David Ainsworth's round-up of what's happening in the finance world
The Skoll World Forum, an international conference for the social economy, will take place from 14 to 16 April in Oxford.Organised by Oxford University's Said Business School, it will bring together social investment and enterprise experts.
Simpler rules are being introduced for organisations with partial exemption from VAT that pay only a small amount of tax, HM Revenue & Customs has announced. Charities that carry out business and non-business activities and pay less than £7,500 a year in VAT will find it easier to reclaim the tax. The changes, from 1 April, follow a consultation on the simplification of partial exemption rules carried out in 2008.
Investment house Aros has launched a new investment fund that will put money into social businesses. The Aros Altru fund will invest in small to medium-sized businesses in the UK and abroad that have an active social benefit but also provide a market-rate commercial return, and will offer equity-level returns to investors.
