Latest news with #Coutts
Telegraph
03-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Why you can now find a bargain in London's family home hotspots
The market for the capital's most expensive homes has taken a battering in recent years. House prices have been falling consistently for more than two years, dropping almost 4pc in the past year alone, according to Savills. In some areas, this has been far more extreme. In St John's Wood, Regent's Park and Primrose Hill, highly affluent areas historically frequented by artists and celebrities, prices have plummeted 14.2pc in the past year, according to LonRes. North Kensington recorded a drop of 8pc over the same period. Properties are not selling, so house prices are being slashed. In central London's WC postcode, 18.6pc of home on the market have had their prices cut, according to property portal Zoopla. The capital's SW, EC, SE and W postcodes also feature in the top 10. Of homes in central London valued at between £1m and £10m that sold in the first three months of the year, 82pc went for less than the asking price, according to data from Coutts. It said that the level of discounting is at a five-year high. Across prime central London, values were 21.2pc lower in the first quarter of 2025 than in the peak in 2014, according to estate agent Savills. That marks a 42pc drop in real terms. The Government's hostile policies towards wealth, combined with high interest rates, uncertainty and sky-high stamp duty have pushed many of the capital's wealthy, and largely international, residents to sell up. But this has created a 'unique opportunity' to find bargains, estate agents say, and many British families are taking advantage. 'It's not all about non-doms' An exodus of millionaires due to the Government's scrapping of the non-dom policy is the driving factor behind the slump. The UK is expected to lose more millionaires than any other country this year, according to advisory firm Henley & Partners, which predicted that a net 16,500 millionaires will leave Britain in 2025, up from 10,800 last year. 'I'm on the shop floor, and I speak to buyers and sellers – they are leaving. That's a fact, there's no getting past it,' explains Stuart Bailey, who looks after the prime central London market for estate agent Knight Frank. But there are others who have also felt forced into selling up, he adds. 'It's not all about non-doms – that's an eye-catching headline term. 'There are wealthy entrepreneurial self-made Britons, who employ a lot of people here and own property, there are Americans who come here, and the 90-dayers too [who avoid paying tax in the UK if they spend less than 90 days here in a tax year]. 'There's a perception of successive UK governments – not just this one – as being anti-wealth, and that has a big impact on sentiment. If one person leaves and speaks to their friends, they then decide that if their mates are going, they might go too. It feeds itself.' 'This is a unique opportunity' The exodus of ultra-wealthy, more international buyers from the market is spurring other buyers into action. Many are British, explains Keith Rigby of estate agent Rigby and Marchant. 'At the moment there are more domestic buyers than overseas buyers… [British families] have the same anxieties and concerns as our international buyers, but they have different needs. They have ties to the schools here, and can't just up sticks and move to Dubai or Milan.' Christian Lock-Necrews, of estate agent Winkworth's Knightsbridge branch, adds: 'It's more domestically led now. People feel like they don't need to be international billionaires to be able to compete. The market works again for British buyers, who have been the predominant [demographic] recently.' British families prefer buying in areas that are still 'prime', but which are less central, adds Rigby. '[Areas such as] Shepherd's Bush, Chiswick and Queen's Park have continued to do well with domestic buyers, because prices there did not rise as quickly as the prime areas did between 2012 and 2016.' In areas generally frequented by international residents, there is a glut of properties for sale, explains Charlie Ellingworth, of Property Vision, a buying agency. 'In Chester Square [in Belgravia], for instance, there are more than 20 houses on the market... Montpelier Square [in Knightsbridge], with Harrods as the local grocer, has nine houses on the open market and at least another three who could be persuaded. 'The 'international' market of central London is, at best, treading water and the areas further out – essentially 'domestic' – are trading quite strongly.' Lock-Necrews believes that prices are now at their lowest. 'If you're buying now, I think this is likely to be the bottom,' he says. 'For me, [the prime central London market] has found its baseline. Those transactions are starting to take place again, people are spending. But it'll only be possible to tell when looking back in the rear-view mirror. From what I can see, this is a unique opportunity, and the people buying now will get the best of it.' Bailey adds: 'There are people who have moved to Dubai, and they don't like it – I suspect that in due course, many intend or wish to come back. They're not necessarily happier there, but they feel forced out.'
