In a deal with U.S. prosecutors, Swiss private bank BSI SA agreed today to pay a $211 million penalty and hand over leads on more than 3,000 accounts with U.S. ties, as well as the actual names of an undisclosed, but presumably much smaller group of U.S. account owners. The… – Continue reading
Goldman Sachs is expected to earn up to $15 million for trading Chevron’s $4.73 billion Caltex Australia stake. Sources said Goldman had done the deal at the lower end of the block trade fee spectrum, charging the global oil giant an estimated 25 basis points for underwriting and selling the… – Continue reading
The government may be going all out to promote Gujarat International Finance Tec-city (GIFT) as a financial services hub on the lines of Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and London, but an immediate migration of business — initially estimated to be $50 billion annually — away from these established centres would… – Continue reading
In Washington, they haul the bigwigs up to Capitol Hill for congressional hearings. Nobody is immune from scrutiny, whether the bosses at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan or Apple chief Tim Cook, compelled to defend his company’s “tax gimmickry” before a sardonic Carl Levin. In Westminster, the head of Google… – Continue reading
Armenian National Committee of America Government Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian testified yesterday before a key Congressional panel in support of increased U.S. assistance to Nagorno Karabakh, Armenia, at-risk Middle Eastern Armenian communities, and the Javakhk region of Georgia. In her opening remarks, Nahapetian thanked House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc agreed to sell its Coutts International private banking business to Switzerland’s Union Bancaire Privee, as the bailed-out British lender retreats from the Swiss wealth market. RBS is expected to sell Coutts for 350 million francs ($360 million) to 400 million francs, depending… – Continue reading
When American companies take advantage of loopholes to keep their earnings overseas and away from the American tax man, they typically justify the legal-but-embarrassing move by appealing to their responsibility to shareholders—anything to get them another buck. But a March 17 Credit Suisse report on the $2.1 trillion in cash… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON: A US judge on Friday decided not to require prison time for two former Credit Suisse Group AG bankers who pleaded guilty to helping US customers evade taxes by using Swiss accounts. US District Court Judge Gerald Lee sentenced Andreas Bachmann and Josef Dorig to serve five years of… – Continue reading
Public accounts committee advocates legislation making promotion of aggressive tax avoidance illegal and review of government tax relief schemes The next government should introduce new laws to prosecute financial advisers who help wealthy individuals and firms in aggressive tax avoidance, a comprehensive parliamentary report has found. The public accounts committee,… – Continue reading
Modi’s government is focused on expanding manufacturing, lightening the regulatory burden on companies NEW DELHI—Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has a simple message for critics pushing for deeper change in the economic policies of the world’s largest democracy: It’s coming, be patient. In an interview Thursday, Mr. Jaitley, a corporate… – Continue reading
SINGAPORE, March 27 (IFR) – China’s Bank of Communications said it would raise up to Rmb60bn (US$9.7bn) in Additional Tier 1 capital through onshore and offshore offerings. It will sell preference shares of up to Rmb45bn onshore to not more than 200 investors and up to Rmb15bn offshore. The bank… – Continue reading
(CS) The Lord Mayor of the City of London was in Luxembourg Tuesday to meet with representatives of the financial sector and political decision-makers to discuss a number of issues, from BEPS to FTT and TTIP. Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Alan Yarrow explained that there is much common… – Continue reading
In recent years, the miscellaneous tax bill has largely been a laundry list of technical corrections to Vermont’s tax code. Changes in sales and income tax rates haven’t been approved since 2006 and 2009, respectively, and upticks in the property tax rate have been made in the past two years… – Continue reading
Two important developments last week in the transfer pricing domain have the potential of completely transforming the way this critical and controversial tax area has been handled by the income-tax department. One is the Delhi High Court judgment on tackling the AMP (advertisement, marketing and sales promotion) expenses involving a… – Continue reading
Clearstream now offers five offshore RMB accounts in four leading financial centres and will give customers more options and flexibility in managing offshore RMB liquidity Clearstream, the international central securities depository of Deutsche Börse Group, is making further progress in its Asia strategy: the company will open three new offshore… – Continue reading
FORMER HM Revenue & Customs chief Dave Hartnett is to be grilled tomorrow by MPs over why he failed to prosecute more HSBC customers for alleged tax evasion. Hartnett is set to appear before the Public Accounts Committee and chairwoman Margaret Hodge is expected to take him to task for… – Continue reading
It’s been dubbed the ‘Google tax’! Starting April 1st, the UK will levy a new ‘diverted profits tax’. This is the British government’s offensive against multinationals like Google, Amazon, Starbucks and others accused of shifting profits and avoiding tax. In doing so UK will become the first country to implement… – Continue reading
