London mayor Boris Johnson has warned that up to 9,000 bankers could leave London thanks to the recently imposed tax raid on their bonuses.

A new tax rule states that there will be a 50% tax on bonuses over £25,000 – a tax which wil initially only be for a year. The Conservatives have said that if they win the General Election they will scrap this new tax.

Although the new tax is predicted to bring in around £5 billion, Johnson believes that it could have a massive detrimental effect on the City and could undermine London’s status as one of the World’s financial capitals.  Read more... (258 words, 1 image, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

It’s always interesting to see who the richest people in the world are and what they earn. Over at Business Pundit, they have put together the 12 highest earners in 2009 along with what they earned and how they earned it.

Stephan Schwarzman: $702,440,573
Stephan Schwarzman is co-founder of the Blackstone Group private-equity firm. According to CNN money, he took home $702,440,573 (in salary, equity and bonus) in 2009 increasing his total net worth to $7.8 billion.  Read more... (640 words, estimated 2:34 mins reading time)

Whilst the Bank of England’s low interest rates are benefiting those with variable rate loans and mortgages, savers are losing out massively. New research has shown that eight in ten savings accounts are effectively losing money.

Some savings accounts have been given rates as low as 0.05 percent. To put that into perspective, a basic rate tax payer with £5,000 in an account with this interest rate would receive £2 a year after tax; for a higher-rate tax payer, this equates to just £1.50 a year after tax. The low rates mean that savings rates are lower than the rate of inflation – September’s inflation rate was 1.1 percent, October is 1.5 percent – thus savers are losing money in real terms.  Read more... (237 words, 1 image, estimated 57 secs reading time)

The recession has bitten hard into the confidence and budgets of consumers and has reflected itself in recent research that has indicated that 1 in 5 Britons plan to spend less this year at Christmas. The survey, published by Gfk NOP, covered 1,000 adults and also indicated that just 1 in 10 plan to spend more on gifts this year compared to last. The study implies that we will all be spending around 15% less this Christmas compared to last – a sure sign that we are all far more cost conscious and concerned that times are still tough.  Read more... (475 words, 1 image, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Commodities are always a popular thing to trade, however one particular commodity seems to be catching the eye of many investors.

Water – the stuff we often take for granted – has so far been ignored by many investors however interest in this precious commodity is on the increase. So why has it been ignored so far? The first reason is that it isn’t often traded by itself. Many investors also look to the more traditional trades such as oil as these have the potential for big gains whereas water tends to be seen as quite a defensive strategy.  Read more... (259 words, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has stepped in to look at the heavy-handed sales tactics employed by many sale and rent back companies.

Sale and rent back companies have seen a massive increase in growth over the past year thanks to the current recession. Many companies have cashed in on the fact that many people are struggling to keep up the repayments on their mortgage and coupled with other debts, they are looking for a quick way to get their hands on a large amount of cash whilst being able to stay in their homes.  Read more... (276 words, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)

According to the latest research, over half of us have already begun our Christmas shopping. Three quarters of those who have already begun to buy Christmas presents have said that the early start to their shopping is in an attempt to spread the cost of Christmas.

The research has also shown that the amount spent on presents is set to fall this year with a third of shoppers saying they are planning to spend considerably less than last year, and 80 percent of people looking to spend less than £250. In 2008, the average spend was £320 per person.  Read more... (167 words, estimated 40 secs reading time)