its annual report into the UK’s economy, the IMF says leaving the EU would have “a negative and substantial” effect on economic growth, while also hitting London’s attractiveness as a […]
Two crooks have been hit with jail sentences after being convicted of insider dealing this week. Investment banker Martyn Dodgson and chartered accountant Andrew Hind were convicted on Monday, and have now been handed 4.5 years and 3.5 years, respectively. Dodgson’s sentence is the longest ever handed down for insider dealing in a case brought […]
One of the founders of Hargreaves Lansdown has been named in a leaked database of major offshore investors. Steven Lansdown, who helped to found the business with Peter Hargreaves, departed the business in 2012, and also owns co-owns Bristol Sport, a group which includes Bristol City Football Club. In documents published by the International Consortium […]
The limited number of technology providers dominating the platform market have raised difficult questions over whether the firms powering platforms are becoming “too big to fail”. Figures from Platforum show 84 per cent of platform assets are expected to be held on platforms backed by just four technology firms by the end of 2018. Last […]
As many as 15,000 British savers could be hit by a new lifetime allowance on pension contributions in Australia. Last week the Australian government installed a limit of $500,000 (£254,000) on non-concessional contributions, sometimes known as ‘after tax’ contributions, that can be made to Australian pension accounts. Under previous rules, Britons moving to Australia simply […]
Providers could be hit by a surge of customer transfers, following the launch of a pensions dashboard, software consultancy Dunstan Thomas has warned. The Treasury is committed to backing a new, industry-developed, dashboard by the end of 2019, although experts have warned that the timetable could be “unattainable”. However, Dunstan Thomas has now warned that […]
Australia has imposed a harsh new cap for lifetime contributions to pensions, dramatically restricting the amounts the British savers will be able to take with them if they emigrate Down Under. Last week the Australian government installed a limit of $500,000 (£254,000) on non-concessional contributions, sometimes known as ‘after tax’ contributions, that can be made […]
Work and Pensions committee chair Frank Field has called on Chancellor George Osborne to introduce new legislation to tackle “unstable master trusts”. In a letter to the Chancellor last week, Field noted the parliamentary committee’s concerns on both master trusts and the effectiveness of The Pensions Regulator. In particular, Field noted that the committee had […]
The former owner of BHS has called on Work and Pensions Committee chair Frank Field to resign from his committee’s probe of the collapsed retailer’s pension fund. BHS fell into administration last week, and Sir Phillip Green, who sold the retailer to a group of investors for £1 in 2015, is due to be grilled […]
TenetConnect has been ordered to pay compensation to a group of clients after the Financial Ombudsman Service ruled the firm had failed in its duty of care to clients making investments on a non-advised basis. The FOS ruled that Tenet was wrong to help clients in 2010 to open new Sipp accounts to invest in […]