A look at the most read stories to feature on eprivateclient this week...
Monday
UK wealth management and professional services group, Tilney Smith & Williamson, appointed Sian Steele to the newly created role of head of private client tax services. Currently a family business consultant, adviser and portfolio NED, Ms Steele was previously a partner at PwC with roles both in the UK and globally.
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s plans to cut the basic rate of income tax by 2p in 2024/25 is nothing but “smoke and mirrors” as the government makes it first moves towards the next General Election, tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg warned.
Tuesday
Continuing its hiring spree of recent months, Withers added two new partners in London and New York respectively. Joining the global law firm in London was art and fashion sector specialist Sarah Barker as a partner whilst trusts and estates partner Caryn Young joined in New York.
A survey conducted by the Law Society of England and Wales about whether to extend remote witnessing of wills beyond January 2022 found that only a small proportion of solicitors have chosen to use it for their clients. 95 percent of respondents drafted wills during lockdowns, but only 14 percent who drafted wills used remote witnessing.
Wednesday
Expatriate Law - a family law firm focused on international families - added a new branch office in Abu Dhabi, headed by Byron James. The branch office, licensed by Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority in England, will be developed by Mr James, a partner at the firm.
Ethnicity pay gaps continue to exist across the UK, according to PwC analysis, with the research having also shown that a majority of people from ethnic minority backgrounds feel they are treated differently than those who are white when applying for jobs.
Thursday
A survey conducted by family law firm Stowe Family Law suggested that declining rates of marriage may be to do with increased ideas of cost for the wedding, with 23 percent of 18-24-year-olds felt that paying over £25,000 is still a ‘sensible’ wedding budget. More than half (56 percent) of 25 – 34-year-olds and a quarter of those aged 35 – 44 also think that a traditional marriage is an outdated notion, compared to just 16 percent of those aged 65+ who feel this way.
Multi-jurisdiction law firm The Maples Group announced a string of senior appointments and replacements across three continents following a biennial review.
Friday
eprivateclient Excellence Awards winning firm Crestbridge extended its family office services team with a further senior level appointment. Former eprivateclient Channel Islands' Top 35 Under 35 Ben Schofield, has more than 13 years’ experience in the private client, real estate and family office sectors, and joined the Jersey office of Crestbridge as a senior manager.
KPMG UK, in collaboration with Google Cloud, broke the Guinness World Record title for the most views of a cloud technology lesson video on YouTube in 24 hours. Between 12pm on 17 November 2021 and 12pm on 18 November 2021, KPMG employees viewed from around the globe, amounting to over 2,964 people who had watched the lesson video as part of KPMG’s ‘Cloud Curious Challenge’.