CBC
02-07-2025
- Politics
- CBC
I can't forget Canada froze bank accounts of protesters. Now singing O Canada feels hollow
This First Person column is the experience of Gord Larson, who lives in Calgary, and is part of a Canada Day series exploring what Canada means to people across this country. For more information about First Person stories, see the FAQ. I've never felt more patriotic pride than when singing O Canada with a crowd of hundreds at a protest shutting down the Coutts border crossing. It was February 2022. My wife had just lost her job after refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19. I worried I might be next, but took heart as the trucker convoy headed to Ottawa. We couldn't join them, so instead we drove south from Calgary to Coutts, Alta., for two days to show our support. The crowd was so big that we had to walk 15 minutes down the highway just to get to the protest. The spirit of community, where everyone just wanted to pitch in and help, was almost overwhelming. A pastor led us in prayer and then the whole crowd launched into O Canada, just belting it out with everything we had. I even saw the RCMP join in the singing. Just typing this and remembering that moment makes the hair on my arms stand up. What does Canada mean to me? In that moment, I was filled with pride. I saw Canada as a force for democracy and freedom in the world and felt sure it would listen to the voice of its own citizens. But this feeling didn't last. Ottawa's response to these protests left me feeling betrayed, and today I'm at a place where I never thought I'd be: in favour of separatism. The roots of my alienation I was born in Chilliwack, B.C. I was a bit of a nerd for politics and paid attention when Reform candidate Chuck Strahl came to speak with my high school graduating class in 1993. He shared the party's plans for a more inclusive system, one with a balance of power that wouldn't allow Quebec's separatist debates to keep dominating the national agenda. Repeating the party slogan, he said, "The West wants in!" And for me, as a young man eavesdropping on my parents' frustrated conversations, that made everything click. Later that year, I was old enough to vote. I was standing in line at the voting location when I heard another voter say the election had already been called for the Jean Chrétien Liberals. The votes from Atlantic and Central Canada were enough for a win. It felt like my vote didn't even matter. I learned a lot about the roots of Western alienation in the years that followed. I studied political science at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George and learned we've never had true proportional representation in Canada because of the grandfather and senatorial clauses in the Constitution. The smaller provinces in Atlantic Canada are always overrepresented compared to provinces such as Alberta and Ontario. In 2002, I moved to Calgary, where oil was fuelling an economic boom. It was heady stuff; I picked up a skilled trade and found a pride of purpose far greater than I had in university. But surrounded by other Albertans, I began to see Canada's equalization system as a personal issue — my taxes and my community being disrespected by an unfair system. WATCH | What is Canada's equalization system: I started reading about the details and learned, for example, about Quebec being the largest beneficiary of equalization. It subsidizes hydroelectricity for its residents but isn't required to account for the revenue it's giving up. That's a political decision and it would be richer if it charged full price. Albertans pay full price for their electricity. But through equalization, Quebec gets to hold out its hand. Instead of a thank you, Quebec politicians insult our "dirty energy" while buying record amounts of gasoline. The pandemic That made me bitter and angry, but at that point, I still had hope for change and was loyal to Canada. In a referendum to separate, I wouldn't have checked the box to actually leave my country. Now it's changed. The COVID-19 pandemic hit hard. I watched my personal rights erode. I was shocked at the pressure I felt to get vaccinated and how I'd be verbally attacked if I argued. I'm still so angry at this. The convoy and the border protest were an effort to be heard, and I followed the developments from Ottawa closely, checking conservative news blogs each morning. I would have been with the trucker convoy if I could have taken time off work. For two-and-a-half weeks before the Emergencies Act was invoked, the convoy occupied the blocks around Parliament Hill and not one car was burned, not one shop looted. There were charges, but none for police officers assaulted. I can understand why it was hard for Ottawa residents to live with. But personally, I saw nothing I thought could justify a government invoking that act, which I see as an extreme response. I was horrified when, instead of talking with convoy protesters about why they were upset, the provincial government convinced a court to freeze the GiveSendGo account, and worse, without a court order, the RCMP got banks to freeze the personal bank accounts of people protesting. Then police moved in to clear the streets and there was a standoff. To me, this was naked authoritarianism and two years later, a federal judge ruled the Liberal's use of the Emergencies Act was unreasonable. But no one within the government or banking system has been disciplined. Not one new law was created to protect the integrity of personal banking, and now the Liberal government has even been re-elected. I sang O Canada with another crowd this year. I was in a downtown Calgary pub in February for the Four Nations Cup. I tried to belt it out like before, but it felt hollow this time. I've finally lost hope. I don't think "the West wants in" anymore. For me, the West wants out.
