Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 21 Maret 2015 | 11.46
The FTSE 100 Index has risen to more than 7,000 points for the first time in its history.
World markets were cheered by a small recovery in the price of oil as well as signs of a breakthrough in the Greek debt crisis.
London's top-flight index was also buoyed this week by the prospect of UK and US interest rates remaining lower for longer.
It closed at 7,022.5 as the price of a barrel of Brent crude edged above $55 - still less than half its value last summer.
The FTSE had been on the brink of the landmark after a Budget-inspired rally earlier in the week.
Video:FTSE 100 Hits An All-Time High
It has never before breached the 7,000 mark, which makes the combined value of London's top companies nearly £1.8tr.
In February it passed a record high of 6,950, set at the time of the dotcom boom in 1999.
Peter Cameron, assistant fund manager at Ecclesiastical Investment Management, said: "After 15 long and bumpy years, the FTSE 100 has finally clawed its way back to the levels of the late 1990s and unlike then, when the market was gripped by an irrational technology bubble, this new high should not cause alarm amongst investors.
"A backdrop of inflation tailwinds from declining food and fuel prices, falling unemployment and signs of wage growth finally returning, create a benign outlook for the UK economy in 2015."
The rise boosted Royal Dutch Shell and BP - which feature in many UK pension funds - by about 1%, with exploration firm Tullow Oil climbing nearly 3% and rival BG Group up 2%.
Video:FTSE Plunges
Irish cement firm CRH advanced 6% after Holcim and Lafarge salvaged a planned multi-billion-pound merger to create the world's biggest cement firm.
CRH has agreed to buy €6.5bn worth of assets, which would give anti-trust clearance for the Holcim-Lafarge deal.
The new assets would transform CRH into the world's third biggest building materials supplier.
UK bank TSB also rose 2.2% after agreeing to a £1.7bn takeover by Spanish lender Banco Sabadell in one of the biggest cross-border banking deals since the financial crisis.
Lloyds, which was ordered to sell TSB as a condition of its £20bn bailout during the banking meltdown of 2008, agreed to sell a 9.99% stake to Sabadell. It also says it will sell its remaining 40.01%.
The heads of the City watchdog will be severely criticised next week by a panel of MPs over its handling of a briefing which wiped billions of pounds from the value of British insurance companies.
Sky News has learnt that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will be accused of a "dereliction of duty" in a report to be published by the Treasury Select Committee.
John Griffith-Jones, the FCA chairman, and Martin Wheatley, its chief executive, are expected to be singled out for criticism by the MPs, a source said on Friday.
The regulator's handling of news of a planned inquiry into the sale of millions of closed-life insurance policies last March sparked chaos in the London stock market, with shares in companies such as Aviva, Friends Life and Legal & General falling sharply.
The story in The Daily Telegraph, which sparked fears of a draconian regulatory clampdown, was subsequently clarified by the FCA but not until more than six hours of trading had elapsed.
George Osborne, the Chancellor, and Andrew Tyrie, the TSC chairman, expressed disquiet over the incident, while the FCA's non-executive directors immediately ordered an inquiry to be led by Simon Davis, a partner at the law firm Clifford Chance.
Mr Davis' report, published in December, criticised the FCA's approach to information disclosure and made a string of recommendations that the watchdog subsequently agreed to implement.
It said that the regulator's briefing had been "high risk, poorly supervised and inadequately controlled. When it went wrong, the FCA's reaction was seriously inadequate and fell short of the standards expected of those it regulates."
The source said the TSC report would echo many of Mr Davis's criticisms and recommendations, including a prohibition on the disclosure of potentially market-sensitive information until its general dissemination.
Next week's report will not directly call for the resignation of either Mr Griffith-Jones or Mr Wheatley, they added.
However, they said there had been some disagreement between TSC members, with some calling for a tougher rebuke of the FCA's leadership.
Since Mr Davis's report, a number of senior FCA executives have left the organisation, including Clive Adamson, the former head of supervision, and Zitah McMillan, the former communications and international director who has since resurfaced in a senior role at a major payday lender.
The FCA said in December that their departures were the result of a restructuring rather than Mr Davis's report.
