Finance

Westfield-Barnes Airport revenues rising, manager tells Finance Committee

Published

1 year ago

June 14, 2024

Westfield-Barnes Airport revenues rising, manager tells Finance Committee

WESTFIELD — Revenues at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport are up 40% over the past year, which had City Council Finance Committee members this week suggesting that the Airport Department could be on the path to self-sufficiency.

Airport Manager Christopher Willenborg reported at the June 12 meeting of the Finance Committee that the increase in receipts has to do with the addition of a new hangar, new leases and rental adjustments. He said the airport also hired an outside company to collect landing fees, and exceeded its anticipated income for the year.

He said at the end of 2023, takeoffs and landings were up 3% to total 54,000, and this year is trending to a 4% increase, even with very low January numbers. He said Barnes Airport is the preferred airport for University of Massachusetts Amherst athletics, and processed 3,800 student athletes, another big revenue source.

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Finance

EU weighs using Russian assets or borrowing to finance Kyiv

Published

3 hours ago

November 10, 2025

Press Room

EU weighs using Russian assets or borrowing to finance Kyiv

BRUSSELS, Nov 10 (Reuters) – The European Union will on Thursday discuss two main ways to raise financial support for Ukraine – borrowing the money, or the more likely option of using frozen Russian assets, a senior EU official said.

EU finance ministers are meeting in Brussels after the bloc’s leaders pledged on October 23 to cover Ukraine’s needs for 2026-2027, and asked the European Commission to prepare options on how to do that.

The EU official close to the talks said the Commission’s options paper was not ready yet, but there were only two realistic ways to provide the 130-140 billion euros ($152-163 billion) Ukraine is likely to need.

One was to use the frozen Russian assets, as proposed by the Commission. Russia said last month any such move would be illegal and threatened to deliver a “painful response”.

The other was for EU governments to borrow the funds on the market, but this would involve paying interest.

Most of the Russian assets frozen in Europe are on the accounts of Belgian securities depository Euroclear. Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, almost all of the securities have matured and become cash.

The option involving frozen assets would mean the EU would replace the Russian cash on Euroclear accounts with zero-coupon AAA bonds issued by the European Commission.

The cash would then go to Kyiv, which would only repay the loan if it eventually gets war reparations from Russia, effectively making the loan a grant and making Russian reparations available before the war ends. The option is called the Reparations Loan, because it would be linked to Russia paying reparations.

PREFERENCE FOR USE OF RUSSIAN FROZEN ASSETS

Under that arrangement, the only financial contribution on the part of European Union governments would be to guarantee the Commission loans issued for Euroclear. The risk that the guarantees would be called upon is very small because EU governments themselves decide when to release the frozen Russian assets.

“In my mind EU leaders will opt for the reparations loan model,” the senior EU official said.

But Belgium, which is home to Euroclear, believes it would be liable in case of a successful Russian lawsuit against the company. It wants EU governments to pledge they would come up with the necessary cash to repay Moscow within three days if a court ever decided that the assets must be returned.

EU government officials say that, even though it was unlikely ever to be needed, mobilising potentially more than 100 billion euros in three days would be a big challenge for the EU.

Belgium also wants the Commission to produce a solid legal base for the whole operation to minimise the risk of a lost lawsuit and has asked other EU countries that hold frozen Russian assets to join the scheme to spread responsibility.

The Commission is now in talks with Belgium to address its demands with a view to securing support of EU leaders for the plan in December.

The other option would be for EU governments to borrow on the market and pass the cash on to Ukraine.

This is for them a far less appealing option because it would increase debt levels of many already highly indebted EU countries and entail paying annual interest for the duration of the loan, either by Ukraine, which can ill afford it, or by the EU.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)

Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Andrew Heavens

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Jan is the Deputy Bureau Chief for France and Benelux, running the Reuters office in Brussels. He has been covering European Union policy, focusing on economics, since 2005 after a five year assignment in Stockholm where he covered tech and telecoms stocks, the central bank and general news. Jan joined Reuters in 1993 in Warsaw from the main Polish TV news programme “Wiadomosci”, where he was a reporter and anchor for the morning news edition. Jan won the Reuters Journalist of the Year award in 2007 in the Scoop of the Year category, a second time in 2010 for his coverage of the euro zone sovereign debt crisis and for the third time in 2011, this time as part of the Brussels team, for the Story of the Year. A Polish national, Jan graduated from Warsaw University with a Master’s in English literature. He is a keen sailor, photographer and bushcraft enthusiast.

