EUROPE’S LARGEST MONEY LAUNDERING SCANDAL This week we take a brief Brexit respite to focus on what could be the biggest money laundering scandal in history. Between 2007-2015 around €200bn of non-residential flows was passed through Danske Bank’s Estonian branch unchecked. The Danish firm bought Sabro bank in 2007 to expand its Baltic operations but […]
REVIEW OF THE PAST QUARTER: Markets have rebounded from last quarter’s selloff as investor sentiment picked up. This has been driven by a perceived change of heart at the US Federal Reserve where it is expected they will stop hiking rates and become more cautious. In addition, thawing tensions between the US and China have […]
PARLIMENTARY VOTES MAKE BREXIT NO CLEARER This week we have had yet more votes on Brexit and are still no clearer about what will ultimately happen. As we write this the government is having yet another go at getting its universally despised deal over the line, but this time with the fun twist that her […]
EU OFFERS BREXIT EXTENSION In what is fast becoming a real-life soap opera, this week’s episode of Brexit saw the narrative pick up the pace. John Bercrow kicked things off by quelling Theresa May’s “if it doesn’t work try try again” approach of pushing the same deal through only to get continuously rejected by parliament. […]
WILL THE EU AGREE TO A LONGER EXTENSION? This week we have to turn our attention yet again to Brexit. After a series of votes and high political drama it came as a surprise to no one that we find ourselves in exactly the same position as before. Theresa May has been told again that […]
US-CHINA TRADE WAR TAKING ITS TOLL This week we received further evidence of the US-China trade war taking a toll, with data showing Chinese exports reportedly dropping 21% year on year. While some of this is down to a slowing global economy, the falling out with Donald Trump isn’t helping. This comes alongside data showing […]
THERESA MAY TO GIVE MP’S THE CHANCE TO EXTEND ARTICLE 50 This week we witnessed a major change in direction from both the government and opposition for their respective Brexit policies. Theresa May walked back yet another commitment and conceded that there should be an extension to article 50. This has been inevitable for some […]
IS THE US’S STANDOFF WITH HUWAEI SET TO END? This week President Trump appeared to make a major concession in his trade negotiations with China by significantly softening his stance on Huawei. Trump said the US shouldn’t ban “Technology” and urged US tech companies to compete or get left behind. This comes after weeks of […]
UK PROPERTY FUNDS SWITCH PRICING TO STEM OUTFLOWS This week saw another property fund move to limit the impact of outflows as Janus Henderson announced it was moving its pricing to a full spread basis in March. While this sounds like a minor bit of fund administration, and to an extent it is, the timing […]
SEPERATING NOISE FROM REALITY This week a lack of any major developments allowed us the time to look closer at some of the economic data of the last few weeks. It has reminded us that we ought to do this more often and ignore the headlines all together. Italy is currently in its third recession […]