Mr Adamson, Mr Wheatley and Ms McMillan were all criticised in Mr Davis's report, alongside David Lawton, the FCA director of markets.
All four forfeited their bonuses for last year as a result, while any discretionary payouts for the current year are also under threat because of the £3.8m cost of the inquiry.
Mr Tyrie said in December that the report's findings illustrated a regulator "pursuing the wrong strategy in the wrong way".
"The Committee will, among many other things, examine whether these errors were a one-off or whether they reveal something amiss, perhaps seriously amiss, with the standards and culture of the FCA. We will also examine remedies, both those proposed or already announced, and others."
A TSC spokesman and the FCA both declined to comment.
Written By Unknown on Jumat, 20 Maret 2015 | 11.46
George Osborne dismissed fears over spending cuts to public services raised by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Speaking on Sky News, Mr Osborne said the cuts were necessary but did not pinpoint exactly where the axe would fall.
He said: "People know that we have been careful with public money, we want to go on doing that at the same pace we have been doing that over the next couple of years."
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) report released on the day of the Budget says the Conservatives' cuts leave "a rollercoaster profile of implied public services spending through the next parliament".
The OBR report projects a "much sharper squeeze" on spending in 2016-17 and 2017-18, which would be followed by a sharp increase in 2019-20.
Discussing his plans for a further £12bn welfare savings cuts, Mr Osborne said: "I'm not suggesting that these things are easy, but they are necessary if we are going to go on living within our means.
Video:Balls: Rollercoaster Budget Cuts
"We've saved £21bn in this parliament and we need £12bn in the next ... People can judge me by my track record.
"I'm a Chancellor who's made these sensible, balanced decisions and we can see the benefits in this massive moment for the UK, when debt as a share of national income is falling."
Shadow chancellor Ed Balls criticised Mr Osborne's cuts as "extreme" and told Sky News: "I think it is risky and dangerous. That is not what Labour will do. We will have a balanced plan to get the deficit down in the next parliament, to cut the Budget deficit, to get the national debt falling."
However, he admitted: "We will have to make sensible spending cuts and we will have some tax rises on the highest incomes, from the people at the top and also we will have a focus on raising people's wages.
Video:Budget 2015: Video Highlights
"We are going to scrap the police and crime commissioners and save £250m in police budgets, £500m savings in local government, £230m in education and defence procurement ..."
The Lib Dem today unveiled their own Budget to distance themselves from their coalition partner's Budget.
George Osborne's no-gimmicks, no-frills Budget has set the dividing lines between the parties ahead of May's election.
He claimed Britain was "walking tall again" after five years of austerity.
Video:The Budget In 77 Seconds
Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna said: "I'm not sure that I would want my public services to be on a roller coaster, I would want to have decent provision for my constituents and all across the country."
Mathew Hancock, the Conservative Business Enterprise and Energy Minister, responded to the criticism.
He said: "We have a plan to deliver and anyone who wants to spend more money or go more slowly will see the debt rising as a proportion of GDP, and that is exactly the sort of mistake that got us into this mess in the first place."
Mr Osborne's Budget did have some sweeteners for first time buyers and savers, including the first £1,000 of savings being tax free for a basic rate tax payer.
Video:Analysis: Your Budget Need-To-Know
He also announced a help-to-buy ISA under which first-time buyers saving for a deposit will receive a 25p top-up from the Government for every pound they put aside up to a maximum of £3,000, on top of savings of £12,000.
Danny Alexander struggled to make himself heard in the House of Commons as he attempted to deliver the Liberal Democrats' "yellow budget".
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury was heckled by Labour MPs who accused him of using "ministerial privileges" for "purely party political purposes".
Amid heated exchanges, Mr Alexander was so badly heckled he was forced to accuse one Labour MP "ranting like a lunatic".
Labour MPs also jeered Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg as he left the Commons before Mr Alexander had finished speaking.
Mr Alexander said he was unveiling plans for the economy that would not return the country to the era of "Cathy Come Home" setting out the party's differences to the Conservatives.
He used an assessment from the Government's Office for Budget Responsibility to deliver Liberal Democrat fiscal policy, saying deficit reduction needed to happen more fairly than proposed by the Chancellor.