CTV News
01-07-2025
- CTV News
Man jailed for role in Coutts, Alta., COVID protest gains bail pending appeal
Anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate demonstrators leave in a truck convoy after blocking the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — One of two men jailed last year for their roles in the Coutts, Alta., border protest has been granted bail while he appeals his conviction and sentence. An Alberta appeal court judge says Chris Carbert does not pose a threat to public safety and is unlikely to commit a criminal offence if released from custody. Last fall, a jury found Carbert and Anthony Olienick guilty of mischief over $5,000 and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace for their role in the blockade. They were each given prison sentences of 6 1/2 years. Olienick was also convicted of possessing a pipe bomb. The blockade tied up traffic at the Canada-U.S. border crossing for two weeks in early 2022, and was one of several nationwide protests against COVID-19 rules and vaccine mandates. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2025.
Global News
09-06-2025
- General
- Global News
Iconic Toronto church marks 1 year since fire ripped through its walls
A year ago, Toronto firefighters responded to the four-alarm fire on Gladstone Avenue that left St. Anne's Anglican Church in ruins. Extensive damage to the national historic site in Toronto's Little Portugal extended well beyond the walls – many paintings were damaged or destroyed, including early works by Group of Seven members. Now, the team at Toronto Art Restoration is working to revitalize some of those pieces. 'It's like restoring a piece of their story, a piece of their history, a piece of their memory in a way,' said Toronto Art Restoration Director Alicia Coutts. It's a slow process – the art pieces include three murals: Christ in the Garden, The Tempest and Healing of the Palsied Man. Coutts said these works are an example of Canadian classical art, integrating the evolution of Canadian cultural history into sacred spaces. Story continues below advertisement 'There was definitely some loss, I mean there are some parts of this canvas that are completely charred,' Coutts said. 'But, for the most part, you can see a lot of the imagery still and a lot of the colours — even some of the original gold leaf that was on it, I was able to maintain.' Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Coutts said she managed to take massive amounts of soot off the surface of the works, as well as a burnt layer on some areas. 'It took quite some time, but I've gotten through all of the cleaning of the murals, ' she said. View image in full screen After restoration work was completed. Toronto Art Restoration View image in full screen Before restoration work was done. Toronto Art Restoration The next stage of her work will be visual reintegration — but how much of each piece should be recreated? Story continues below advertisement That's a decision she plans to bring to the church and community. 'Should we be remembering this part of history?' asked Coutts. 'Is there a middle ground in between completely doing full visual re-integration and getting it seamlessly blended in with the original paint, or do we — you know — sometimes what we do is use muted colours.' The original church remains boarded up as discussions about the rebuild continue. The congregation has been meeting at the Parish Hall on Dufferin Street in the meantime. The cause of the fire remains unknown. The investigation by the Office of the Fire Marshal is ongoing.
