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Written by Stuart Yeomans
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Friday, 05 March 2010 00:00 |
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There are growing worries in regards to the UK pension system, and how it will fair over the coming months. We have seen no end of large companies going into administration and potentially causing many Brits to have a reduced pension or no pension when they retire.
Reader's Digest is the most recent victim, their pension deficit hit £125m and thousands of employees do not know if they will receive any funding when they retire!
The Pension Protection Fund is supposed to cover up to 90% of employee pensions; however this Fund is made up of other companies helping to bail out the firm in administration.
Could this lead to the Lehman Brothers of the pension world?
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Decision on Frozen State Pensions for Retired UK Expatriates Due Tuesday |
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Written by Martin Young
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Monday, 15 March 2010 00:00 |
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More than 500,000 UK pensioners living abroad will learn on Tuesday whether they stand to receive a larger state pension, as the European Court of Human Rights announces its long-awaited judgment in a landmark case.
The decision is expected at 11:30am Strasbourg time.
At issue is whether expatriates living in such countries as Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong and Canada – who receive UK pensions after having paid National Insurance contributions while still living in Britain – are entitled to receive the same annual inflation-linked increases that are given to those still resident in the UK, as well as to British expats living in such other countries as the US and European states.
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Sovereign Debt Issues Continue to Plague World Financial Markets |
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Written by Alexa Trout
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Monday, 22 February 2010 01:43 |
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Stocks have fallen sharply on fears of a sovereign debt default by Greece. Whilst Greek debt is the biggest issue in the world today, many investors seem to have forgotten about Dubai. We expect to see the current crisis in both Greece and Dubai come to a head in May when both countries will be forced to re-issue a substantial part of the debts.
World markets are likely to experience a lot of volatility in the run up to May, however once the current crisis is finished we should see a relatively stable outlook for equities and commodities.
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Sterling Currency Outlook |
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Written by Martin Young
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Monday, 01 March 2010 06:44 |
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Sterling has fallen sharply and may face a currency attack in the coming months. There are two main triggers which may set off a rapid short term decline in Sterling. Firstly the UK will have a General Election by June of this year. Whilst the Conservatives appeared to have an unassailable lead in the polls last year, they have certainly dropped the ball this year. The ruling Labour Party has now pulled to within 2 points of the Conservatives in the polls.
While either a Labour win or a Conservative win would have little effect on the value of sterling as both parties are strongly committed to cutting the budget deficit, a hung parliament would be a disaster. As the UK’s “First Past the Post” system strongly favours the largest minority party this situation is unlikely, however a lack of clear political leadership would leave sterling open to a currency attack from speculators.
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Written by Alexa Trout
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Friday, 05 February 2010 01:10 |
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The risk of a sovereign default posed by Greece continues to hamper the Euro. For the time being this weakness suits the ECB as they have been keen to see the Euro devalued. The Germans in particular have resisted calls to reduce ECB interest rates to de value the Euro. The Greek problem has allowed the Euro to drop in value without moving key rates. This has been most convenient for the other members of the Euro Zone. Whilst the ECB continues to refuse to bail out Greece it is highly unlikely they would allow a Euro member to commit a sovereign default.
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