Video:'Bye, Bye' Clegg At 'Yellow Budget'
Following his House of Commons appearance, Mr Alexander posed outside the Treasury with a yellow box alternative to George Osborne's red box.
The briefcase, sporting the words Liberal Democrat Budget in gold letters, had been auctioned off - described as a "beautiful, historic, briefcase" - for £1,500 at the party conference last week.
Mr Alexander made his alternative Budget statement in the House of Commons ahead of a Government announcement to crack down on tax evaders.
The announcement of the measures had been left over from George Osborne's sixth Budget on Wednesday.
The plans will see banks and accountants who help people dodge tax facing fines equal to the amount owed.
Video:Tax Evasion Plans Unveiled
It means the Government would get the money back from both the person who evaded the tax, and the firm that helped them to do so.
Mr Alexander told Sky News the Government wanted to send the message that "dodging and evading tax is simply unacceptable".
He said: "In future if a bank or an accountancy firm help you evade tax they will be liable for a financial penalty the same as the tax that they encourage you to evade.
"This is all part of the Liberal Democrat-led clampdown on avoidance and evasion that has gone on for the whole of the parliament."
Labour MP Chris Leslie accused Mr Alexander of orchestrating a "phoney exercise" to put forward a Liberal Democrat agenda.
Video:Osborne Dismisses Cuts Fears
He said the Chief Secretary had used a legitimate Government Budget statement on tax evasion measures to present Liberal Democrat plans and said he was guilty of delivering his alternatives under "false pretences".
He said the Liberal Democrats had backed the Tories for five years and now Mr Alexander must pay the "ultimate price".
Tory MP Adam Afriyie said the "yellow budget" was the "Westminster bubble at its worst".
Speaking on his LBC radio show ahead of the Mr Alexander's appearance, the Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, said £6bn of the £27bn needed to balance the books should be found from an increase in tax - mainly for the richest in society.
He said: "Over the last five years, we have basically taken a mixture of tax increases and spending reductions, welfare reductions, action on tax avoidance, to start balancing the books. That's allowed us to halve the deficit as a proportion of our nation's wealth.
Video:Balls: Rollercoaster Budget Cuts
"The Conservatives announced last autumn that they are going to lurch away from that and only nobble the working-age poor and only the working-age poor will make additional sacrifices to balance the books.
"I don't think that's fair, I don't think it's right to ask for £1,500 off the eight million poorest families in this country, which is what the Conservatives want to do."
Mr Osborne, meanwhile, has defended plans for more cuts to spending on public services, saying it was "necessary if we are going to go on living within our means".
Written By Unknown on Kamis, 19 Maret 2015 | 11.46
There are two main takeaways from this Budget.
The first is that there has been a significant change, since the Autumn Statement in December, in George Osborne's public spending plans should he remain Chancellor for another five years.
In the Autumn Statement, Mr Osborne was assuming the Government would be running a surplus of £23.1bn in 2019-20.
He has now forecast that the Government would have a surplus of just £7bn in that year.
Austerity is going to come to an end, in the next parliament, a year earlier than expected.
Video:Budget: Consolidation Or Loss?
The reason, one must assume, is that the frequent claims by the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls that Mr Osborne intended to "return Britain back to the 1930s" have hit home.
Certainly the Government now plans to shrink the state to no smaller than it was in 2000 - when Tony Blair was in 10 Downing Street and Gordon Brown was Chancellor.
The other big takeaway is just how small this Budget has been in its scope.
The largest single Budget measure is the changes Mr Osborne has announced to the taxation of savings and the new flexibility introduced to ISAs.
These will total just over £1bn during the 2016-17 financial year.
Video:Budget 2015: Video Highlights
Overall, though, this Budget is fiscally neutral. The new tax year will see a net tax increase of just £745m, which is tiny in the overall scope of a £1.9trn economy.
Many of the measures were small scale.
It is hard to imagine some of Mr Osborne's illustrious predecessors, such as Stafford Cripps, Rab Butler, Roy Jenkins, Geoffrey Howe or Nigel Lawson, padding out a Budget speech with pettifogging measures about Wi-Fi in public libraries, Agincourt anniversary celebrations - has a joke in a Budget speech ever cost £1m before? - and church roof funds.
