Search: financial focus

Paul Polman As the beleaguered board of Alliance Trust heads into the final straight leading up to next week's AGM, fresh support has been offered from both shareholders and prominent observers.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has reported that the first week of new new pension freedoms saw more than 200,000 calls from people looking for advice. Between Tuesday and Friday last week, the ABI said its members handled a “surge” of 229,932 phone calls from customers interested in

Georgina Philippou The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Glasgow-based Clydesdale Bank £20,678,300 for serious failings in its Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) complaint handling processes between May 2011 and July 2013.

Mark Tanzer A new report issued by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NGIB) has revealed that around 70 people fell victim to an accommodation scams centred around last year’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Julie Glenny Maven Capital Partners and the Scottish Loan Fund, a mezzanine fund managed by the Glasgow-based investment house, have announced a £2 million investment in the data management solutions provider Traceall Global.

Gerard Eadie Latest accounts for Fife-based double glazing and conservatory company CR Smith have shown the firm to have posted a healthy profit on the back of a seven-figure payout following a successful legal action stretching back more than a decade.

Philip Rodney Burness Paull’s chairman said the firm is due to see turnover and profits rise by 15 per cent in the year to July 31 with all parts of the business performing well.

Alastair Rae Scottish hotel revenue and occupancy wavered in January according to the latest report on the sector from accountants BDO.

Ian Williams One in seven Scots say they borrowed money last month to buy food, according to research carried out on behalf of debt advice and solutions provider Debt Advisory Centre Scotland (DACS).

Andrew Ferguson Aberdeen private equity house Maven Capital Partners has led a £2.75 million investment in the specialist IT security business Flow Communications Limited.

Shaun Kingsbury  

The first new national Scottish taxes introduced by a Scottish parliament in more than 300 years are being collected from today. Scotland’s new tax authority, Revenue Scotland, is now accepting tax returns – making history as the first national administrator of solely Scottish taxes since 1707.

John Swinney A new tax which changes the way people pay duty on house purchases has come into effect in Scotland today.

Alliance Trust chief executive Katherine Garrett-Cox, who is currently embroiled in an increasingly bitter dispute with an American activist investor to shake up the Dundee-based firm’s board, has now been short-listed for a prestigious national award. She is in the running for the Veuve Clicquot

Fred Goodwin, the disgraced former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive has been ordered by a High Court judge to hand over personal e-mails he sent in the run-up to the bank’s 2008 share sale. At a hearing last week, Mr Justice Hillyardapproved the request to have the correspondence made public