Self-directed wealth platform Hargreaves Lansdown has posted record half-yearly revenue and profits as the business noted a "general trend" towards DIY investing as a result of changes brought about by the Retail Distribution Review (RDR).

Exchange-traded fund (ETF) platform iShares has launched a toolkit to help advisers assess the ETF market.

The chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group has suggested claims management companies should be forced to cover the costs of false claims.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Big banks will be forcibly broken up if they fail to heed new rules to ring-fence their investment arms from their consumer-facing operations, George Osborne is expected to say on Monday.

Barclays has announced that Chris Lucas, its group finance director, and Mark Harding, the group general counsel, are to retire from the business.

Britain's highest earners are shouldering an increasing share of the UK's income tax burden, as coalition government policies take more people out of paying the tax, according to figures released by HMRC.

The government will not introduce a tax break for married couples in next month's Budget, though an allowance is likely to be introduced in this parliament, according to reports.

Insurance companies such as Standard Life and Resolution could lose out from a Financial Services Authority (FSA) probe into the £11bn annuities market, analysts said.

Tenet has appointed Caroline Bradley as group finance director.