Commanding heights of the economy, it ain't.
The measures aimed at helping business, in so far as they go, will be welcomed.
Video:Analysis: Your Budget Need-To-Know
The most significant of these is the cut in taxation for North Sea oil producers and the increased investment allowances they will receive.
But they will only help those North Sea producers who actually pay tax and are unlikely to address the wider structural issues faced by such producers.
And, of course, they will not bring back the jobs of the many hundreds of North Sea oil workers who have already lost their jobs.
Of the other measures aimed at supporting business, the previously-announced cut in corporation tax to 20p will be welcomed, as will the abolition of Class 2 National Insurance contributions for the self-employed - many of whom are small business owners.
There was also a lob for farmers, many of whom may have been flirting with voting for UKIP, while boosts for transport infrastructure will also have pleased business.
Video:Miliband's Response To The Budget
However, the Chancellor is also bashing some parts of business, with the banks hit with an increase in the annual levy.
This is partly a reflection of the fact that the banking levy is raising less money for the Government because the banks are - at the behest of Government regulators - having to shrink their balance sheets.
And some moves are downright unwelcome.
Mr Osborne presented the decision to cut the lifetime allowance for pensions savings from £1.25m to £1m as a move that only hits rich savers - but that sum, when turned into an annuity, buys a pensioner and their spouse an annual income of barely £22,000 apiece.
People taking home that sum every year can scarcely be described as "rich". It was a measure all about hobbling Labour - which wants to raid pensions tax relief for better-off savers to fund a cut in tuition fees - rather than anything more considered.
Video:Yorkshire 'Beats France' In Growth
Such savers, along with the pensioners whom the Chancellor has spared having to buy an annuity, are now likely instead to pour a larger part of their retirement savings into areas such as buy-to-let property.
This places them in direct competition with the first-time-buyers Mr Osborne purports to want to help with his new Help to Buy ISA.
In essence, then, this was a Budget with no huge pre-election giveaways - there is just not the scope for that - but plenty of small ones, relatively thinly spread.
Targeting tax avoiders and high value properties are among the measures set to be announced by the Lib Dems later as they aim to distance themselves from their coalition partner's Budget.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, will use an unprecedented alternative fiscal statement in the Commons to say that deficit reduction needs to happen more fairly than proposed by the Chancellor.
Mr Alexander told Sky News: "Obviously we are trying to deal with the deficit in the short term but I think there needs to be a very different path once we have balanced the books. We should be allowing public expenditure to grow as the economy grows.
"We should be using tax measures to deal with the deficit, which also means there is a lot more money to invest in public services and infrastructure."
He went on: "A big part of our strategy is to say that it is completely wrong to balance the books solely on the backs of the working poor and on departmental spending cuts.
Video:Budget 2015: Video Highlights
"I've been clear I want to see measures like extra taxes on high value properties, measures on tax avoidance and measures that ensure the banks make an additional contribution."
George Osborne's no-gimmicks, no-frills Budget has set the dividing lines between the parties ahead of May's election.
He claimed Britain was "walking tall again" after five years of austerity.
Video:The Budget In 77 Seconds
But Labour politicians highlight a section of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) report which says the Conservatives' cuts leave "a rollercoaster profile of implied public services spending through the next parliament".
The OBR report projects a "much sharper squeeze" on spending in 2016-17 and 2017-18, which would be followed by a sharp increase in 2019-20.
Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna said: "I'm not sure that I would want my public services to be on a roller coaster, I would want to have decent provision for my constituents and all across the country."
Video:Analysis: Your Budget Need-To-Know
Mathew Hancock, the Conservative Business Enterprise and Energy Minister, responded to the criticism.
He said: "We have a plan to deliver and anyone who wants to spend more money or go more slowly will see the debt rising as a proportion of GDP, and that is exactly the sort of mistake that got us into this mess in the first place."
Mr Osborne's Budget did have some sweeteners for first time buyers and savers, including the first £1,000 of savings being tax free for a basic rate tax payer.
Video:Could Budget Help Shape Election?
