Premier FX collapse – What to do next for customers

As the “will they, won’t they” saga of Brexit rumbles on it is useful to look at some of the things expats can actually do to reaffirm their ties with the UK in the event that they plan to move back to Blighty at some point in the future.

The issue has taken on a new urgency for expats, particularly in regards to property, in light of the new surcharge that the government plans to introduce alongside stamp duty on second home and buy-to-let purchases in England.

Although Prime Minister Theresa May says that the surcharge is for “foreign buyers” and is being introduced with a view to assisting UK taxpayers buy a property – especially first-time buyers – it may have some unintended consequences.

This is because it is not just foreign buyers who are likely to find their pockets hit by the tax. Returning expats – who could well be a prominent demographic over the next few years – may also find themselves liable for the surcharge, potentially setting them back significantly on their way to reaching their wealth management objectives.

There is no doubt that ecommerce is one of the most exciting investment sectors that exists today. Every aspect of our lives is affected by ecommerce. It is fast, high profile, and the numbers are breathtaking:

• Amazon processed nearly $89 billion in sales from 240 million customers;
• Visa and MasterCard have over 1,600 million credit cards in circulation;
• Apple and Google are now worth more than many entire countries.

Amazing as those number are, they pale into insignificance when you consider that the total ecommerce market was estimated to be $1.6 trillion in 2015. However, 20 years ago it didn’t exist, but it is forecast to grow to $3.5 trillion per annum by 2019.