Wealth and Asset Management

Financial advisers’ embrace of digitalisation tested by pandemic

Standard Life Aberdeen puts bonuses on the back burner

Private equity swoop on AFH in £225m takeover bid

Scottish IFA makes first foray into acquisition market

Launch of IFFO to support the global Family Office ecosystem

Covid-19 One Year On: Exposing Inefficiencies Towards a New Paradigm in Wealth Management

Executive Moves

Ex-Falcon-CEO Joins Private Bank

Octopus Ventures announces the addition of a new team from TenX Health

Mediolanum IF hires Octopus PM to lead multi-manager function

Credit Suisse expands ESG specialist team with new hires

Sandaire founder Alex Scott joins board of new global family office network

Apex Group appoints four to Corporate Solutions business

Legal, Regulation & Compliance

Cyprus UBO disclosure regime for entities and other legal arrangements

Deutsche Bank starts probe in relation to engagement with some clients

UK firms told 'set up in EU to avoid trade disruption'

EU regulators given new Priips deadline

UK moves to regulate 'stable tokens' with EU cryptoasset reform looming

European Commission issues looming deadline to EU regulators for shake-up of PRIIPs rules

FinTech

Fenergo on acquisition trail as revenue and headcount rises

Fund managers speak out after crypto funds crackdown

Santander invests in startup connecting SMEs and consultants

CaixaBank's imagin reaches three million users

Open Banking Fintech Plaid Is Reportedly Planning to More than Double its Europe based Professional Team

Open banking is helping to evolve the user experience

Alternative Investments

DFMs brace for ‘the most inflationary environment in years’

Tesco launches first sustainability-linked bond of €750m

Revolut, Chubb Partner On Purchase Protection

BNP Paribas appointed as depositary bank for Commerz Real’s sustainable fund

Hedge fund asset volumes are setting new records, as uncorrelated gains draw more investor money

SMB Loans Pose Potential Big Risk For European Banks

Investment Banking

What investors are watching for as UBS prepares to kick off Europe’s bank earnings

Handelsbanken: Hope returns

BNP has won Europe’s investment banking crown, but can it keep it?

JPM says investors too gloomy on company earnings

Rethinking equities at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe

M&G instigates fee cuts across 75% of UK OEIC AUM

Comment, Analysis & Research

Europe’s bank bosses under pressure

Mega-rich recoup COVID-losses in record-time yet billions will live in poverty for at least a decade

Federated Hermes credit head: ‘this could be the year of the rising stars’

Small-scale RE logistics have 150bp excess return over large scale: EdR

2020/2021 Options Group Global Buyside Report

Isabel Rodríguez, partner King & Wood Mallesons (Spain): ‘Sector expertise will become more crucial than ever’

Tax

MEPs vote to add Channel and British Virgin Islands to tax haven blacklist

Relocating to Italy: the Italian Tax Authority unveils new rules for employees

Future looks bright as Global VC funding soars to $300.5 billion in the second biggest year for VC funding in a decade

New UK register will expose British expats, overseas nationals to major inheritance tax hit

Weekly Tax Brief - 19 January 2021

Inheritance Tax UK: Britons urged to take ‘fundamental’ actions to eliminate a tax bill

Retail Banking

Rivals look over Ulster Bank mortgages

Lenders expect more households ‘to default on mortgages in next few months’

Up to 50% of Danish retail deposits hit by negative rates, with more to come

Orange Bank acquires French neobank Anytime

BNP Paribas to become sole sharheolder in bpost bank JV

As big banks see profit margins squeezed could we really be paying for current accounts in 2021?

Pensions

Irresistible? Pension funds plot move on China's $16trln bond market

Pension savers could save over £140,000 by consolidating pension pots

Quarter of women waive pension rights in divorce

Ideas for reducing pension costs in the UK

Good things do not always come in small packages, particularly pensions

UK publishes data standards for pensions dashboard

Brexit

Brexit: Government considers scrapping some EU labour laws

City of London High-Flyers Get Ready to Migrate

UK Import Taxes on Art – post-Brexit

London Fund Managers See Post-EU Threat to $2 Trillion Business

How can UK alternative fund managers access European investors post-Brexit?

National lockdown is ‘biggest risk’ facing banks – not Brexit

Planet SOS

Dealing with the effects of climate change through climate adaptation

Climate change, regulation, diversity and Covid top 2021 ‘to-do’ lists

Climate change: The investment risks and opportunities

From new-look clients to ESG – six themes transforming the future of advice

Climate change: what's the emergency? by St. James’s Place

Why renewable energy could gain from the green hydrogen trend

Covid-19

UK targets dormant wealth and pensions to aid virus recovery

Banks brace themselves for impact of Covid pandemic

Britain Hit By Virus Travel Bans As US Reaches Stimulus Deal

Deutsche Bank raises prospect of moving half its New York staff

Good governance and the pandemic - Andrew Naudi

UK adviser dies after becoming ‘hidden victim’ of covid