Gulf Business
05-06-2025
- Business
- Gulf Business
Bridging Dubai and Singapore: A private banking mission in a changing world
Bank of Singapore's head of private banking for Europe and the Middle East, Ranjit Khanna. Late one May evening, the Burj Khalifa's LED façade burst into red and white. The world's tallest tower was celebrating 40 years of bilateral trade between Singapore and the UAE, its pin-sharp stripes forming the flag of the Lion City. From an apartment a few streets away, Ranjit Khanna – head of private banking for Bank of Singapore in the Middle East and Europe – watched, phone in hand, capturing the moment. It was, he says, 'so wonderful' to see the city he now calls home illuminate the country that shaped his career. The flash of colour is a neat metaphor for Khanna himself: a banker whose roots stretch from high-school days in Dubai to three decades on the trading floors of Singapore, London and New York – and whose mission today is to fuse Asian expertise with Gulf ambition. Khanna's biography reads like a map of the modern private-wealth industry. Born to a banker father who was posted around the region, he finished school in Dubai, started university at the American University in Cairo, then crossed the Atlantic to begin his career with American Express Bank in 1990. Four years later he was back in the UAE as a relationship manager for Standard Chartered; by 2010 he was leading Coutts' Southeast Asia franchise out of Singapore. In 2023, the call came to return once more to Dubai – this time to anchor Bank of Singapore's push across the Middle East and Europe. Today, he leads a team of around 140 people, a figure that he says 'has grown headcount almost threefold in the last four or five years'. Much of that expansion has been on the front line: last year alone the DIFC branch increased its private-banker ranks by over 20 per cent, while simultaneously beefing up product and advisory benches. The client base is diverse but focused, serving three core segments: Global South Asia (including Indian and Pakistani entrepreneurs based in Dubai), GCC high-net-worth families, and international expats from the UK, Europe and increasingly, China. 'This region has long-standing cultural and economic ties to South Asia,' says Khanna. 'Many of our clients or their families have been part of the entrepreneurial fabric of the UAE for generations. That affinity, combined with Dubai's openness and strategic location, makes it a natural centre for private wealth.' He compares the regional trading culture with Singapore's own development, where merchants from Fujian, especially those from the Hokkien-speaking south, helped shape a nation. The power of a three-hub model Bank of Singapore's own evolution mirrors that same cross-cultural dynamic. Its parent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), is 'the oldest Singaporean bank' – founded more than 90 years ago to serve overseas Chinese merchants across Southeast Asia. In 2010, OCBC acquired the Asian and Middle East franchise of ING Private Bank, and formed a fully fledged, stand-alone private bank under the name, Bank of Singapore. Khanna sums it up crisply: 'We are the only independent global Asian private bank.' The Dubai office continues to expand on the deep client roots built from the bank's ING Asia heritage. Under CEO Jason Moo – appointed March 2023 from a Swiss rival – Bank of Singapore now operates a three-hub model. Hong Kong covers Greater China; Singapore leads ASEAN; and Dubai oversees all business west of the Strait of Malacca, including offices in Luxembourg and London. Traditionally, institutions like Bank of Singapore would have run EMEA operations from Europe. Khanna explains that the bank deliberately reversed this: 'We believe the Middle East has a much more important role to play.' This shift reflects Dubai's growing global influence, not just as a financial centre but as a magnet for wealth and talent. Indeed, the DIFC hub now accounts for a significant share of Bank of Singapore's global business, with ambitions to grow that further in line with the emirate's D33 vision. 'For simplicity's sake, my title is head of Middle East and Europe, ,' Khanna says. 'But really, anything west of Singapore comes under the Dubai hub.' That ambition comes at a time when private wealth dynamics are shifting. After a post-pandemic boom in asset prices, 2022 brought a correction: global wealth shrank by 4 per cent. Yet the UAE saw wealth grow by 8 per cent. 'That is on the back of really positive government federal policies, as well as investments in business and communities… and the sheer generation of wealth,' says Khanna. What's more, Dubai is now home to the world's second-largest millionaire migration after Singapore, according to the likes of Henley & Partners. 'In many ways, the UAE in particular has been a beneficiary of the largest millionaire migration in the world, rivalled only by Singapore. So for us, we are in the two of the best markets.' Building resilience, not just returns As expectations rise, so too does the need for deeper insight. 