He also announced a help-to-buy ISA under which first-time buyers saving for a deposit will receive a 25p top-up from the Government for every pound they put aside up to a maximum of £3,000, on top of savings of £12,000.
The Chancellor has said there will be "no giveaways, no gimmicks" so what can we expect to see in today's Budget?
:: Income Tax: Personal allowance increase to £11,000. George Osborne has already announced the amount people can earn before tax kicks in will be increased to £10,600 in April but it is expected he will go further.
How to spend your pension?
:: Pensions: The Chancellor has indicated he will announce that pensioners will be able to swap their fixed annual incomes – annuity – for cash.
This is an extension of measures contained in the Autumn Statement, which saw savers given the option of drawing down cash from their pensions, rather than being forced to buy an annuity. This comes into effect in April.
Video:Osborne's Most Important Budget
:: Google Tax: Expect further tax avoidance measures to build on the so-called "Google Tax" announcement last year.
The Government wants to stop multinational companies from moving profits around the world to keep the tax bill down.
:: Something for the regions: Expect announcements of investment in infrastructure, science, energy and housing. Remember, Mr Osborne wants to create a "northern powerhouse".
:: Beer: The Chancellor is expected to either freeze beer duty or announce a 1p or 2p cut on a pint.
:: Fags: Tipped for a 28p cut on a packet of 20 but the Chancellor is also thought likely to announce a tobacco levy.
He already ordered a consultation on the issue on the grounds that smoking has a significant cost to society and tobacco firms should pay for it.
If he did it could indicate he could look to impose a levy on other industries using the same rationale.
Video:50 Years Of Pre-Election Giveaways
:: National Insurance: There have been some suggestions the Government could increase the amount of earning before National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are paid.
It would help the lowest paid and, therefore, would win favour with the Lib Dems but is an income tax/NICs double-whammy too much?
What we are unlikely to see:
:: Inheritance Tax Cuts: The Tories included this in their 2010 manifesto, agreed in coalition not to make it a priority but still want to make changes.
It has been disclosed the Treasury drew up plans to allow parents to pass homes worth up to £1m to children tax free ahead of the Autumn Statement but the Lib Dems blocked it.
David Cameron has said the proposals will not be included in the Budget – but do expect to see them in the Tory manifesto.
:: 40p Tax Rate Changes: The PM has made clear he wants to raise the level at which people start paying the 40p tax rate.
Video:The Sky News Budget Rap Battle
At the Autumn Conference he pledged to increase the threshold from £41,900 to £50,000 by the end of the next parliament.
There had been suggestions measures could appear in the Budget but given the Lib Dem opposition to tax cuts for the wealthy it is unlikely.
:: And the white rabbit?
Well this might not be quite like all other pre-election Budget giveaways, despite the fact the Chancellor has around £5bn to play with.
Remember, if the Tories look good the Lib Dems will look good and as the coalition partners are going toe-to-toe in a number of marginal seats then Mr Osborne will be keen to make sure Nick Clegg's party are not the ones left showing or the rabbit.
Income tax will be the main focus of what could be George Osborne's final Budget as he plans to raise the personal allowance and scrap annual returns.
The Chancellor has insisted there will be "no gimmicks or giveaways" but the Tories hope his speech will kick-start the party's election campaign.
An improvement in economic forecasts will see him allocate £2bn to raise the personal tax allowance from £10,600 to £11,000.
Mr Osborne will also announce plans to scrap the annual tax return - affecting more than 12 million professionals.
Digital tax accounts will be created for all individuals and small businesses which can be accessed at all times from a smartphone, computer or iPad.
Video:Last Pre-Vote Chance for Osborne
Older voters have already been promised further changes to pensions, allowing five million people with existing annuities the right to cash them in from next year.
Businesses will also hope to see announcements on passenger air duty, reductions in charges on North Sea energy firms and measures to encourage research and development.
The Chancellor will use the Budget to give voters more details on what the Conservatives would do if they win the General Election on 7 May.
Video:The Budget: What Can We Expect?
A Sky News projection, following analysis of the latest polls, suggests a hung parliament with the two parties virtually neck and neck.
These will include taking more people out of inheritance tax and raising the higher rate tax threshold to £50,000.
