London and New York to remain top for 10 years

Private Banker International: Global wealth continues to shift to Asia, but London and New York are likely to remain the most important cities for HNWIs for another 10 years, according to a report by Citi Private Bank and estate agents Knight Frank.

Full story: http://www.vrl-financial-news.com/wealth-management/private-banker-intl/issues/pbi-2012/pbi-282/london-and-new-york-to-remain.aspx

Pay-day at the Family Office

CampdenFO: If family offices are considered part of the financial services industry, then how much they are paying their senior managers is arguably the least transparent of the entire sector. That of course suits family offices, which for the most part guard their confidentiality more than most other areas of the financial services sector. But things are opening up.

Full story: http://campdenfb.com/article/family-reward

Law firm partners on £1m to save £42k through Osborne's tax cuts

LegalWeek: City partners earning £1m will save around £42,000 a year as a result of the reduction in the top tax rate announced in Chancellor George Osborne's Budget last week. Osborne's move to cut the top 50p tax rate to 45p from April 2013 means partners under 65 earning £1m each year will see their tax liabilities (including national insurance) for 2013-14 drop to £458,406, compared with £500,553 in 2012-13.

Full story: http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/2163388/law-firm-partners-gbp1m-save-gbp42k-osbornes-tax-cuts

Shackleton faces negligence claim from former client

The Lawyer: Payne Hicks Beach is being sued by a client who claims a mistake by Britain’s highest-profile divorce lawyer Fiona Shackleton cost him £250,000.

Full story: http://www.thelawyer.com/shackleton-faces-negligence-claim-from-former-client/1011944.article

Coutts fined for failings in money laundering controls

BBC News: Private bank Coutts has been fined £8.75m by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for not taking adequate measures to prevent money laundering.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17512140

Budget ushers in key changes for private client and property lawyers

Legal Week: Private client lawyers are set to see a significant increase in work over the coming months as measures affecting high net worth individuals take centre stage in this year's Budget.

Full story: http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/2162533/budget-ushers-key-changes-tax-private-client-property-lawyers

Fears subside over non-resident property CGT

Accountancy Age: Fears that non-resident individuals owning UK property will be caught by the government's Budget proposal to extend the CGT regime, have proved unfounded.

Full story: http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/2162894/fears-subside-resident-property-cgt

Coutts sells emerging markets business to RBC

Private Banker International: Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) wealth management arm is to buy the Latin American, Caribbean and African private banking business of Coutts, Royal Bank of Scotland’s private banking division. Coutts' business has client assets of more than $2bn and RBC will also be acquiring about 20 key private banking staff, with all based in Geneva apart from a team in the Cayman Islands.

Full story: http://www.vrl-financial-news.com/wealth-management/private-banker-intl/issues/pbi-2012/pbi-282/coutts-sells-emerging-markets.aspx

Barclays Wealth rebrands

Private Banker International: Barclays has rebranded its private banking, investment and corporate businesses, which will from now on all operate under the title ‘Barclays’. Barclays Wealth, Barclays Capital (BarCap) and Barclays Corporate have all dropped their distinctive second words to present a unified branding identity.

Full story: http://www.vrl-financial-news.com/wealth-management/private-banker-intl/issues/pbi-2012/pbi-282/barclays-wel.aspx

The Budget 2012

The Lawyer: As Chancellor George Osborne delivers his third Budget, lawyers give their response to his changes.

Full story: http://www.thelawyer.com/the-budget-2012/1011892.article

Can technology help family offices?

CampdenFO: The telecoms crisis of 2001, a far larger crash than the dotcom bust, didn’t just bring influential companies such as Global Crossing and 360networks to their knees. The crash also saw a number of family offices lose far more money than they had ever anticipated.

Full story: http://www.campdenfo.com/article/can-technology-help-family-offices

Thomas Eggar ranked in Top 25 Most Admired

Bdaily: Leading national law firm, Thomas Eggar LLP, has been voted one of the Top 25 Most Admired Companies 2012. Voted for by clients and industry peers, Thomas Eggar received the ranking from Private Client Practitioner, a leading magazine and online information portal for bankers, financial planners and investment manager. The Top 25 Most Admired Companies is the ultimate accolade within the publication’s Top 25 series

Full story: http://bdaily.co.uk/news/law/19-03-2012/1332167690-thomas-eggar-ranked-in-top-25-most-admired/

Non doms flee UK tax attack

CityAM: The number of individuals registered as non-domiciled with HM revenue and customs (HMRC) has fallen dramatically in the two years since a new levy was imposed on them, figures revealed yesterday. Labour chancellor Alistair Darling imposed in 2008 a £30,000 annual charge on “non-doms” who have worked in the UK for more than a few years.

