In a move which is sure to inflame feelings of “big brother “ is in control, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have announced plans to seek permission to freeze any bank accounts, where they believe that the owner has unpaid taxes. While the authorities stress that these powers will only be used in extreme cases, there is sure to be a major public backlash.
The FSA (Financial Services Authority) have announced that they plan to take action against 5 sub prime mortgages brokers operating in the UK. The sector has been under investigation by the FSA since April this year, after a number of complaints were received about inappropriate products being sold to clients who could not afford them.
The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) have just announced the results of a six month investigation into insider trading - the trading of shares in the knowledge of price sensitive information not yet made public. While the results are not surprising, it is the first time that the FSA have been so strong in their direct condemnation of market participants.
It seems that everyday we open the newspapers we see an issue with someone receiving a bad service, or over charged for some reason. While much of the cause for complaint can often fall on the financial sector, it seems that in general the UK public either don’t want to, or don’t know how to complain. The facts are that unless we complain when we have a valid reason, many issues will never be resolved, and they will happen time and time again.
As the government announce an official investigation into the house building sector, it appears that the buy to let sector may also come under the spot light. The problem with UK property is the fact that the number of new house builds has always seriously lagged behind the increase in demand. This has created a situation with more and more people chasing few and few numbers of houses on a relative basis.
One of the main downsides to the internet revolution is the lack of personal contact with third parties whom you may be dealing with. While many would argue that this has it plus points (which it does), it has also opened up the internet - and most importantly customers - to fraudulent activity. Many internet frauds have been active for months before actually being noticed, and it takes even longer to alert customers and close the sites down.
