City watchdog to probe pension freedom rip-offs

Living as an expat in Spain, or indeed in any other country, brings particular and sometimes very complex wealth management requirements because managing personal finances across multiple jurisdictions is inherently complex and invariably requires specialist advice.

This goes some way to explain why thousands of British expats have recently been caught and penalised for either failing to pay taxes or unlawfully claiming British pension and other social security benefits while living and, in some cases, working abroad.

Cross-border taxation for expats is a notoriously confusing area of wealth management and can seem especially onerous with new data sharing and enforcement rules in place. Unfortunately, not all asset managers are as familiar with tax reporting requirements as they should be. This may seem inconceivable, but wealth management professionals in Spain, across Europe and indeed the globe have an obligation to clients to ensure that they understand and follow all the rules.

It may have been close run thing but the UK has voted to end its membership of the European Union and now is an appropriate time for all concerned to consider the implications.

Fortunately, and despite the atmosphere of doom and gloom that has seemingly engulfed the country since the result, there is no need for any particular panic or even urgency. The exit process is expected to be long and drawn out, and although most experts predict it as inevitable there is still some realistic prospect of a renegotiation, particularly in light of David Cameron’s resignation.