Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed to sell two buildings in Frankfurt and Berlin to Axa Investment Management, according to news agency reports.
Bloomberg says the properties are valued at about €790m ($1bn), according to people who were happy to disclose private information so long as their names were kept secret. Axa made the purchase on behalf of Norges Bank Investment Management, Norway's $650 billion sovereign wealth fund, one of Bloomberg's sources said yesterday.
Banks are seeking to offload property and cut back on under-performing property loans as they strengthen their balance sheets in preparation for Basel III regulations, which will impose stricter capital requirements on lenders.
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Cash-rich pension funds and insurance companies, on the other hand, are happy to invest in assets which provide a steady income stream.
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Frozen thresholds could push ‘tax freedom day’ to latest date this centuryTax freedom day is the point in the year you stop earning for the taxman and start earning for yourself. A rising tax burden could push it to 12 June this year – the latest date since 1982.
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Family left with £20k IHT bill because of out-of-date tax adviceFrozen tax thresholds and dated guidance helped drag the estate into an inheritance tax liability despite extensive use of gifting to avoid a bill
