In November, I was in Sydney at a conference of life industry people from around the world sharing ideas and issues.

The UK's largest banks will bear the burden of the government's new bank levy which aims to raise over £8bn.

The Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.5% and left unchanged its quantitative easing programme at £200bn.

Distribution Technology has launched a white paper looking at how technology can help firms transition for RDR and deliver advice more economically.

IFAs signed up to Nucleus have drawn up a proposal for a one page platform disclosure document for clients which they hope will set the standard for the industry.

Ireland has unveiled the most draconian budget in its history with €6bn of cuts and public sector pension reductions ahead of an expected €85bn bailout from the EU and IMF.

Merchant Investors, part of Sanlam UK, has launched a risk profiling tool designed to give a more complete picture of a client's approach to risk.

The use of platforms by asset managers is set to surge over the next three years, according to research by Skandia Investment Group (SIG).

Nucleus has signed two more IFA companies, taking its number of member firms to 80.

One third of IFAs are already prepared for RDR compared to just a fifth last year, according to the latest Defaqto research.