News & Insights

The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) limitations in relation to scams and mis-sold products have been brought into the spotlight in recent months, with a number of high-profile scandals.

For example, last year nearly 12,000 London Capital & Finance (LCF) investors lost approximately £237m (€277.8m) as a result of investing in mis-sold speculative mini-bonds.* This is because they weren't aware of how to spot a scam.

A clearly frustrated LCF bondholder told press that it should be an imperative for HM Treasury and the government to take steps to clarify and strengthen the law in relation to liability. The LCF bondholder also called on government ministers to ensure better regulation of online ads, to make avoiding scams easier for victims.

The health and safety of our clients and all associated with our company is of paramount importance and as such we would like to share some information about the steps we have taken to ensure the welfare of all those concerned. Our response takes account of WHO and local Governmental guidance in addition to our existing business continuity and scenario planning.  

The financial services industry is responding to the coronavirus crisis as firms try to come to grips with extreme market volatility, speculation of recession, and general health and welfare concerns.

Last year produced a great deal of polarity and fragmentation in Spanish politics; with elections in April and November unable to resolve the uncertainty, and both polls ending with inconclusive results and no majority in government.

However, January 2020 has delivered significant but not necessarily welcome news for expats in Spain; parliament has agreed the formation of a coalition government. The alliance of two-left-wing parties is a landmark event that signals positivity for the country, but HNWI expats may not necessarily be jumping for joy.

Keith Littlewood is Blacktower Financial Management's Regional Manager covering Murcia and Costa Cálida. As an international financial adviser of around thirty years' experience and an expat of more than five years in Spain, Keith is ideally-placed to help expats negotiate the process of becoming an expat and can help them understand just what it means to be a fiscal resident in the country.

This week, in our latest Around the Branches piece, we take a look at Gibraltar's plans for Brexit and how Spanish parliamentary developments are affecting ongoing negotiations.

Increasing numbers of British expats in Spain are looking for advice and direction in relation to their Post-Brexit futures, the Guardian reports*, with many expressing their disappointment at the level of communication offered by British and Spanish officials.

This impression is supported by the findings of Karen O'Reilly, a sociology professor at Loughborough University, who recently published the results of an 18-month long research project which documents the considerable levels of "uncertainty and worry" among expats.**

Labour MP for Islington South and Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry has published an article for Politics Home in which she calls for greater pensions freedoms for public sector workers.*

Written as part of her failed leadership campaign, the article named five major policy areas she felt the party needs to address in the future: climate crisis, the NHS, Social Care, affordable housing, and pensions.

In fact, the article was largely concerned with the issue of public sector pensions as Ms Thornberry warned that the country faced a "ticking time-bomb" in respect of the sums which will become payable in future decades. She quoted a 2017 estimate which suggested that public sector pension liabilities had a £1.7 trillion shortfall. She said that the public currently spends around £40 billion a year meeting this gap.