Finance

PRESS RELEASE: Global Finance Names The 2026 FX Tech Awards As Part Of The Gordon Platt Foreign Exchange Awards

Published

21 hours ago

November 9, 2025

Press Room

PRESS RELEASE: Global Finance Names The 2026 FX Tech Awards As Part Of The Gordon Platt Foreign Exchange Awards

Home Awards Winner Announcements PRESS RELEASE: Global Finance Names The 2026 FX Tech Awards As Part Of The Gordon Platt Foreign Exchange Awards

Global Finance magazine has named its annual FX Tech Awards as part of the Gordon Platt Foreign Exchange Awards 2026. This awards program honors companies that conceive fresh ideas and demonstrate exceptional skill in designing or deploying technology to improve foreign exchange.

These awards are named in honor of Gordon Platt, who was the driving force behind this program for many years.

An exclusive report on this program will be published in the January 2026 print and digital editions, as well as online at GFMag.com. It will also include Global Finance’s 26th annual World’s Best Foreign Exchange Banks Awards.

Winning organizations will be honored at Global Finance’s Gordon Platt Foreign Exchange and Best SME Bank Awards Ceremony in London – Date and Location TBD.

Global Finance’s regional experts considered bank and technology provider submissions and used their own research and knowledge to make shortlists in all regions and categories, before applying a custom algorithm, which includes market share, scope of global coverage, innovative features, competitive pricing, and customer service to help choose the 2026 FX Tech Award winners.

“Global Finance’s 2026 FX Tech Award winners are redefining what’s possible in foreign exchange technology,” said Joseph Giarraputo, founder and editorial director of Global Finance. “By delivering smarter, faster, and more secure solutions, these innovators are shaping the future of finance. Global Finance is proud to honor their outstanding contributions.”

The complete list of Global Finance’s 2026 FX Tech Awards follows.

For editorial information please contact: Andrea Fiano, editor, email: afiano@gfmag.com

###

Please fill in the form below to receive full coverage of the World’s Best Foreign Exchange Bank Awards 2026 when available.

About Global Finance

Global Finance, founded in 1987, has a circulation of 50,000 readers in 185 countries, territories and districts. Global Finance’s audience includes senior corporate and financial officers responsible for making investment and strategic decisions at multinational companies and financial institutions. Its website — GFMag.com — offers analysis and articles that are the legacy of 38 years of experience in international financial markets. Global Finance is headquartered in New York, with offices around the world. Global Finance regularly selects the top performers among banks and other providers of financial services. These awards have become a trusted standard of excellence for the global financial community.

Logo Use Rights

To obtain rights to use the Global Finance FX Tech Awards 2026 logo or any other Global Finance logos, please contact Chris Giarraputo at: chris@gfmag.com. The unauthorized use of Global Finance logos is strictly prohibited.

Finance

Scotland’s finance secretary asks chancellor for assurances over tax plans

Published

2 days ago

November 8, 2025

Press Room

Scotland’s finance secretary asks chancellor for assurances over tax plans

PA Media Shona Robison in the Holyrood chamber with a neutral expression on her face. She is holding a black leather folder with paper protruding from the top. She wears a navy top and has her blonde hair pinned up. — Shona Robison’s “tests” for Rachel Reeves include increasing consequential funding for Scotland

Scotland’s finance secretary has asked for a meeting and assurances from the chancellor over speculation she will raise income tax in her Budget.

Such a move, which Rachel Reeves refused to rule out last week, would lead to an automatic deduction from Scotland’s funding from the Treasury.

Shona Robison said Labour should ditch “outdated” fiscal rules which include making sure day-to-day spending is funded by tax revenues.