Mr Osborne will say: "The critical choice facing the country now is this: do we return to the chaos of the past?
Video:What Two Georges Want From George
"Or do we say to the British people, let's work through the plan that is delivering for you?
"Today we make that critical choice: we choose the future. We have a plan that is working - and this is a Budget that works for you."
Written By Unknown on Selasa, 17 Maret 2015 | 11.46
By Afua Hirsch, Social Affairs Editor
Housing in Britain is in crisis, campaigners say, as thousands are expected to attend a rally in Westminster calling on politicians to take urgent action.
The protest, which includes housing associations and charities as well as major developers, cites the lowest housebuilding levels since the 1920s as evidence that demand for homes across the country is far outstripping supply.
The problem is particularly affecting younger, first-time buyers, they say, who are increasingly delaying or being squeezed out of owning a property.
"It's really sad, the fact that not everyone can buy their own property," said Katy Popiol, 28, a first time buyer in West London.
"It's frustrating to say at least. It would be great to see more people my age to be pretty much the owner of their own property."
Video:Lib Dem Housing Plans
Britain needs 245,000 new homes a year, but there are currently only 125,000 a year being built, according to the Housing Federation, which convened the rally.
Recent figures also shed light on the measures young people are willing to go to in order to raise the money needed for a deposit.
Of those aged 18 to 34, 14% are considering living with parents, while 15% are considering delaying having a family or getting married.
Video:Experts Debate The Generation Gap
One in 25 are thinking of taking part in medical trials in order to get on the housing ladder.
Although all three main political parties have acknowledged the need to build more homes, none are pledging to build at the level campaigners say is needed to immediately meet demand.
The Conservatives and Labour have committed to developing 200,000 new homes by 2020, and the Liberal Democrats have said they will build 300,000.
Video:London Homes Become Unaffordable
Campaigners say it is not enough.
"Politicians need to pull their heads out of the sand and realise that housing has become a major general election issue," Henry Gregg, of the National Housing Federation, said.
"We are calling on all the political parties to end the housing crisis within a generation and build the homes that young people desperately need."
The minimum wage will rise by 20p to £6.70 an hour this October, benefiting 1.4 million low-paid workers.
David Cameron and Nick Clegg have announced the Coalition has accepted the 3% rise recommended by the Low Pay Commission (LPC) for all workers aged over 21.
The shift represents the largest real-terms increase in the rate since 2008 but is not enough to restore the rate to its value before the financial crash.
The Trades Union Congress said the low paid workers in line for an increase were also those who had been hardest hit by Coalition cuts.
Labour said it fell "far short" of the £7 hinted at by George Osborne as the level needed to put the minimum wage back on track in real terms.
The Chancellor did say at the time that it would be up to the independent LPC - made up of employers, unions and academics - to set the actual rate.
The Coalition has also accepted the commission's call to raise the level for younger workers over 18 by 17p to £5.30, and for 16 and 17-year-olds by 8p to £3.87.
But it has gone further when it comes to the pay of apprentices.
The LPC suggested a 2.6% increase to £2.80.
Instead ministers are increasing the level by 57p to £3.30 - which is the first step in an ambition to complete a £1 rise in the rate.
The minimum wage is a sensitive issue because of pressures from both the left and right.
When it made this latest recommendation, the LPC said: "We have carefully weighed the risk of doing too little to raise the earnings of the lowest paid against the risk of recommending more than business and the economy can afford."
For politicians the issue is clearly important because of the nearing election.
Labour has long criticised the Coalition for a situation in which inflation outstripped wages, but that trend has reversed more recently.
David Cameron has called on employers to "give Britain a pay rise" following the improved economic situation.
Today, he added: "At the heart of our long-term economic plan for Britain is a simple idea - that those who put in, should get out; that hard work is really rewarded; that the benefits of recovery are truly national."
Mr Clegg said it was one of many ways in which to create a "fairer society".
He said: "Whether you're on low pay or starting your dream career through an apprenticeship, you will get more support to help you go further and faster."
But Chuka Umunna, the shadow business secretary, said: "Ministers have misled working families who have been left worse off.
"Where under David Cameron we've seen the value of the minimum wage eroded, we need a recovery for working people."
