The Brutal History of the Slave Tax in the UK

by | Jun 8, 2020 | 1

In February 2018 the Bank of England’s Twitter page chirpily announced: ‘Here’s today’s surprising #FridayFact. Millions of you helped end the slave trade through your taxes’. The infographic attached reported that ‘In 1833, Britain used £20 million, 40% of its...

Oil Prices – A quick explanation and why derivatives can matter

by | Apr 16, 2020 | 2

As you most likely will have seen in the media the price of some oil became negative for a brief period. The purpose of this note is to explain what has happened and its significance.  Whether directly or indirectly the oil price can affect us all. Directly because we...

Bank of England emergency rate cut, and basis risk

by | Mar 16, 2020 | 3

As you may have seen in the news today the Bank of England (which is independent of the Government) announced an emergency in cut in the Base Rate by 50BPS to 0.25%. This level hasn’t been seen in the UK since the Global Financial Crisis 12 years ago. What does...

David Bowie, bonds and securitisation

by | Mar 16, 2020 | 2

Theoretically you can securitise any cash flow. Banks have securitised mortgages, credit card debts, and student loans. Perhaps less well known is the singer songwriter David Bowie securitised his music in 1997. How did this work? David Bowie used the future revenue...