The Treasury said it would not comment on speculation but claimed its previous “record settlement” for Scotland meant it receives 20% more funding per head of population than the rest of the UK.

In an unusual pre-Budget speech in Downing Street last week, Reeves said she would make “necessary choices” in her tax and spending plans later this month after the world had “thrown more challenges our way”.

She did not rule out a U-turn on Labour’s general election manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, VAT or National Insurance, leading to speculation that a tax rise is on the way.

Any increase in income tax by the UK government could see a fall in the block grant Scotland receives from Westminster as a result of a funding agreement called the Block Grant Adjustment.

The Fraser of Allander Institute has estimated a 2p rise in the basic rate of tax elsewhere in the UK could cut Scotland’s budget by up £1bn, unless the Scottish government matches the increase with its own tax rise.

Robison said the chancellor’s speech had “piled uncertainty on uncertainty” and that she had requested an “urgent meeting” where she would set out three tests.

These are:

The chancellor “ditch her outdated, restricted fiscal rules” and faces up to a “new reality”.
All money raised from tax increases is invested in public services, meaning the block grant also increases as a result
Confirmation that Scotland will not see a cut in funding

She said: “They came to office promising an end to austerity, so to impose it on Scotland would be a political betrayal from which Labour would never recover.”

Rachel Reeves’ Downing Street speech led to speculation she plans to raise income tax

Getty Images Chancellor Rachel Reeves stands in front of a union jack wearing a plum blazer and white V-neck top. — Rachel Reeves’ Downing Street speech led to speculation she plans to raise income tax

Income tax in Scotland

Ahead of the last general election First Minister John Swinney urged the next UK government to replicate Scotland’s devolved taxation system where higher earners pay more in tax.

People living in Scotland earning below about £30,300 pay slightly less income tax than they would elsewhere in the UK, with a maximum saving of about £28.

Above that threshold they pay increasingly more as earnings increase. Someone on £50,000 in Scotland pays £1,528 more than they would in the rest of the UK. That rises to £5,207 for someone on £125,000.

Proposed income tax bands in Scotland -
Starter rate £12,571 - £15,397 - 19%
Basic rate £15,398 - £27,491 - 20%
Intermediate rate £27,492 - £43,662 - 21%
Higher rate £43,663 - £75,000 - 42%
Advanced rate £75,001 - £125,140 - 45%
Top rate Over £125,140 -48%

Swinney recently said he had no plans to make any further changes to taxation in Scotland ahead of next May’s Holyrood election.

However, following the chancellor’s speech last week he has now declined to rule this out.

What is the Treasury saying?

The Treasury said it could not comment on the chancellor’s plans ahead of her Budget, but it said she had outlined the global and long term economic challenges that would influence her decisions.

A spokesperson said: “Our record funding settlement for Scotland will mean over 20% more funding per head than the rest of the UK.

“We have also confirmed £8.3bn in funding for GB Energy-Nuclear and GB Energy in Aberdeen, up to £750m for a new supercomputer at Edinburgh University, and are investing £452m over four years for City and Growth Deals across Scotland.

“This investment is all possible because our fiscal rules are non-negotiable, they are the basis of the stability which underpins growth.”

Why would a UK tax hike cut Scotland’s budget?

A change to UK income tax would apply directly to residents in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – but it could also have an impact on Scottish taxpayers.

When the devolved government in Scotland was given more tax raising powers nearly a decade ago, an agreement called the Fiscal Framework was agreed setting out how the new system would work.

Part of that was something called the Block Grant Adjustment (BGA) which meant the funding Holyrood receives from Westminster was reduced to take into the account money the Scottish government was now able to raise directly.

The BGA was intended to stop either government being better or worse off due to devolution.

It means the UK government is able to deduct funds from the block grant that it estimates it would have received if tax-raising powers were not devolved.

If the chancellor raises income tax, the BGA will also change.

Scotland will then have to generate more tax revenue or cut public spending in order to avoid a budget shortfall.

The Scottish Budget will be announced on 13 January.