Full story: http://www.cityam.com/latest-news/non-doms-flee-uk-tax-attack

Chancellor George Osborne to reveal taxpayers' spending statement

BBC News: Chancellor George Osborne is to set out plans in the Budget to give 20 million people a detailed breakdown of how their taxes are spent.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17441237

Three-partner Charles Russell Cambridge base joins Penningtons for double launch

LegalWeek: Charles Russell has sold its three-partner Cambridge office to Penningtons, which is also launching a new base in Guildford this week. The Cambridge office will join Penningtons as of today (19 March), with all three of Charles Russell's local partners moving to the firm - employment partners Tim Tyndall and Hilary Aldred and corporate partner James Stephen.

Full story: http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/2161697/-partner-charles-russell-cambridge-base-transfers-penningtons-double-launch

Calls for end to 50p tax as Osborne mulls faster allowance hike

CityAM: The tax-free allowance could be raised faster than previously planned in Wednesday’s budget, City A.M. understands, as part of a major deal to reduce taxes on workers at both ends of the income distribution. Chancellor George Osborne yesterday promised that “the bulk” of new measures announced will benefit people on low and middle incomes, as economists warned this is his last chance to boost economic growth before the next election.

Full story: http://www.cityam.com/latest-news/calls-end-50p-tax-osborne-mulls-faster-allowance-hike

Private Client law firm boosts CIS capabilities

WealthBriefing: Berkeley Law, a London-based law firm specialising in wealth advice for high net worth individuals, has bolstered its CIS capabilities with the hire of Elshad Huseynov and Lydia Lavrova as senior counsel and trainee lawyer respectively.

Huseynov was latterly with Deloitte, managing a portfolio of individual clients and multinational FTSE 350 companies, and has extensive experience in acting for Russian and CIS individuals and corporates, Berkely Law said in a statement.

The hires are intended to help Berkeley Law capitalise on the growing number of HNW individuals from countries such as Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan who want to move their assets or themselves to the UK, partner Nick Rucker said. He cited the fact that London’s status as a “safe haven” has risen even further recently due to the turbulent global economic backdrop. Prime London real estate is of course notoriously seen by foreigners as a safe place to park their cash as well as a base from which to experience the lifestyle offered in the capital.

Mayfair-headquartered Berkeley Law, which was founded in May 2010, has been busily expanding and now has a headcount of close to thirty. Towards the end of last year the firm hired industry veterans Carly Russell and Jacqui McCoy; Russell joined from PwC Legal, where she was the founder and senior member of the private client team, while McCoy came across from Pemberton Greenish, having worked on residential real estate transactions for over 20 years.

RBS wealth head and Coutts' deputy chairman retire

Citywire: Coutts’ deputy chairman Gordon Pell has retired from the business, alongside the head of RBS Wealth’s investment business, Byron Coombs.

Full story: http://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/rbs-wealth-head-and-coutts-deputy-chairman-retire/a574629?ref=wealth-manager-latest-news-list

Budget 2012: Ministers 'considering 50p rate income tax cut'

BBC News: George Osborne is considering cutting the 50p top rate of income tax in next week's Budget, the BBC understands.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17396170

Savills ready for capital’s prosperous families to up sticks and buy a bigger place in the country

London Evening Standard: Families in London’s prosperous boroughs have been postponing moves to bigger pads in the Home Counties while house prices in the capital surge — but the trend could be coming to an end, estate agent Savills said today.

Full story: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/business/business-news/savills-ready-for-capitals-prosperous-families-to-up-sticks-and-buy-a-bigger-place-in-the-country-7573467.html

Scrapping pension tax relief will stem investment

Private Client Adviser: Abolishing the higher rate of pension tax relief in next week’s budget will limit future investment, believes a private client expert. Stephen Lewin, partner at Bircham Dyson Bell, says that it would be a mistake for Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to scrap the relief in next week’s budget.

Full story: http://www.privateclientadviser.co.uk/news/financial-planning/scrapping-pension-tax-relief-will-stem-investment

Private equity proves popular with family offices

CampdenFO: Family offices are sitting on large cash reserves and now want to use it to increase their investments in private equity, attracted by good returns and high transparency. That’s according to Jim Miller, managing director of Somerset Capital, a London-based family office adviser.

Full story: http://www.campdenfo.com/article/private-equity-proves-popular-family-offices-research

Britons will overpay £12.6bn in tax this year

Accountancy Live: UK taxpayers will overpay an average £421 in tax in 2012, with 85% failing to reduce their tax bill, according to new figures.

Full story: http://www.accountancylive.com/croner/jsp/Editorial.do?contentId=2103730&BV_SessionID=@@@@0356593057.1331634378@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccfadfgeimgmedcflgceggdfnfdgfg.0&channelId=-601049

Accountants hit out at Clegg’s tycoon tax

City A.M.: Independent accountants have shot down deputy prime minister Nick Clegg’s call for a “tycoon tax”. Addressing his party faithful at their spring conference in Gateshead, Clegg attacked “multimillionaires avoiding tax by moving their money around” and claimed that many pay less than 30 per cent or even 20 per cent tax.

