A look back at the most read stories on eprivateclient this week…
Monday
UK-headquartered law firm Charles Russell Speechlys is to focus on growing its advisory offering in jurisdictions where “private capital is deployed”, according to the firm’s senior partner. Bart Peerless explained that client feedback following a strategic review completed by the firm at the start of last summer called for a team of legal advisers “that can service all their private capital needs, across the legal disciplines.”
Fiduciary services provider Crestbridge appointed Ellie Sharples as director, senior compliance officer as the firm looks to expand its group risk function. In her new role, Ms Sharples will be responsible for ensuring the monitoring of operational performance and for the management of all regulatory and compliance matters.
Tuesday
Catherine Grum, head of family office at global advisory firm BDO, spoke to eprivateclient about the challenges in the world of succession as the greatest generational wealth transfer in history begins.
Global institutional and private client service provider JTC Group made a number of senior appointments as part of its annual group-wide promotions, which have seen more than 150 employees recognised for 2022.
Wednesday
Howard Kennedy hired Monika Byrska as a partner in its contentious trusts and estates team. Ms Byrska has joined from Thomson Snell & Passmore where she was also a partner. Prior to that, she spent nine years as a solicitor at the specialist litigation firm Anthony Gold.
HMRC data showed that inheritance tax receipts for April 2021 to January 2022 were £5 billion - £0.7 billion higher than the same period a year earlier, and a 16 percent rise. Increased IHT bills will also be likely in the coming years, with both the nil rate band (NRB) of £325,000 and residence nil rate band (RNRB) of £175,000 having been frozen until at least April 2026.
Thursday
A report from law firm Royds Withy King found that separating couples are waiting until April 6, when the ‘no-fault divorce’ law comes in, before initiating formal divorce proceedings. The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act - which has repeatedly been delayed by Covid-19 - will take effect from 6 April 2022.
HMRC announced that it has seized so-called “non-fungible tokens” (NFTs) from three people it has under criminal investigation for organised VAT fraud. This is an important milestone as it is believed to be the first time that a UK law enforcement body has seized digital assets.
Friday
The UK’s Capital Gains Tax (CGT) receipts jumped 20 percent from £10.8 billion to a record high of £12.9 billion in the past year, national accountancy group UHY Hacker Young, found. The firm said that the value of capital gains in the UK has leapt in the last 12 months.
A freedom of information request found that HMRC had 1,491 electronic devices either lost or stolen since 2017. The data, initially obtained by the Parliament Street think tank, collated the number of mobile phones, laptops and tablets lost or stolen over the past five years, each year from April 2017 to December 2021.
