Big talker: Treasury/private equity

The british Treasury is starting to talk tough on private equity. For several weeks, ministers responded to the global backlash against the buyout industry by speaking out warmly in its favour. But now Ed Balls, the City minister, has changed tack with the promise of a new investigation into the industry’s tax arrangements. This investigation will focus specifically on «shareholder loans». These have nothing to with the leverage that private equity firms use to buy companies. Instead, they make...