Labour has promised that the level will rise to £8 by 2020, but there has been a suggestion that the real-terms rate could be higher than that by then.
Written By Unknown on Senin, 16 Maret 2015 | 11.46
Here are the six main points that have emerged about the likely content of Wednesday's pre-election Budget.
1: Pensions Giveaway
Up to five million people will be able to sell their retirement annuities for cash without facing a hefty tax bill, according to an authoritative and reliable briefing reported by Sky News, other broadcast media and the Sunday papers.
2: North-South Divide
George Osborne will promise a "truly national recovery", with measures to boost the English regions such as investment in infrastructure, science, energy and housing. This was revealed by the Chancellor in an article for The Sun on Sunday.
Video:60-Second Economist: The Budget
3: 'No Gimmicks'
Appearing on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Osborne declared: "No giveaways, no gimmicks. A Budget for the long term. Everything we do in this Budget has to be paid for. That has been the central argument I've made all along."
4: Tax Cuts
A rise in the income tax threshold from £10,600 to £11,000 has been widely predicted for some weeks and was reported in The Sunday Telegraph and The Sun on Sunday. A rise in the 40% tax threshold from £41,865 to £50,000 was reported in the Sunday People.
5: Inheritance Tax
A signal that the Tory election manifesto will include a pledge to raise the threshold from £325,000 was reported in the Sunday Express. "We've said on the record it's one for the election, in the manifesto," a senior source told Sky News.
6: Beer And Baccy
A cut in the duty on beer and cider is expected, meaning 1p or 2p off a pint, a move campaigned strongly for by Tory MPs.
Another 16p is expected off a bottle of spirits, as well as a freeze on wine duty; and 28p on a pack of 20 cigarettes - reported in The Sun on Sunday.
Lenders will be required to annually certify the fitness of staff to perform their roles under a new framework that will reinforce the City watchdog's new-found status as one of the world's toughest banking supervisors.
Sky News understands that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will announce on Monday that proposed final rules for banks operating in the UK will put the onus on affected companies to assess and certify the propriety of thousands of staff working in the industry.
The new rules will be confirmed in a speech by Martin Wheatley, the FCA chief executive, and will demonstrate the extent to which banking regulators are attempting to increase industry accountability following a series of mis-selling and market-rigging scandals in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Industry sources described the development as a blow to the banking industry's hopes of limiting the bureaucratic burden of the new regime.
Following a report in 2013 by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, which recommended a new template for supervising bankers' behaviour, some banks had argued that the FCA itself should be responsible for certifying those working in the industry.
In a consultation document last year, the FCA said: "The (Banking Reform) Act has introduced… the requirement for firms to certify certain employees as being fit and proper to perform certain functions.
"This originated from the PCBS's recommendation that a 'licensing regime' be introduced to address concerns that the existing Approved Persons Regime brought too narrow a set of individuals within the scope of regulation, and that firms took insufficient responsibility for the fitness and propriety of their staff."
Mr Wheatley hinted in December that banks should expect the new rulebook to increase the burden on them, saying: "The management of conduct and culture, as issues that have escalated over the last few years, are perhaps complicated by a lack of institutional attention to dealing with them in the past.
"What should not be difficult… is for individuals to take responsibility for their actions. You should not need a rule book to determine right from wrong.
"Indeed, it would be impossible and, frankly, undesirable for any regulator to attempt to codify the limits of what is, or is not, morally acceptable."
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which sits within the Bank of England, has also issued a new rulebook covering the responsibilities of senior managers, who will be presumed to be responsible for the failure of an institution unless they can demonstrate that they took reasonable steps to prevent it.
Last month, the two watchdogs said they would limit the presumption of responsibility to non-executive directors carrying out delegated duties, absenting some board members from the scope of the framework.
The PRA is also planning to publish further details of its plans for regulating banks on Monday, covering those working at UK branches of overseas firms.
The FCA and PRA both declined to comment on Sunday.
Written By Unknown on Minggu, 15 Maret 2015 | 11.46
By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
Britain's biggest secondhand car dealer is gearing up to change hands in a £1.2bn takeover engineered by some of the City's largest investors.
