It had been a long day for Harry Markopolos, the man who outed Wall Street titan Bernard Madoff as a crook. The whistleblower whose warnings were ignored for a decade was tired of talking. Markopolos was the first man to alert the SEC to Madoff’s $65 billion (£43 billion) Ponzi scheme, but it repeatedly ignored him.   more »

Contracting out abolished Contracting out under defined contribution pensions schemes will be abolished from the beginning of the new tax year in 2012... **** 60% to snap up ISA limits Six in ten investors are set to take advantage of the enlarged ISA limits that come into play in the new tax year. .. ***** The widows abandoned without a pension Thousands of widowed women every year are condemned to live without a pension because their husbands took the wrong advice at retirement. ..   more »

Another day, another revelation from the tarnished claims management company, Cartel Client Review. Following the news last week that a law firm working for the claims handler was shut down by the legal watchdog, Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), it has now emerged that claims customers could be forced to pay huge legal fees   more »

www.greengem.co.uk
RDR has set the UK on a road of changing the face of IFA's as we know.
Even though ...   more »

The poeple at Trigold are even better at ranting than I am nowadays.
However, their recent comment criticising the FSA ...   more »

Enhanced annuity sales hit new high Annuity providers have been warned they must carefully assess the mortality assumptions of their products, after sales of enhanced annuities rose to a record high in 2009. .. ***** 50% rate will make London the tax capital of the world London will become the most highly taxed financial centre in the world when the new 50 per cent income tax rate for those earning £150,000 or more comes into force next month... ***** FTSE leaves the dark days of 2009 behind as blue chips rise again This time last year, the FTSE 100 index was languishing at its lowest for six years. .. ***** State-owned lenders 'in loan rates rip-off' State-owned banks were accused yesterday of ripping off borrowers by charging over the odds on mortgages. ..   more »

Going to university can cost more than £7,000 a year when you take into account tuition fees, accommodation, food, transport and socialising. IFAonline asks top advisers what parents can do to save enough money to fund their child's further education.   more »

Call for tax shake up A think tank has called for personal allowances to be replaced by a zero rate threshold as part of its call for a shake up of the tax system... ***** FTBs shun London The number of first time buyers (FTBs) looking to purchase property in London has fallen significantly in 2010 so far, as rising prices have hit demand... ***** Britain a winner in property stakes The British housing market is improving at a faster rate than property prices across most of the rest of Europe, a report has found... ***** Savers lose out on Isa deals as 'archaic' system causes delays Savers have been told to expect further headaches and delays this Isa season because banks and building societies have failed to upgrade the "archaic" system of Isa transfers...   more »

Women risking retirement woes Women are far less likely to make plans for retirement than men, according to Standard Life... ***** Women risking retirement woes Women are far less likely to make plans for retirement than men, according to Standard Life... ***** Pensions apartheid: How women are missing out by being born on the wrong date As many as 110,000 women retiring this year could lose more than £20,000 of state pension over their remaining years simply because they were born on the wrong ***** Pound packs a punch after peak in PMI Sterling staged a rebound on the back of punchy figures from Britain's all-important services sector. The pound jumped 0.7 per cent to $1.50 against the dollar after a gauge of services activity saw the sharpest monthly bounce for more than a decade. . ***** Lending rates are slashed Mortgage lenders slashed rates yesterday as competition returned to the revitalised housing market. The introduction of new deals by the Co-operative Bank and Santander was met by news from Northern Rock that it was also cutting rates. .   more »

City fines could treble as FSA bares its teeth The City regulator has pushed through controversial changes to its penalty regime that could see the level of fines imposed treble. . ****** The £ takes a battering Holidaymakers and shoppers were dealt a severe blow yesterday as the pound tumbled to a 10-month low and experts warned that sterling was "staring into the abyss". ..   more »

House prices rise House prices increased again in January and have risen by more than 5% in the last 12 months, figures from the Land Registry have revealed... ***** Tories plan tax-cut budget George Osborne will unveil an emergency "enterprise" budget within 50 days of a Conservative election victory which will sharply cut taxes for business, it can be disclosed. .. ***** Iceland at risk of isolation Talks between Iceland and the Treasury over the repayment of a $5 billion (£3.3 billion) bailout loan hit a stalemate yesterday after the Government in Reykjavik insisted that the proposed interest bill was too onerous... *****   more »

ISA activity levels to rise ISA business levels have been predicted to surge in the coming months as a result of the enlarged limits, according to a survey. .. ****** Second homes put prices up by 131pc Second-home buyers are pushing property prices up by more than 130 per cent in popular areas, according to research. .. ***** Bank complaints up by a fifth Lloyds is the most complained about bank in Britain, receiving almost a quarter of all new complaints lodged against all financial businesses from July to December... ***** Now RBS creates 100 millionaires The state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland has paid more than 100 bankers at least £1m each in bonuses, despite making a loss of £3.6bn. ..   more »

Northern Rock to lose 100% savings guarantee Customers of the nationalised Northern Rock Bank will soon lose the 100% guarantee that has covered their savings... ****** State pension age should be 70, PwC says The state pension age (SPA) should be raised to 70 by 2046 to reduce the deficit and offset ageing-related costs, according to a Pricewaterhouse Coopers study... ****** Oldest building society bows out after 165 years Britain’s oldest building society threw in the towel yesterday and agreed to be taken over by the much larger Skipton Building Society... ****** Osborne pledges swift deficit action An incoming Conservative government would announce cuts to public spending before the summer recess and would spell out detailed cuts facing individual government departments by the autumn, George Osborne pledged last night...   more »

