News

A British family are selling a Vincent van Gogh drawing once stolen by the Nazis for a potentially record-breaking price to avoid the prospect of a rise in capital gains tax.

Online retailers who’ve enjoyed a “boomtime” through the COVID-19 pandemic should be forced to pay more taxes to help out those who have suffered, according to Glasgow-based MCC Accountants. The firm said companies like Amazon had enjoyed too lenient a tax regime even before the co

Scottish challenger Alba Bank backed by industrialist Jim Mccoll has launched a £5 million series A funding round. The early-stage investment will facilitate aspiring challenger Bank Alba' transition to second-stage operational status under a restricted license.

HMRC has annoucned that over half a million businesses who deferred VAT payments last year can now join the new online VAT Deferral New Payment Scheme to pay it in smaller monthly instalments.

Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) has announced it is selling its Standard Life brand to Phoenix Group this year as part of a complex deal. The deal will see Standard Life Aberdeen pay Phoenix Group £115 million.

Bank of Scotland owner Lloyds Banking Group has resumed dividend payments despite reporting a 72% drop in profits. For the year ended 31 December 2020, the bank's profits dropped to £1.2 billion, down from £4.39bn last year. Lloyds Banking Group has also allocated £4.bn to cover fu

NatWest Group has issued a €1 billion affordable housing social bond, the first of its kind by a UK bank. The issuance reinforces NatWest Group’s July 2020 commitment to provide £3bn of funding to the UK’s affordable housing sector by the end of 2022.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has obtained High Court Approval to return £3.42 million to compensate victims of a series of unauthorised deposit taking and collective investment schemes. The schemes were run by Samuel and Shantelle Golding and their companies Digital Wealth Limited, al

The number of women on FTSE boards has increased by 50% in the last five years, according to the newly released Hampton-Alexander Review.

HSBC is set to cut its office space by nearly half over the next few years in anticipation of the long-term workplace changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The bank, which is Europe's biggest, will abandon 40% of its offices in London and other cities around the world but keep its headquarters in

Ahead of the Scottish Government's vote to agree rates and bands of Scottish Income Tax for the 2021/22 tax year, the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has outlined what the changes are likely to mean for Scottish taxpayers. The debate is due to take place following the Stage 1 debate on the Bu

PwC UK has predicted that global insurance run-off liabilities will reach $864 billion in 2021. According to the firm's latest Global Insurance Run-off Survey, the growth in legacy activity predicted in the last edition of this report has materialised, boosted by significant investment in both new a

Harper Macleod recorded a small increase in profits in its last financial year, despite the onset of the pandemic in the final weeks of trading. In its latest accounts filed at Companies House, the firm said it had met all of its strategic aims for the year to March 2020.

Scotland must follow suit and match Chancellor Rishi Sunak in extending the stamp duty holiday beyond March according to property firm Apropos. The UK-wide lettings firm believes that the Scottish Government must match the reported extension of the stamp duty holiday if there is to be a level p

Forres-based space launch firm Orbex has commissioned AMCM to build the largest industrial 3D printer in Europe, allowing the innovative UK-based space launch company to rapidly print complex rocket engines in-house. The custom-made, large volume 3D printer will allow Orbex to print more than 35 lar