A look back at the most read stories on eprivateclient this week...
Tuesday
The traditional idea that an adviser has to have a grey hair or two to be taken seriously by clients is starting to be questioned, not least by eprivateclient Excellence Award winning firm The Private Office. Nigel Yeo, the director of advice at TPO, explained nurturing and developing young talent is key to transforming the image of the advisory world.
Investigations that HMRC opened into claims for Agricultural Property Relief (APR) increased by 28 percent in the last year, according to private wealth law firm Boodle Hatfield. This meant the number of investigations rose from 217 to 278.
Wednesday
Zedra completed the acquisition of BNP Paribas Jersey Trust Corporation Limited following regulatory approval earlier this month. The acquisition strengthened Zedra’s presence in jersey, a core jurisdiction for the firm where its largest office with over 100 employees is located.
Specialist insurer Ecclesiastical launched a new enhanced art and private client policy to the market. The policy included cyber damage, cyber-crime and online liability cover as standard.
Thursday
Tax avoidance bosses were named for the first time in the latest move to help protect the UK public. HMRC used new powers to publicly name directors of tax avoidance promoting companies, with taxpayers being warned to leave the firms’ schemes or risk large tax bills.
Private client, corporate services, and fund administration business Oak Group (Oak) refreshed its brand to reflect its commitment to sustainability and other organisational values. Oak Group, which is headquartered in Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Malta, and Mauritius, focused its rebranding around “Oak ecosystem," which it believed would highlight its values of “people, planet and value.”
Friday
London law firm Forsters made three promotions within its private client and family teams. Charles Hancock and Rebecca Meade were promoted to senior associate within the firm's private client team and Christine Abbotts to the same role in the firm's family team.
The National Crime Agency’s successful breaking of gang ringleader Abdulla Alfalasi, who laundered over £100 million in cash from the UK to Dubai, served as a sharp reminder that organised crime groups would do well to remove their huge cash profits from the UK. The case shone a spotlight on the increasing difficulties that criminal groups are facing in banking such cash into UK held accounts, or otherwise converting it into physical assets that can be held safely by the criminal groups.