Balances of banks sitting in the Eurosystem and percentage of respective country’s GDP
As previously published by irefeurope.org but with more detail behind the numbers
The European Central Bank (ECB) held its latest Governing Council meeting on 14 April 2002 and issued its normal press release. It issued its longer ‘Combined monetary policy decisions and statement’. Finally […]
The subscribed and paid capital contributions of the 19 ESM members
This article was published for the first time on www.brexit-watch.org on 6th April 2022.
The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is the main Eurozone bailout fund should further members be unable to access capital markets directly: the ESM would finance the member state, as they have done […]
Government announcement of the Spring Statement CASHBACK
Mr Sunak’s Spring Statement was far less impressive than his rhetoric has made it appear. Once again a senior member of this administration reaches a Gold Standard in rhetoric, but at best a Bronze one in achievement. The claim does not stand up to examination that these were the […]
Original IREF article of 16 March 2022 accessed on 21 March 2022
The EU recently announced partial financial sanctions on Russia, designed to keep payments for energy moving. The EU accepted the contention – disproved below – that a bank either gets cut off from SWIFT, the global financial telecommunications network, completely or not at all. […]
Original Brexit-Watch.org article
Our Brexit-Watch.org article last week showed how tax-leveraged leasing through Ireland was a major contributor to the BigTech and Biotech companies minimizing their corporation tax payments:https://www.brexit-watch.org/irelands-fear-of-depending-on-foreign-companies-tax-receipts-is-unfounded-for-the-wrong-reasonsWhilst Rishi Sunak’s much-trumpeted minimum 15% global corporation tax rate won’t have any effect at all, the Kremlin has intervened by passing a law that re-registers 500+ aircraft […]
Brexit-Watch.org article of 14 March 2022
Ireland’s corporation tax receipts continue to rise, thanks to their ‘Celtic Tiger’ business model:
https://www.brexit-watch.org/irelands-fear-of-depending-on-foreign-companies-tax-receipts-is-unfounded-for-the-wrong-reasons
This was already costing the UK £10 billion a year in lost corporation tax in 2016:
Ireland’s takings have increased by 386% between 2009 and 2021; that implies at least a doubling of the loss to the UK […]
Brexit-Watch article where this piece was originally published
The UK’s financial sanctions over the Ukraine invasion fall well short of cutting Russia off SWIFT, maxing out on the usual self-congratulatory hyperbole whilst opening up significant risk. When we should be distinguishing our PR approach from that of the Kremlin, we instead get big-sounding phrases masking deficiencies […]
What is SWIFT? Screenshot of its homepage
As already published on Facts4EU and Brexit-Watch
It has been reported that Chancellor Scholz has rejected the proposal that Russia be cut off from the SWIFT system as a punishment for its invasion of Ukraine. The Guardian has disseminated misinformation that it would anyway do little damage. Scholz may imagine […]
As published on Brexit-Watch.org on Friday February 18 2022
Recent news coverage of the football clubs Derby County, Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers has slightly lifted the veil on the murky financial jiggery-pokery of the English football industry but it goes nowhere near far enough. Further research since my first article on this subject has revealed […]
We have compiled an analysis of the British Business Bank’s investment in Bolton Wanderers via its ‘Future Fund’.
Many questions remain open, such as how much the general public has invested, what shareholding we own, and what rights and obligations are associated with it.
Some of these points are academic: the original £5 million loan, plus accrued […]