Bank of London under investigation by City regulator
Bank of London, which claimed it had a valuation of more than $1 billion when it launched four years ago, disclosed in its delayed accounts for 2023 that the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority was investigating 'certain historical matters' at the business.
It also said that it was the subject of separate 'enhanced regulatory supervision' by the PRA because of shortcomings including in its financial and regulatory reporting. Furthermore, problems assessing a share option scheme for staff meant EY, its external auditor, gave only a 'qualified' opinion of the accounts.
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The Independent
8 minutes ago
- The Independent
Homeowners could be hit with new tax as Chancellor aims to fill ‘£41 billion shortfall'
A Treasury minister has not ruled out hitting owners of high-value houses with capital gains tax (CGT) when they sell their family home. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reported to be considering ending the current exemption from CGT for primary residences as she seeks ways to raise cash in the face of dire warnings about the state of the public finances. Such a move would see higher-rate taxpayers pay 24 per cent of any gain in the value of their home, while basic rate taxpayers would be hit with an 18 per cent levy. The Times reported that under the proposals being considered for the autumn budget, the private residence relief would end for properties above a certain threshold. The threshold is still under consideration but a £1.5 million starting point would hit around 120,000 homeowners who are higher-rate taxpayers with capital gains tax bills of £199,973, the newspaper reported. Treasury minister Torsten Bell declined to rule out hitting people selling their homes with CGT, insisting any potential changes were matters for the Chancellor and would be set out at a budget. Asked to rule out the move, the pensions minister told broadcasters: 'Working people and people's living standards is what this Government is all about. 'We've seen wages rise more in the first 10 months of this Government than the first 10 years of the last Conservative government. 'But of course, as you know, questions for tax are for the budget and they're for chancellors.' Ending primary residence relief could deter people from selling their homes, slowing the housing market and could have a particular impact for older people looking to downsize. The Labour government has ruled out increasing income tax, employees' national insurance contributions and VAT, restricting Ms Reeves' options when it comes to raising money. The scale of the challenge facing her in the autumn budget was illustrated by the NIESR economic think tank warning this month that Ms Reeves is set for a £41 billion shortfall on her self-imposed rule of balancing day-to-day spending with tax receipts in 2029-30. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch hit out at the Chancellor's 'disastrous economic mismanagement' and said the Government was 'stuck in a doom loop of low growth and higher taxes'. She said: 'We should be cutting spending, cutting taxes, and backing the makers who keep our country going.' Any move to hit expensive properties would be likely to impact more heavily on London than other parts of the country. Analysis by Rightmove suggested 10.9 per cent of homes for sale in the capital would exceed a £1.5 million threshold, compared with 1.6 per cent outside London. Rightmove's Colleen Babcock said: 'In essence, this would predominantly be a tax on the most expensive areas of London and the South East. 'The London market is already feeling the effects of taxation more acutely than other parts of England, and this is likely to deter some moves at the upper end.'
BBC News
9 minutes ago
- BBC News
Rejected Dundee University recovery plan included more job cuts
A Dundee University recovery plan which included a proposal for 400 additional job cuts has been rejected by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).The cash-strapped institution had suggested a further 220 voluntary redundancies and 170 compulsory redundancies. This is in addition to a previously-announced voluntary scheme to shed 300 jobs. The 105-page confidential recovery plan, which has been seen by BBC Scotland News, said the university's current operating costs are £25-30m per month. The university said the SFC, which is an arms-length public body, had now written to "outline a different proposed direction".It added this would be considered by its court "at the earliest opportunity." The university currently faces a £35m deficit for this financial financial woes initially came to light last November when the then principal Prof Iain Gillespie revealed an eight-figure deficit and "inevitable" were originally estimated at 632 job losses but later revised to about 300 through the use of a voluntary redundancy scheme.A damning report in June into the university's financial collapse led to the resignations of its interim principal Prof Shane O'Neill and two senior members of its governing body. The Gillies Report said university bosses and its governing body failed multiple times to identify the worsening crisis and continued to overspend instead of taking University said the report had been a "chastening experience and triggered a time for deep self-reflection". The Courier has reported that the SFC believes it is "not appropriate" for fundamental decisions that would "bind the university for decades" to be made by its interim leadership has quoted a letter from the SFC to Ian Mair, the university's acting chair of court, which said such decisions should not be taken "without the existence of an approved, and properly consulted