'Clients in the Middle East have become far more engaged and discerning, and they are looking for advisors who can deliver not only performance but also perspective — clarity amid volatility,' says Khanna. Bank of Singapore's answer has been to invest heavily in advisory strength and insight generation. 'To help clients navigate uncertain times, we are committed to building intellectual capital, bringing together leading minds and encouraging diversity of thought,' he says. The bank established its CIO Global Advisory Council in 2024 to support this effort. Bank of Singapore released the inaugural CIO Supertrends Report, and has continued to refine it with updates in 2025. 'The idea is to look at things from a five-year horizon rather than the immediate here and now,' Khanna notes. In February 2025, Bank of Singapore held its CIO Summit in Dubai, where thought leaders discussed strategy in a multi-polar world. This year will also see the launch of a new global asset allocation framework, which Khanna calls a major milestone. 'We employed a rigorous process to review over 60,000 portfolios, putting each portfolio through more than 24,000 stress tests… more than 1.4 billion stress tests conducted in total across eight months,' he says. 'We construct portfolios to perform reasonably well across a range of plausible scenarios, even if the forecasts of individual asset classes do not meet expectations.' The bank's diversification strategy spans equity styles, fixed income and alternatives. 'Diversification today goes beyond geography and asset class,' Khanna says. 'We are regularly discussing low volatility and high-quality equity strategies… Fixed Income at these yield levels and with rate cuts priced across key Developed Markets remains an important component… alternatives provide diversification benefits with less directional exposure to both equity and credit markets as well as inflation hedging characteristics.' Guiding families through generational transitions While investment performance is essential, legacy planning is just as critical for many families. 'We see increasing interest and awareness among our ultra-high-net-worth clients and families in relation to generational wealth transfer,' Khanna says. Bank of Singapore's Financial Intermediaries, Family Office and Wealth Advisory (FFWA) unit works directly with families to structure wealth transitions. 'They want to start this conversation early, and they are looking for suitable tools and wealth protection solutions,' he says. 'An equally important role of a private bank in supporting clients in their succession and legacy journey is fostering conversations among family members to align values, vision, and responsibilities,' Khanna adds. 'It is not just about the transfer of the financial capital but also about the human, social and cultural capital that is intrinsic to maintaining the family legacy.' The bank also advises families on philanthropy, multi-family office structures, and governance models depending on complexity and scale. A bridge between capital flows Looking ahead, the growth corridors between the Gulf and Asia will only deepen. 'Our clients in the Middle East are increasingly looking East,' says Khanna. 'The core of our investment team is based in Asia… this facilitates on-the-ground research and networks helping us identify long-term opportunities that align with our clients' return and risk appetite.' That value is matched by Singapore's status as a trusted booking centre. 'Singapore offers a powerful trifecta: political stability, robust regulation, and global connectivity. It is a neutral and trusted gateway to Asia: ideal for asset diversification and international wealth structuring.' 'We do not just carry the 'Singapore' name; we embody the 'Singapore' identity, reflecting the reliability that our clients seek,' Khanna says. At a time when the Middle East and Asia are becoming the two dominant centres of new wealth creation, Bank of Singapore's footprint and focus feel prescient. 'We are Asia's global private bank – Asian in values, global in capabilities and perspectives.' That blend of cultural alignment, institutional rigour, and global insight is what brought Khanna back to Dubai in the first place. 'For me to be successful, what do I want? I want a great brand – box checked. I want a great platform – box checked. I want to make sure I'm working with an institution that's got the right balance sheet so that we can help our clients – box checked.' Success, he insists, is not about league tables. 'If you look at the number of people we employ in the private bank, we're the third largest in the DIFC,' he says. 'What matters is when clients think about a private bank, they want to engage, we're top of mind.' As the lights of the Burj Khalifa glow once more this year – maybe next time to mark a new milestone for the bank itself – it's clear that the relationship between Singapore and Dubai is more than symbolic. It's strategic.
