Archive for 'Banking & Finance'
What is Sovereign Debt?
In recent weeks the term Sovereign Debt has been bandied about by the media leaving many people puzzled as what it actually is. What it isn’t is money owed by a King or Queen of a country – Republics do have Sovereign Debt; you don’t need a Monarch! Joking aside, in simple terms Sovereign Debt [...]
Full StoryHow Much Can I Put In An ISA?
I’ve suddenly had a lot of people contact me to ask the above question regarding the tax free ISA (Individual Savings Account) products that are available to UK taxpayers. This is probably due to changes that came in last month. If you don’t know what an ISA is then have a look at this earlier article. [...]
Full StoryPolitical Double Dealing
On his 2008 Presidential campaign trail, Barack Obama made his hostility toward “offshore” jurisdictions very clear: “There’s a building in the Cayman Islands that houses supposedly 12,000 U.S.-based corporations. That’s either the biggest building in the world or the biggest tax scam in the world, and we know which one it is.” I know that [...]
Full StoryLast Desperate Attempt by a Bankrupt Government
In what may be seen as a final act of desperation by a morally, legally and financially bankrupt UK government, the Treasury, having failed to “crack down” on what it sees as tax avoidance by banks (the UK courts don’t agree with HMRC) has now come out with a “Voluntary Code”. Not only is this daft [...]
Full StoryThe Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (or “FSMA” 2000)
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 is the Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a regulator for insurance, investment business and banking. This was the Act by which Gordon Brown removed responsibility for regulating the banking industry from the Bank of England, a decision that [...]
Full StoryFSA Handbook
The FSA Handbook sets out all the FSA’s rules made under powers given to the FSA by the Financial Services and Markets Act as well as rules based on this and other Acts. It is legally binding. The Handbook is updated almost daily and anyone involved in the financial industry is well advised to check [...]
Full StoryQualified Investor (“QI”)
In the context of UK regulations a qualified investor (“QI”) is one who falls within the definition contained in Section 86(7) of the Financial Services and Markets Act (“FSMA”) and who is listed on the Qualified Investor Register (“QIR”) maintained by the Financial Services Authority (“FSA”). The Financial Services Authority maintains a register of QIs, [...]
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