New mortgage lending increased by 20% to £40bn in Q3 compared to Q2 but it is still well down on the £61bn advanced in Q3 2008, according to FSA figures.

Intermediaries expect mortgage business levels to have strengthened in Q4, according to Paragon Mortgages' Financial Adviser Confidence Tracker (FACT) Index.

Fidelity is putting forward a number of big name managers across the investment spectrum for a series of adviser roadshows in the New Year.

Cazenove Capital has acquired independent fund manager Thornhill for an undisclosed sum.

The Government's announcement it is to examine wider solutions to the issue of IHT avoidance through trusts has been described as an ‘ominous statement' by Standard Life head of estate planning Julie Hutchison.

The government has missed an opportunity to revisit the 10% tax credit on equity ISAs, Neptune Investment Management says.

The Government's increase in taxation is a "complete distortion", Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable says.

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has accused the Government of "sneaky fiddling" and "sleight of hand" in its Pre-Budget Report (PBR).

British banking chiefs have reacted angrily to news the Treasury is drawing up plans for a one-year windfall tax on bonuses paid to some UK-based bankers, reports the BBC.

Britons have been saving more over the last five years - despite having to contend with economic turbulence, including the longest recession in the country's history, new findings suggest.