Full story: http://www.cityam.com/latest-news/accountants-hit-out-clegg-s-tycoon-tax

Clegg forced to water down 'tycoon tax'

City Wire: Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has been forced to back down on proposals for a ‘tycoon tax’ just two days after he unveiled the policy.

Full story: http://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/clegg-forced-to-water-down-tycoon-tax/a573501?ref=wealth-manager-latest-news-list

HNWI wealth falls in UK after financial crisis

Private Banker International: The number of HNWIs in the UK dropped by 12% to about 675,000 after the financial crisis, due largely to the fall in the value of the stock markets in 2008 and a decline in local property indices.

Full story: http://www.vrl-financial-news.com/wealth-management/private-banker-intl/issues/pbi-2012/hnwi-wealth-falls-in-uk-after.aspx

Wealthy could remain unaware of generous tax treaty, says expert

CampdenFO: Many wealthy families in the UK will remain unaware of the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility, due to a lack of information and understanding among their accountants about its benefits.

Full story: http://www.campdenfo.com/article/wealthy-could-remain-unaware-generous-tax-treaty-says-expert

New property 'investment club' launched for family offices

CampdenFO: A former partner of Capricorn Investment Group, the family office established by eBay founder Jeff Skoll, has launched a new club aimed at helping family offices invest together directly in commercial real estate. Basil Demeroutis, managing partner of the Family Office Real Estate Partnership, said the direct co-investing platform would give family offices more control over their property investments than conventional routes.

Full story: http://www.campdenfo.com/article/new-property-investment-club-launched-family-offices

Grant Thornton's top 10 Budget predictions

MoneyMarketing: Grant Thornton UK head of tax Francesca Lagerberg gives her top 10 predictions for what Chancellor George Osborne will say on March 21.

Full story: http://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/politics/grant-thorntons-top-10-budget-predictions/1047512.article

Rothschild names private client business co-heads

Private Banker International: Rothschild Wealth Management has named Jon von Planta and Riccardo Petrachi co-heads of its private client business in Zurich, as the bank continues to focus on high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in UK, Germany and Switzerland.

Full story: http://www.vrl-financial-news.com/wealth-management/private-banker-intl/issues/pbi-2012/pbi-281/rothschild-names-private-clien.aspx

Vince Cable confirms 'negotiations' over axeing 50p tax rate

BBC News: Business Secretary Vince Cable says replacing the 50p tax rate with some form of wealth tax is among a "complex set of negotiations" within the coalition ahead of the Budget.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17260348

2012 Budget: Will it be third time lucky for George?

Fresh Business Thinking: With just over two weeks to go before the Chancellor delivers his third, and possibly most challenging yet Budget, experts at Kingston Smith LLP offer their predictions for the Treasury’s measures to stimulate growth, fund these policies via increases in personal tax, and clampdown on avoidance.

Full story: http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/news.php?NID=13315&Title=2012+Budget%3A+Will+it+be+third+time+lucky+for+George%3F

Lewis Silkin highest ranking firm in Sunday Times' best employer list

The Lawyer: Six law firms have made it into The Sunday Times’ 100 Best Companies to Work For list. Lewis Silkin was the only firm to make it into the top 20, being placed at number 19.

Full story: http://www.thelawyer.com/lewis-silkin-highest-ranking-firm-in-sunday-times-best-employer-list/1011683.article

Boris Johnson calls for stamp duty loophole to be plugged

The Telegraph: Boris Johnson has condemned as an “utter scandal” a loophole which enables the very rich to avoid paying stamp duty when they buy property.

Full story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9122332/Boris-Johnson-calls-for-stamp-duty-loophole-to-be-plugged.html

Leading private client lawyer has joined Newcastle law firm Ward Hadaway

Nebusiness: Gaynor Jackson has joined the firm, which has offices in Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester, as a partner from London-based Speechly Bircham LLP.

She has widespread experience of dealing with a range of issues involving wills, trusts, personal tax planning, inheritance and estates issues.

Full story: http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business-news/archive/2012/02/29/law-firms-unveil-appointments-51140-30426022/

London luxury-home price gains slow as more owners put properties on sale

Bloomberg: Luxury-home prices in central London climbed at the slowest rate in five months in February as more owners put properties on the market to profit from 16 months of gains, Knight Frank LLP said. Values of houses and apartments costing about 3.7 million pounds ($5.9 million) rose by an average of 11.6 percent from a year earlier, the London-based broker said in a report today. Prices advanced 0.7 percent from January and are now 8.9 percent higher than the market’s last low point in March 2009.

Full story: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-05/london-luxury-home-price-gains-slow-as-more-property-is-for-sale.html