Europe
France to push ahead with cuts to wealth tax
French president Emmanuel Macron has promised the government will press ahead with promised tax cuts overruling earlier suggestions by prime minister Edouard Phillippe that key campaign policies would be postponed until 2019 as France struggles to contain its public deficit.
Gibraltar insurer with five branches closes to new business
Gibraltar-headquartered Elite Insurance has stopped writing new business across all its offices “with immediate effect”.
Investors switch to trackers in European equity markets
Following the French elections, investors have swapped actively managed single country equity funds for index trackers.
France delays tax cuts until 2019 as austerity bites
French prime minister Edouard Philippe has announced that the government will have to delay planned tax cuts until 2019 due to the poor state of the country’s finances.
Recession risk is on the rise – the key factors to watch
While markets could remain complacent and expensive for a long time, recession risk is rising, says asset manager Robeco. Fidelity is also increasingly cautious, expecting “the longest equity bull market since World War II” to end within 18 months.