Making money: what the experts think
● Tax suit
That Ingenious thing just won’t go away, said Liam Kelly in The Sunday Times. Hundreds of investors in the controversial film schemes formerly run by Ingenious Media have launched a £100m lawsuit against HSBC’S private bank – hoping to recoup the eye-watering bills they incurred when HMRC argued that the schemes were tax avoidance measures. A total of 248 wealthy and high-profile figures – including musical theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd-webber and football manager Steven Gerrard – claim that HSBC “conspired to defraud them”. HSBC refused to comment, but a source close to the bank said it would defend the “historic” claim.
● Making movies
When Ingenious took advantage of tax breaks set up by the Labour government at the turn of the century to launch its film finance products, it looked like a win-win for everyone, said Daily Business. Some 1,300 punters (including a full roster of footballers and TV celebrities) “made cash contributions” to the scheme, which helped fund films including Life of Pi, Avatar and Girl with a Pearl Earring, on the understanding that they could write off losses against their tax bills. They now claim they weren’t made aware of the risks involved and didn’t know that a “large proportion of the money” was in fact borrowed from HSBC, which, they claim, “dishonestly assisted” Ingenious. “Legal action between HMRC and Ingenious remains ongoing.” The latter’s founder, Patrick Mckenna, insists the company “always acted properly” and maintains “the schemes were lawful”, said The Times. As this Jarndyce v. Jarndyce of a financial case grinds on, a lot is now riding on proving him wrong.
● Heady returns
Burgundy wine investors “are toasting gains”, said Emiko Terazono in the FT. The Liv-ex Burgundy 150 – which tracks the movements of the most actively-traded wines from the Burgundy region on the secondary market – jumped 35% last year, “setting a record high in November”. Fine wines have been great performers for investors, easily beating both equities and gold last year. The stellar returns from burgundy contrast with pound-denominated gains of only 5% for gold and a 12% fall for the FTSE 100 last year.