The measure The Chancellor confirmed that the new diverted profits tax (DPT) will be introduced from 1 April 2015. DPT will apply in two distinct situations, being: Where a foreign company has artificially avoided having a taxable presence in the UK; and Where a UK company (or a UK permanent… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — Luxembourg’s status as a fortress of wealth in the heart of Europe is in peril. The country transformed itself from a rural economy into the European Union’s richest in less than a century by swapping fields and steel mills for hedge funds and multinationals. That model may now… – Continue reading
1.GENERAL QUESTIONS 1.1 Why is the Commission presenting a Tax Transparency Package? The Commission has made the fight against tax evasion and corporate tax avoidance a political priority, with a view to creating a socially and economically more efficient Single Market. While much has been done to advance this agenda… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — The European Union launched a new salvo in its battle against tax evasion with a slate of proposals that would make it harder for companies to avoid taxes. Countries would need to share information on cross-border tax rulings every three months under one piece of the tax package,… – Continue reading
CIBC FirstCaribbean’s regional chief yesterday said commercial banks were “convenient targets” for increased taxes and scapegoating by politicians, warning that this slowed their bottom line recovery. Rik Parkhill, speaking ahead of its Bahamian subsidiary’s annual general meeting (AGM) last night, warned that the asset-based nature of the sector’s tax structure… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – European Union countries will have to share information on tax deals agreed with major corporations under European Commission plans to limit the ability of big business to avoid tax across the 28-nation bloc. EU members would from next year have three months to tell neighbors about new cross-border… – Continue reading
NEW YORK — Faced with the prospect of letting another deal slip through its fingers, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International substantially increased its bid for Salix Pharmaceuticals on Monday, putting a quick end to a bidding war with Endo International. Valeant said it would now pay about $11bn, or $173 a share,… – Continue reading
Irish eyes are smiling in corporate America. The Emerald Isle has emerged as the world’s top recipient of U.S. foreign direct investment, according to a report from the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland. In the first nine months of 2014, Ireland beat the likes of Canada, Mexico, the U.K. and… – Continue reading
ESPN has a great series entitled “30-for-30” where the narrator asks, “What if I told you …?” What if I told you that a state agency, charged with protecting the interests of Hoosiers actually endorsed the bid of an offshore equity fund to buy the Indiana Toll Road lease rights… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – The European Commission will lay out plans on Wednesday designed to limit tax avoidance in the wake of recent revelations that major corporations were paying minimal state contributions across the European Union. EU members will be required to share information on cross-border tax rulings, according to a draft… – Continue reading
Controversial comments against gay parenthood by openly-gay Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana may not have broken the Internet, but what a whirlwind it’s been! Little did the billionaire fashion duo know that when they spoke about the “classical” family in an interview, it would explode. They said “no [to] chemical… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Axis Bank, the country’s third-biggest private sector lender, plans to step up offshore investment banking as it aims to market bonds globally amid rising corporate India’s interest in overseas markets. The bank, which has been topping the league table on bond sales, may also tie up with some international… – Continue reading
The ongoing global initiatives around exchange of tax information and publication of beneficial ownership information, while ostensibly in pursuit of transparency, have their origins in the need for the larger, richer countries to increase tax revenues, and the perception that taxpayers are hiding assets abroad and out of the tax… – Continue reading
When the Obama administration changed the rules to make it harder for US companies to move their headquarters—and their taxable profits—overseas through the reverse mergers called tax inversions, it put the kibosh on at least one such deal. But now critics of the move say rules have made it easier… – Continue reading
Ireland is facing a fresh threat to its 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate, as MEPs begin investigating low rates across Europe, reports the Irish Independent. A 45-member EU Parliament Tax Inquiry Committee, formed in the wake of the Lux Leaks scandal, has been tasked with investigating various tax arrangements… – Continue reading
LONDON, GENEVA — The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) is narrowing the field of bidders for its Coutts International private-banking arm to focus on Switzerland’s Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), people with knowledge of the matter said. UBP is the preferred bidder and an agreement might be reached as early… – Continue reading