Sky News has learnt that British Car Auctions (BCA) is in detailed talks about a deal that would involve it being bought by a listed vehicle called Haversham Holdings.
Haversham was set up last year to swoop on "substantial companies and businesses in the UK and European automotive, support services, leasing, engineering or manufacturing sectors".
Fronted by Avril Palmer, who ran Autologic and had a short-lived spell as boss of Stobart, the haulier company, Haversham has backing from a funding group comprising including Aviva Investors, Artemis, Invesco and Schroders.
The firm set up by Neil Woodford, the UK's best-known fund manager, is also understood to be a key supporter of the proposed takeover.
Insiders said on Saturday that Haversham planned to raise £1.2bn from its investors to fund the deal.
A statement responding to news of the plan to take control of BCA could be made to the stock exchange as early as Monday, although a source cautioned that it was not yet certain to happen.
If the deal proceeds, it will be the second time in six months that Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), the private equity firm which acquired BCA in 2009, has looked at offloading BCA.
It would also coincide with a £2.5bn flotation of Auto Trader, which is owned by rival buyout firm Apax Partners.
Last autumn, CD&R pulled a flotation of BCA, blaming volatile global equity markets.
At the time, it said: "The board and shareholders were very encouraged by the broad engagement and interest in BCA shown by investors and remain excited about supporting the next phase of the group's growth.
"BCA has an excellent track record as Europe's leading used vehicle marketplace with strong revenues and earnings growth on the back of momentum across its physical and digital platforms."
Operating from more than 200 locations across Europe, BCA claims to be more than two-and-a-half times the size of its nearest competitor.
BCA owns the online vehicle buying operation webuyanycar.com, which acquired 120,000 vehicles in 2013.
It said last autumn that over the three-year period to the end of 2013, BCA saw revenues rise 74% to £442.3m, with adjusted pre-tax profit growing by 27% to £62.5m.
In total, more than 900,000 vehicles were sold using BCA in 2013, with 37% of those transactions taking place online, highlighting the growing importance of digital channels in the sector.
The proposed structure of the BCA takeover would echo a plan used last year by a group of heavyweight City figures to take control of the AA, the roadside recovery service, and list it through a form of accelerated initial public offering.
Haversham's broker Cenkos Securities and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are understood to be among the advisers working on the BCA deal, which is said to have been driven by the group of City investors.
CD&R is thought to have been open-minded about a more conventional flotation effort later in the year.
Cenkos also worked on the AA listing, for which it is understood to have received a fee in excess of £30m.
None of the parties involved in the BCA talks would comment.
Chancellor George Osborne is expected to extend pension freedoms to some five million people who have already purchased an annuity.
The change - due to be announced in Wednesday's Budget - will remove limits on buying and selling existing annuities.
The reform lets people cash in their annuity without incurring heavy tax penalties.
It also allows pensioners the same access to their retirement funds as the Chancellor announced last year for people who have yet to take their pensions.
Under those changes, from 6 April people can cash in their pension savings when they retire, rather than purchase an annuity.
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With just weeks to go before the General Election, the announcement is expected to be popular with elderly voters.
The Chancellor is also reportedly considering cutting inheritance tax in a move which could allow millions to pass on their homes to their children tax free.
The Sunday Express reports that Mr Osborne is considering raising the death tax threshold from £325,000 to £1m, or abolishing the tax for a main family home.
The reform will either be announced in the Budget or as part of the Conservative manifesto, according to the newspaper.
Mr Osborne is expected to say on Wednesday that his Budget will deliver "a truly national recovery".
Video:60-Second Economist: The Budget
The Chancellor will outline measures to invest in industries around Britain, not just in London and the South East.
The measures are expected to include increased support for regional technology clusters and investment in the chemical sector in the North East.
Writing in The Sun On Sunday, Mr Osborne said: "We mustn't go back to the bad old days of just relying on the City of London for growth.
"New analysis shows that if all parts of England outside London and the South East grew at the national average then the UK economy as a whole could be an extra £90bn bigger by 2030.
"And it can be done. Between 2010 and 2013 Yorkshire and the Humber alone created more jobs than the whole of France, and in the South West over the last year someone has got a new job every 10 minutes."
