Last week marked the final Queen’s Speech of the current parliamentary session: the Government has set out its remaining legislative proposals before we all head to the polling stations in May 2015. Like the proverbial curate’s egg, it is good in parts, but my heart sank when I saw that Her Majesty’s Government has decided to proceed with an idea […]
The proposed takeover of British-based pharmaceuticals firm, Astra Zeneca, by US rival Pfizer is now off the agenda: the board of the former has rejected Pfizer’s “final” bid of £69bn to buy it up. This deal has been much in the press in recent weeks—partly due to the size of the would-have-been combined entity—but principally because it would have meant […]
Expecting a long life? The latest proposal from the Pensions Minister may help you here. Steve Webb has announced that the Government is considering a proposal to provide pensioners, upon retirement, with an estimate of how long they might live. Morbid stuff, perhaps, but the thinking is that people tend to under-estimate how many years they might get before they shuffle off […]
Tuesday’s Times brought news that the Financial Conduct Authority has managed to land itself in some hot water with the Chancellor. The FCA—set up by the Coalition Government to draw a line under the Brown-era Financial Services Authority—has been accused of “precipitating a disorderly market in insurers’ shares” by leaking to the press that it intended to review whether closed […]
Jonathan Galbraith on why Osborne’s big Budget idea on annuity reform should be welcomed. The big surprise in George Osborne’s Budget last week —the proverbial rabbit in the Chancellor’s hat—is the change in pensions rules which will remove the requirement to purchase an annuity at retirement from April 2015 onwards. An annuity is an insurance product that allows you to […]
By Jonathan Galbraith After what feels like an eternity, the referendum on Scottish independence is now less than six months away, and as each camp now seeks to consolidate its existing support and capture new territory. The Scottish Conservatives held their annual conference last weekend in Edinburgh – a three-day affair that also served as a rally for the European […]