The Finance Ministry on Monday notified the Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) rules governing rollback provisions in transfer pricing cases. Though the provisions were announced in Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s maiden Budget in July 2014, they could not be activated because the rules were not codified. Consultants said the move could… – Continue reading
A group of U.S. senators is renewing a push to allow states to collect sales tax from remote retailers that don’t have a physical presence in the state, a move they say would level the playing field between online and traditional retailers. The Marketplace Fairness Act, which passed the Senate… – Continue reading
Giant financial institutions that benefitted from federal bailouts during the depths of the recession have repaid the American people’s largesse by hiding profits overseas to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. According to a report (pdf) commissioned by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), four big banks—Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Bank of… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS, March 10 (Reuters) – The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process: APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS — British bank Barclays (LSE: BARC.L – news) to acquire sole control of Spanish insurer CNP Barclays Vida y Pensiones Compania de Seguros,… – Continue reading
TP Week As a result of Brazil’s unique policy to prevent erosion of the tax base, companies often face double taxation. The pending case before the US Tax Court (Docket 5816-13), 3M Co. et al. v. Commissioner, brings this issue into the spotlight. In this case the US Internal Revenue… – Continue reading
Pharmacy chain Boots Alliance has been under scrutiny from the British public since it first relocated to Switzerland in 2008. The contentious move involved the chain’s headquarters moving to a country that generated little income for the company, but provided low taxes. Yesterday at a retail industry conference, the issue… – Continue reading
Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Tariq Bajwa has said that Pakistan and China are re-negotiating agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income. On the conclusion of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) at the Parliament House here on Thursday,… – Continue reading
Under a plan baked into the White House’s budget for 2016, U.S. corporations would theoretically be forced to pay hundreds of billions in new taxes on money kept abroad. Levying fees on the $2.1 trillion in funds largely held by shell companies through an accounting trick called deferral, the move,… – Continue reading
The Chancellor will take credit for the improving state of the economy and public finances, but real policy changes will have to wait until after the election. Chris Sanger, Head of Tax Policy at EY, comments: “With this Budget announced in the dying embers of the coalition, next week’s event… – Continue reading
Harold Crooks had an epiphany Tuesday afternoon. Asked where he gets his social consciousness from, the New York-based filmmaker recalled something he had never told anyone, a memory from his childhood growing up in Westmount. “I was probably 11 or 12 years old,” he said. “I lived in the middle… – Continue reading
You may have noted there’s an election in the offing Worstall on Wednesday As the tech news outlet of record has told us, UK chancellor George Osborne is preparing to bring in the “Google Tax”. Properly known as the Diverted Profits Tax, it is supposed to be a way of… – Continue reading
The Australian Taxation Office should be given the power to ignore multinational transactions that fail to pass the “common sense test” and ensure that technology company profits are taxed where they are earned, the Australia Institute submission to the inquiry into corporate tax avoidance says. The submission takes a swipe… – Continue reading
There is a sense of déjà vu in tax and legal circles. Vodafone bought itself into Hutch’s Indian telecom operations by acquiring controlling interest in a Cayman Island company that called the shots in the Indian company hitherto controlled by Hutchison Hong Kong. The tax authorities slapped a notice on… – Continue reading
Bank Hapoalim reports it has been ordered to provide the documents by the New York State regulator. The investigation of Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) on its alleged assistance in helping US customers evade taxes is moving forward. Bank Hapoalim revealed in its financial report yesterday that at the start of… – Continue reading
The head of a consortium of businesses that includes multiple profitable companies that consistently pay no or abysmally low federal taxes has been tapped to testify Wednesday at a Senate Budget Committee hearing on the “Benefits of a Balanced Budget.” Former Michigan Gov. John Engler heads the Business Roundtable and… – Continue reading
It is time to look at overseas options if you want stocks with good dividends. If you are particular about investing only in the banking sector, U.S. banks would give you at the most around 3% dividend yield. If this is not good enough for you, you can try investing… – Continue reading
Q4 net profit 478 mln shekels vs 633 mln * Bank provisioned 196 mln shekels in 2014 for U.S. tax evasion * Provisioned 360 mln shekels in Q4 for cost cuts * Shares down 1.3 pct (Adds quotes, details from news conference, analyst’s comments) By Tova Cohen TEL AVIV, March… – Continue reading
