British expats are embracing social media and digital apps as a means of sorting out their finances, with 75% using these platforms for practical purposes such as currency conversions and 38% making active use of banking apps, a new survey reveals.
The World Bank is emerging as a major international regulator in the fields of fraud and corruption and has blacklisted 250 companies in the first seven months of 2013 alone – with Canadian entities emerging as the worst offenders, according to a new report.
Key international life company and funds industry executives speaking at today’s International Adviser Fund Links Forum in London said they saw transparency in the area of financial goods and services around the world as inevitable.
Skandia International said the percentage of its offshore portfolio bonds that are being placed inside a trust each year has more than quintupled since 2006, which it attributes to better education, better choice and better use of product packaging.
EEA Fund Management has contacted shareholders in its suspended EEA Life Settlements Fund asking them to vote on a restructuring proposal which could see the ‘death bonds’ fund unsuspended in six weeks’ time.
International life companies are being urged to continue to support trade body AILO as the industry faces yet more regulatory challenges and headwinds presented by failings in some areas of financial services over the coming years.
Allianz Asia has become another anchor client for Singapore’s new financial district, Marina Bay, which will house 11 Allianz entities and 500 employees under 80,000 square feet of office space when the insurance firm moves into Tower 2 this November.
Investors Trust is to add sterling to the currencies available on its Platinum and Evolution products from next Monday.
Two UK MPs have agreed to help expat pensioners in their latest fight to gain the right to have their state pensions increased in line with inflation, the way they are for pensioners who remain in the UK.
Assets under management in the European exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry grew to 263.57bn in the second quarter of 2013, an increase of 34.84bn or 15.23% over the previous year, according to the latest research from Lipper.
The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment is to extend its mandatory ‘IntegrityMatters’ test to candidates in Ireland, Europe and North America from 1 February next year.
Two firms in the UK are facing enforcement action and a number of others have been asked to amend practices after a Financial Conduct Authority review found evidence of life insurance and advisory firms “undermining the objectives of the RDR”.
