Industry
Alternatives | 22 Feb 18
UK opens cryptocurrency inquiry
Bitcoin, ether and other digital currencies are to come under scrutiny in the UK after the Treasury Committee announced on Thursday it has launched an inquiry into digital currencies and the technology behind them.
South Africa budget increases wealth tax
South Africa’s finance minister has announced an increase in estate duty from 20% to 25% for those with properties worth ZAR30m (£1.8m, $2.7m, €2.1m), a move a legal expert says will have a “significant effect” on the nation’s wealthy.
Best Practice | 21 Feb 18
Simplified IHT rules could go live in 2019
The UK’s Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) will publish a report on the processes and complexities around inheritance tax (IHT) in autumn 2018, opening the door to the possibility that IHT could be simplified within the next two years.
Platforms are dead, says The Lang Cat boss
Platforms have spurned the gift of the retail distribution review (RDR) and are dead, according to Mark Polson, founder of financial services consultancy The Lang Cat.
Lloyds financial planning business set for £50bn expansion
In a major push to expand into the financial planning and retirement industry, Lloyds Banking Group is looking to increase its open book assets in the sector by more than £50bn ($69.9bn, €56.5bn) by 2020, according to the company’s 2018 strategic plan.