Is offshore banking legal? This is a question often asked these days, as various nations seek to clamp down on offshore tax havens and offshore banking. And while such banking may raise eyebrows in certain quarters, or invite disapproving comments from politicians seeking to balance budgets and maximise tax revenue, the fact is banking offshore [...]
The last Labour government introduced the Time to Train scheme which enabled any employee with more than 26 weeks service to request time off work to undertake training of any sort. Whilst on the surface that seems reasonable in practice the new right raised a lot of issues not the least being the fear that if a [...]
I think it’s imperative that people get off their butts and travel. I say this because I believe the old dictum that travel broadens the mind. And what this world needs more than anything else right now is “mind broadening”. Travelling to a country gives you a chance to experience life as others live it, [...]
The UK Coalition Government have today proposed a number of initiatives designed to reduce the burden of bureaucracy and red tape for business. Proposals from the Department for Business include the re-publicising of the Your Freedom website, a “beefing up” of the Regulatory Policy Committee’s role and the provision of greater detail on the nature [...]
Following the unseemly debacle surrounding Kraft’s takeover of Cadbury (and some of us remember similar issues many years ago in the Guinness/Distillers takeover) the Takeover Panel have launched a review into certain aspects of the regulations concerning takeovers and have invited comments. Here are mine. Any changes to the Takeover Code must ensure that the [...]
The United Kingdom Ministry of Justice today announced that the UK Bribery Act, including the new strict liability corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery, will come into effect in April 2011. This is later than originally proposed, but reflects more recent anticipation as to the likely timetable for implementation. Under the new corporate offence, [...]
The long-awaited Bribery Act 2010 was today (8th April) given Royal Assent and so has passed into law. The purpose of the new act is to reform the existing criminal law (which dates back over 100 years) and to provide a new, modern and comprehensive scheme of bribery offences that will enable courts and prosecutors [...]
The recent worldwide financial crisis has clearly indicated that there is an urgent need to improve the effectiveness of company boards. This can only be achieved when all board members, together with shareholders, employees and other stakeholders, truly understand their roles and responsibilities. For over 10 years the Institute of Directors (IoD) have been offering [...]
This is the shocking verdict which the authors of a new report, published by the Institute of Economic Affairs, have come to following an in depth study into tax related compliance and administration costs which fall on UK businesses. The report also reveals that the average Finance Act in the 2000s has been three times [...]
A new website has just gone online which will be of great help to anyone starting up a new business. One of the most common complaints on a whole load of business forums is that of someone who has an established business and finds that someone else has set up another business with the same [...]
The Combined Code on Corporate Governance * is published by the Financial Reporting Council and applies to all UK incorporated companies (and some foreign companies) listed on the UK Stock Exchange. The most recent (2008) version of the Code combines the Cadbury and Greenbury reports on corporate governance, the Turnbull Report on Internal Control (revised [...]
For some unknown reason, business owners and managers make things more complicated and complex than they need to. Frankly business is not that complicated. A business exists to make a profit. If it doesn’t then give it up. In order to make a profit a business must offer a product or service that has appeal within a market, it [...]
Marketing for small business is different than marketing for national or international brands, which enjoy instant name recognition. By contrast, small business marketing relies heavily on word of mouth and on building and maintaining personal relationships. This article isn’t about finding new customers, it is about hanging on to the ones you have and building [...]
No one likes getting complaints from customers but the fact is that if you handle a complaint well you can make the complainer into an asset – someone who will praise your business. OK, we all know that there are some people you can never please no matter what you do and there are some [...]
In the current economic situation and with more people leaving regular employment and setting up as consultants, it has become much more acceptable to run your business from home. Apart from anything else, running a new business from the spare bedroom removes a whole layer of cost and risk, and makes it a lot more [...]
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 [...]
HM Revenue & Customs are facing a flood of legal claims that will blow another massive hole in the public finances. In the past few weeks thousands of High Court claims have been lodges by companies and local councils relating to millions of pounds of interest wrongly charged by HMRC. When HMRC makes a repayment [...]
Investing Offshore can be a very attractive option for the discerning investor who would like to explore other markets, shield his or her investments from potential capital lawsuits, or grow them in a confidential, secure investment not governed by the rules and regulations of their home jurisdiction. Over a year ago I posted an article [...]
Accounting is viewed by most non accountants as a complicated and highly technical matter, and this is a view that is encouranged by the accountancy profession. But the truth is that it is based on a very simple principal which once understood allows business owners and managers to understand the financial state of their business without [...]
This Blog is dedicated to offering help and advice to people who run or want to run a business of any kind. In addition to the information contained in the posts we also offer a number of free business guides, usually around 12 pages long, on a wide range of subjects. You can access these via [...]
