The UK is home to one of the most liquid, competitive, and complicated mortgage markets in the world. There are hundreds of mortgage providers who lend in the UK, from major international banks to niche building societies and alternative lenders. Each lender has their own specialisation and position in the market where they excel. They also have lending criteria, interest rates, processes and oddities which are specific to them. The UK has a considerable number of lending channels. There are regulated mortgages, unregulated mortgages, buy-to-let finance, bridging finance, commercial mortgages and more. It’s easy to see why the lending market is so complicated. The UK’s finance options are plentiful. There are huge pools of liquidity (some of it incredibly cheap) and you can enjoy flexible lending terms. If you are a foreign national, expat, a high-net-worth individual, are self-employed, have significant assets but relatively low taxable income or anything in between, the UK mortgage market will have an option for you.

For the property investor France has it all – a uniquely stable housing market, a vast long-term rental market and 70-80 million tourists a year looking for short term accommodation. But that is not all. Property prices and mortgage interest rates are much lower in France and UK Capital Gains tax on holiday lettings in France can be as low as 10%! Whether the aim is to buy a second home or build a property portfolio abroad, France has to be the number one choice. The product of 12 years experience in buying, managing and letting properties in France, this guide leaves nothing to chance. It covers: • Hotspot locations and property prices • Setting up and running a holiday letting business • Investing for profit in the long-term rental sector • Raising the finance to buy • Finding the property • The buying process from offer to completion • Buying off-plan and leaseback • Buying an apartment • Taxation – French and UK

Owning a property is a dream for many people, and borrowing from banks is often essential to achieve this. However, having a mortgage can cause real anxiety because of the latent fear of losing our home if we cannot keep up with mortgage payments. Traditionally, homeowners repay their debt over 25 years, but high house prices have made it necessary to increase the term up to 40 years to make monthly payments affordable. Spreading the debt over a longer period of time not only means that borrowers have to pay more interest, but they are also exposed to other risks such as potential interest rate rises and changes in personal circumstances affecting their mortgage eligibility. These can lead to financial worries, financial stress, and reduced well-being. There are few practical guides available to show borrowers how to manage their mortgage debt more effectively, and how to repay their mortgage quickly so that they are debt-free. This book seeks to empower consumers, young and old, by providing a roadmap to help borrowers achieve financial security through planning for the future, insuring their income, and setting up an emergency fund. It also outlines simple strategies for an early repayment of debt, including paying off the capital, making extra payments, and monitoring their mortgage debt. In doing so, it aims to help readers improve their general well-being, enhance their financial security, reduce their financial worries, and eliminate their ‘mortgage insomnia’.

This new, fully updated sixth edition of Investors’ Guide to the United Kingdom provides an authoritative and essential guide to the current investment climate in the United Kingdom. The Guide includes the principal sectors of opportunity for foreign investors, the grants and incentives available, the financial sector and the laws and business regulations that affect foreign investors, as well as guidance on taxation and financial accountancy .In its World Investment Report 2013, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reported that global foreign direct investment (FDI) shrank by 18% in 2012. Against the trend, while FDI inflows to the USA declined by 26% and to the EU by 42%, the UK secured an annual increase of 22%, attracting US$62 billion. Independently, Ernst & Young and the Financial Times confirm that the UK remained the number one FDI location in Europe in 2012.Aimed at foreign businesses of all sizes, from multinationals to SMEs and private investors in the UK, this unique guide offers in-depth briefings on the technical aspects of investment as well as business start-up, covering topics such as:Grants and incentivesCompetition lawCompany formationFinancial reportingBusiness taxationBanking and FinanceCommercial lawIntellectual propertyImmigrationPensions and benefitsMergers & acquisitionsJoint venturesThe AIM market of the London Stock ExchangeInvestors’ Guide to the United Kingdom is published in association withUK Trade & Investment and includes a Foreword from Michael Boyd, Managing Director Investment, UKTI.

The IMF has had extensive involvement in the stress testing of financial systems in its member countries. This book presents the methods and models that have been developed by IMF staff over the years and that can be applied to the gamut of financial systems. An added resource for readers is the companion CD-Rom, which makes available the toolkit with some of the models presented in the book (also located at elibrary.imf.org/page/stress-test-toolkit).

Financial services are an ever increasing part of the infrastructure of everyday life. From banking to credit, insurance to investment and mortgages to advice, we all consume financial services, and many millions globally work in the sector. Moreover, the way we consume them is changing with the growing dominance of fintech and Big Data. Yet, the part of financial services that we engage with as consumers is just the tip of a vast network of markets, institutions and regulators – and fraudsters too. Many books about financial services are designed to serve corporate finance education, focusing on capital structures, maximising shareholder value, regulatory compliance and other business-oriented topics. A Practical Guide to Financial Services: Knowledge, Opportunities and Inclusion is different: it swings the perspective towards the end-user, the customer, the essential but often overlooked participant without whom retail financial services markets would not exist. While still introducing all the key areas of financial services, it explores how the sector serves or sometimes fails to serve consumers, why consumers need protection in some areas and what form that protection takes, and how consumers can best navigate the risks and uncertainties that are inherent in financial products and services. For consumers, a greater understanding of how the financial system works is a prerequisite of ensuring that the system works for their benefit. For students of financial services – those aspiring to or those already working in the sector – understanding the consumer perspective is an essential part of becoming an effective, holistically informed and ethical member of the financial services community. A Practical Guide to Financial Services: Knowledge, Opportunities and Inclusion will equip you for both these roles. The editors and authors of A Practical Guide to Financial Services: Knowledge, Opportunities and Inclusion combine a wealth of financial services, educational and consumer-oriented practitioner experience.

Offering a comprehensive guide to financial shocks and crises, this book explores their increasing occurrence in current market economies, as well as their power to wrench the macroeconomy. The book discusses three critical questions: what causes financial shocks; which channels may exacerbate their impact; and what policies could help avoid them or limit their negative effect on the economy and society at large.