With the request for a new referendum on Scottish independence rejected this week, and that rejection itself later rejected, perhaps we can all agree it is time to read the week in news and make sense of some of the crazy things that have been going on.
1) The Hangover: Part XCVI
We’ve all been there: you accidentally draw up a Budget which everyone hates and have to start redrawing your plans for the nation’s finances bit by bit.
Chancellor Philip Hammond found his plans to increase the National Insurance contributions for the self-employed lasted almost exactly a week before being junked.
Mr Hammond, who said the change would level the playing field between different forms of employment, had been accused of picking on small business and entrepreneurs.
In other Budget hangover news, international advisory firm DeVere Group could close some of its offices after the government introduced a charge on overseas pension transfers, prompting it to restructure.
The government changed the rules for qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes, levying a 25 per cent tax charge on overseas pensions outside the EEA and where the retiree lives in a different jurisdiction to where the pension resides.
2) Taxing victory goes to extra time
But HM Revenue & Customs might be excused for hoping it doesn’t reach penalties, given that its latest dispute involves former goalkeeper Peter Shilton.
HMRC has been accused of applying rules retrospectively over its pursuit of Glasgow Rangers Football Club's alleged use of a trust structure to avoid paying tax on players' salaries.
The tax office claimed the club's use of an "employee benefits trust" to make tax-free loans to its employees means it is owed £46.1m in unpaid tax.
HMRC won an appeal on this case at the Scottish Court of Session in November 2015 and the case is now being heard at the Supreme Court.
In a case rich for the pun enthusiast, HMRC was accused of “moving the goalposts” by adapting a case dating back to 1991 involving Mr Shilton.
3) No fake news here, honest
Sometimes news is fake and sometimes it isn’t, but other times it’s pretty hard to make up.
This includes the bizarre disagreement about what on earth happened at Intrinsic’s intermediaries’ conference.
It had been alleged speaker Sir Bob Geldof had been kicked off the stage by Gabby Logan after ranting about Brexit, corporate pay and the lack of trust in the financial services industry.
But Intrinsic claimed the lead singer of the Boomtown Rats had simply overrun his speaking slot.
As anyone who has attended their fair share of corporate events will know, the real issue is whether this will discourage companies from booking speakers who actually say something interesting.
4) Adviser told to wise-up
In the debate between advice and guidance, Legal & General appears to have made their feelings known.
The company told an adviser's client to get impartial guidance from Pension Wise after sending the client a pensions quotation.
Ian Osang, partner at Essex-based Ingard Independent Financial Management, contacted Legal & General late last year to get a quote for a longstanding pension client of his.
However, when the pension account value information was sent to the client, the information was accompanied by a letter directing that client to go to Pension Wise for retirement help.
In the letter, seen by FTAdviser, the client was told: "This is an important decision and you must consider all your options carefully. To help you understand your retirement options, the government has set up a free and impartial pension guidance service called Pension Wise."
5) End of life
The merger between Standard Life and Aberdeen has raised suspicions among fund buyers and advisers that this is the next step towards Standard Life dropping its life business.
Earlier this month Standard Life and Aberdeen agreed to a £11bn all-shares merger which will make the combined company the largest active manager in the UK and the second largest in Europe.
Ongoing legacy issues, low bond yields and decreasing margins have made traditional life companies less profitable in recent years, while investment businesses, although facing squeezes of their own on fees, appear to have experienced greater profitability.
This has led several to believe that the focus of the new company would shift to asset management, with the life business being dropped all together.
damian.fantato@ft.com