A third - or almost 30,000 - of all consumer complaints referred to the financial ombudsman (FOS) in the second half of last year were against just three high street banks. Figures released today by the FOS show there were 27,137 new grievances against Lloyds TSB, Barclays and Bank of Scotland in the six months to 31 December 2009, with Lloyds the subject of 9,952 complaints.   more »

Small firms left to starve Six out of ten firms were turned down for bank loans last year, a shock survey reveals today... ****** Millions hit by jump in credit card rate Interest rates on credit cards have risen to a 12-year high, leaving millions of borrowers facing "crippling" debts, it can be disclosed. .. ****** HSBC faces investor anger over proposed pay rise for top team HSBC, the global bank that has been praised for its handling of the financial crisis, has clashed with shareholders over a proposed pay rise for its executive team. .. ****** £4.5bn bonus bonanza at Barclays Banking giant Barclays will today post record annual ­profits of more than £11billion - triggering huge payouts for its investment bankers...   more »

Property asking prices soar Asking prices jumped by more than 3% in February as new sellers took advantage of the low supply of properties for sale. .. ***** FSA proposes 10% rise in funding The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has proposed a 9.9% rise in its funding as it attempts to continue to deliver intensive supervision and the international regulatory reform agenda. ***** New tax bombshell: 20% VAT A rise in VAT is looming whichever party wins the general election, as Labour and the Conservatives draw up plans to balance Britain's books. Alistair Darling and George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, are both considering raising VAT to as high as 20 per cent - the European average - from the current rate of 17.5 per cent, The Times has learnt...   more »

" It should be remembered that the Mortgage Code Compliance Board (MCCB) looked after around 10,000 firms and 38,000 registered sales staff at a cost of £4.4 million per annum. This cost is less than the increase in actual costs required by FSA to cover the same, but smaller, sector this year. The FSA has a cost budget this year of £15.6 million for the sector."   more »

A generation in denial Millions of people approaching retirement are being hit by a crippling combination of large mortgages and no savings. ****** FSA in confusion as chief Hector Sants quits regulator The future of Britain's financial regulation has been thrown into (even more) confusion with the unexpected resignation of Hector Sants, the chief executive of the Financial Services Authority (FSA).. *****   more »

Bailed-out banks have betrayed small firms, causing 'widespread dismay' Banks have broken promises to lend money to small businesses, stifling growth and pushing many to the brink of collapse, a report warns today. .. ***** Myners argues bonuses are bleeding pension funds Lord Myners will renew his attack on institutional investors this morning, telling them that an excessive bonus culture in the financial services industry is hitting British pensions. .. (mg I think he needs to look much closer to home for pensions failings) ***** Greek crisis hangs over EU economic summit The fiscal emergency in Greece and the turbulence in debt markets are threatening to overshadow this week's European Union summit on boosting business competitiveness. ..   more »

Base rate at 0.5% for almost a year The Bank of England's base rate of interest will remain at its current record low of 0.5% for another month at least... ***** Pension pots down 60% The average personal pension pot has dropped by a staggering 60% over the last decade according to the latest survey by Investment Life and Pensions Moneyfacts... (MG This is the saddest effect of this labour government imo) ****** Iceland 'lied' over the state of its banks before collapse Iceland lied about the health of its banking system before its collapse wiped out the savings of 350,000 British and Dutch customers, according to Holland's central bank... *****   more »

Financial advisers are expecting a significant return to the stock market in 2010, according to new research from Prudential... ***** Threat to valuers as lenders blame them for losses Bradford and Bingley, the taxpayer-owned mortgage lender, is threatening surveyors with legal action for over-valuing properties during the housing boom... ***** Public spending cuts will eclipse all increases since 1997 Government spending will have to fall by 10.9pc over four years to achieve plans set out by the Chancellor in the pre-Budget report (PBR), an independent study has shown...   more »

Retirement planning proves popular The top reason for seeking independent financial advice during 2009 was retirement planning, new figures show... ****** Share investments soar as consumers hunt for returns Consumers paid a record amount into investment funds last year as they looked for a better return on their money than putting it in the bank. Net sales of UK-based unit trusts and OEICs (open-ended investment companies) shot up to £25.8bn, the highest level since records began in 1992, according to the Investment Management Association (IMA). ..   more »

Call for FSA fee review The FSA has been told the revised fee structure it proposed in November does not accurately reflect the risk posed by the IFA and intermediary sector... ***** ISA investors eye equities Half of all ISA sales in January went into equities, according to the latest data from Skandia. .. ***** Loan rates soar as grasping banks rake off more profit Greedy lenders have ramped up loan rates to their highest level in nearly a decade to safeguard profits while piling extra costs on struggling customers, a report revealed yesterday. ..   more »

Loan rates at nine year high Unsecured personal loans have been hit with some heavy increases recently, reflecting the perceived risk carried by a product that offers lenders no guarantees, research conducted by Moneyfacts Group has revealed.. ***** FSA to enforce five year tenancies Companies offering to buy a person's house and then rent it back to them will be forced to guarantee tenancies for five years... ***** Thousands face rate jump in coming weeks More than 70,000 homeowners with standard variable rate (SVR) mortgages from building societies face higher borrowing costs in the coming weeks, experts have warned... ***** Buying a smaller property can be an expensive move One in five workers is planning to top up their pension by downsizing or selling their property, according to research from BlackRock...   more »