CPI inflation showed a sharp drop last month from 0.7% in October to 0.3% in November as Black Friday price cuts and shop sales nudged prices down.

Fast-growing Chartered Financial Planner Fairstone has acquired South Wales-based UskVale Financial Planning for an undisclosed sum.

Tilney Smith & Williamson is following rivals by removing VAT from its Managed Portfolio Service propositions.

Fintech Moneyinfo has launched a smartphone app which gives advisers access to Moneyinfo back office tools and allows them to communicate with clients via their smartphones.

The Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) has today published its key data standards in a move which should help providers begin to get ready for the new dashboards which will give pensions savers detailed information about their retirement savings in one place.

Global private equity firm Bain Capital, the owner of esure and other financial businesses, is to acquire the savings, retirement and protection business of mutual insurer LV= for £530m.

The Financial Conduct Authority has fined Barclays Bank UK PLC, Barclays Bank PLC and Clydesdale Financial Services Limited (Barclays) £26m for poor treatment of consumer credit customers in financial difficulties.

Private equity firm AnaCap Financial Partners has acquired the £8bn Novia adviser platform, its third platform acquisition in 12 months.

Financial Planning software suite FinCalc has added lifetime allowance (LTA) functionality to its cashflow modeller.

Former Financial Planner Rob Roberts, MP for Delyn (North Wales), told the House of Commons that the UK could find itself gripped by a retirement crisis if savers’ attitudes towards Financial Planning and advice did not change.