upon, university strategic plan."The rejected recovery plan proposed "a range of workforce reduction measures" including natural turnover, retirement and flexible it added that further redundancies would be required "to achieve the scale and shape of the change of the workforce that is required."It proposed 50 further voluntary redundancies in November and another 170 in March.A further 170 compulsory redundancies were forecast "with notice given in May 2026." The plan also outlined selling four university-owned properties, including the five-bedroom University House, previously used by Prof Gillespie and his predecessor, to raise £2.2m. In addition, the plan details restructuring of the university's executive group and four new Faculties replacing its existing eight university said it had received a £10m SFC grant to "ease the immediate cash issues" and will receive a further £40m of support over the next two financial is also set to receive a £12m SFC loan in recovery plan document said: "Currently, the university is unable to secure any additional commercial funding through a commercial bank and is therefore very reliant on the support from the Scottish government which may have to be brought forwards to help support cashflow whilst the plan is matured and set in action." A spokesperson for the Scottish Funding Council said: "We received the university's proposed recovery plan on 11 August and our teams have developed a response as a matter of priority."We are committed to supporting its return to a position of financial health that will ensure this continues for future generations."It's important that the foundations for this are solid. "This is why we are prepared to fund the university over a defined period of fundamental longer term strategic planning informed by constructive engagement with staff and students."A Dundee University spokesman confirmed it had submitted a recovery plan to the SFC last said: "The SFC has now written to outline a different proposed direction, which will now be considered by court at the earliest opportunity."
BBC News
9 minutes ago
- BBC News
What are Rachel Reeves' options on property tax?
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has some big decisions to make ahead of the Budget in says she is on track to break her own rules on government borrowing unless she can find billions to make up the difference between public spending and tax fix this, several reports have suggested the government is considering shaking up stamp duty and other property taxes - having repeatedly ruled out raising income tax, employee national insurance or changes could raise billions but also come with a range of downsides. Capital gains tax changes Capital gains tax (CGT) is a charge on the increase in the value of an asset when you sell applies to the sale of things like paintings, second homes, and stocks and shares, but main homes are currently exempt from if you bought the main home you live in for £200,000 and sold it for £210,000, you are entitled to all of that £10,000 - barring some exceptions such as for those whose main homes are over 5,000 acres or who have let part of it to government is considering removing this relief for pricier homes, according to the Times, which would mean those sales would be subject to CGT, the current rates being 24% for higher-rate taxpayers and 18% for lower-rate much this would raise depends on what the value threshold is for homes to be hit by the tax - in the last financial year, the tax raised £ argue that removing CGT relief for higher value home sales would slow down those transactions, meaning it might not raise as much as the government would French, chief economist at Panmure Liberium, told the BBC that axing the relief "would be potentially incredibly lucrative but also incredibly controversial". Abolishing stamp duty Another change the government is reportedly considering is the abolition of stamp duty, which is a tax on the purchase of CGT, this tax does not apply to the change in value of the property but to the value of the property when buying homes for less than £125,000 do not pay stamp duty. First-time buyers do not pay stamp duty on properties worth up to £300, buying homes worth more pay a percentage of the value of the is stamp duty?Colleen Babcock, Rightmove's property expert, says the tax is "a huge barrier to movement, from first-time buyers to downsizers".However, getting rid of stamp duty would also mean lost revenue, with £11.6bn raised from the tax in the last financial such, reports suggest any abolition of stamp duty would come alongside other property tax Guardian has reported that one such replacement could be a tax on owner-occupiers selling homes over £500,000 combined with a reform of council tax. Replacing council tax Council tax is a levy which funds your local authority. It is based on what the value of the property you live in was in 1991 or - if the property was built after then - what the value of the property would have been in is done this way because that is the year the tax was introduced, but critics say this way of valuing properties is complicated. They also argue that - because it is calculated at a council level - there are unfair means two people both living in homes with the exact same value would not pay the same council tax if they lived in two different council widespread opposition to the current council tax system, government proposals for changes to the system have also come under scrutiny for taking money away from some areas to increase funding in highlights the difficulty the government might face in trying to overhaul council taxes. The Treasury has not commented on any of the recent reports."We are committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible," a spokesperson said.
