Companies

Business | Legal updates: October 2020

In this month’s round up of legal news, Gateley Legal’s Sophie Brookes considers share purchase agreements, scheme of arrangements and Virgin Atlantic’s restructuring under CIG2020

8 Oct 2020

Law & Guidance

Image for fca bans crypto derivatives trading retail consumers

Business | FCA bans crypto-derivatives trading to retail consumers

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned the sale of crypto-derivatives to retail consumers, after learning of ‘significant’ trading losses, and says the move will protect around £53m

7 Oct 2020

AI & Technology

Image for billionaires wealth hits record 10 trillion

Business | Billionaires’ wealth hits record $10 trillion

Billionaires have continued to thrive despite the current Covid-19 disruption, amassing a new high of $10.2 trillion, surpassing the previous peak of $8.9 trillion which was reached at the end of 2017

7 Oct 2020

Careers

Image for government risks ps26bn losses bounce back loan scheme

Business | Government risks £26bn losses from bounce back loan scheme

Business defaults and fraud could result in potential losses of £15bn to £26bn from the government’s Covid-19 bounce bank loan scheme, the National Audit Office (NAO) is warning

7 Oct 2020

Image for virtual agms threat shareholder input

Business | ‘Virtual’ AGMs threat to shareholder input

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) says Covid-19 disruption has seen companies embrace virtual AGMs, but warns some risk disenfranching shareholders in the process

7 Oct 2020

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Business | How to avoid post-crisis legal fights

With disruption comes litigation, including contractual, financial and fraud-related action. Elaina Bailes of law firm Stewarts pinpoints likely areas of contention and how businesses can avoid costly legal disputes

7 Oct 2020

Business | European Central Bank mulls introducing digital euro

The European Central Bank (ECB) has indicated it is considering the possible issuance of a digital euro, an electronic form of central bank money accessible to all citizens and businesses

6 Oct 2020

AI & Technology

Image for grant thornton settle assetco ps28m

Business | Grant Thornton to settle with AssetCo for £28m

Grant Thornton has signalled it does not intend to mount a further legal challenge against a record claim for damages brought by former client AssetCo, and will settle the claim, paying some £28m to the AIM-listed outsourcer

6 Oct 2020

Law & Guidance

Image for questions remain over interruption insurance ruling

Business | Questions remain over interruption insurance ruling

Despite the apparent clarity of the FCA’s Covid-19 business interruption insurance test case, there is still much that businesses need to do before pursuing a claim, says Menzies’ Paul Smethurst

6 Oct 2020

Business | Q&A: Research and Development claim

In our regular Q&A series from Croner Taxwise, tax adviser, Laura Burrows CTA explains if an R&D claim can still be made if the revenue expenditure is not shown in the profit and loss account for the period the project ran

6 Oct 2020

Image for covid 19 guidance furlough job retention bonus

Business | Covid-19: guidance on furlough job retention bonus

HMRC has published guidance on how businesses can claim the government’s £1,000 job retention bonus, available to employers who keep furloughed workers on the payroll for the next three months

6 Oct 2020

Leadership & Management

Image for covid 19 nearly 16000 cases added after it error

Business | Covid-19: nearly 16,000 cases added after IT error

A technical issue, now resolved, resulted in 15,841 cases over the last week and a half being added to the daily total which has surged to 22,961

5 Oct 2020

Business | Covid hits Brexit business planning

With just three months to go until the end of the Brexit transition period, financial services firms have moved over £1 trillion of assets and continue to switch jobs out of the UK, despite the pandemic restrictions, research from EY shows

5 Oct 2020

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Tax | Self assessment ‘time to pay’ threshold raised to £30,000

HMRC has made it easier for self assessment taxpayers to pay the tax they owe incrementally on a monthly basis, by extending the threshold for ‘time to pay’ applications, as part of efforts to ease financial stresses cause by the pandemic

5 Oct 2020

Business | Pandemic changes retirement plans

Coronavirus has altered the retirement plans of one in eight older workers, with one in three reporting a worse financial situation, according to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)

5 Oct 2020