IFA jailed for forging signatures
A former financial adviser who was found guilty of forging clients’ signatures to invest their cash into a high-risk fund that later went bankrupt has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
A former financial adviser who was found guilty of forging clients’ signatures to invest their cash into a high-risk fund that later went bankrupt has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
HM Revenue & Customs’ spending on staff to target tax avoiders rose 7% over the past 12 months, increasing headcount at its Counter-Avoidance Directorate (CAD).
HM Revenue & Customs will be able to review “disproportionate” tax bills slapped on people who withdraw money from their life policies but “it is crucial that this isn’t seen as a safety net”, warns Old Mutual Wealth tax and financial planning expert Rachael Griffin.
The latest UK Finance Bill has not included a ban on pensions cold calling but has reduced the non-domicile threshold and implemented cuts to the money purchase annual and tax-free dividend allowances.
Isle of Man-based savings provider Hansard International has teamed up with global asset manager Fidelity International to launch a tool to help financial advisers identify the risk profile of retail clients.
Two international life companies gave conflicting views on the tax treatment of offshore bonds to chartered financial planner Patrick Murphy, of Zen Wealth, in his quest to offer fee-based advice for his UK domiciled clients who have been tax resident in Spain for 10 years.
Old Mutual, Prudential and Abbey Life are among five companies still under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority over concerns about the transparency of exit and penalty charges in the firms’ closed-book life insurance policies.
The chief executive of a leading UAE advice firm has warned that increased regulation will reduce the survival prospects for many financial consultancy firms in the Emirates if the obvious warnings from regulators are ignored.
The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has ordered Confiance Malta Ltd to “immediately” transfer its trusts and fiduciary business to another local provider after it fell short of expected standards.
Clients of UK advisers who claim they were mis-sold the collapsed Harlequin Caribbean property Ucis investment may be eligible for financial redress from the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
HM Revenue & Customs has given a two-month extension to an October deadline for trusts to be registered, following complaints that the original date did not give enough time to complete registration.
US-based The Carlyle Group has won a civil case against claims it was in breach of its duties in the management of a Guernsey fund leading to total investment losses in the 2008 global financial crash.