The British Virgin Islands (BVI) said it is already committed to publishing an anti-money laundering action plan after another worrying report emerged; this time listing the territory among the top 10 countries to which identified United Kingdom criminal assets have been laundered. The BVI is actually the only Caribbean country… – Continue reading
[HONG KONG] China’s central bank has hired banks to arrange its debut offshore yuan bond issuance in London, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters on Monday. The so-called dim sum bond sale comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares for a state visit to Britain this week. Sources… – Continue reading
EY: Four out of 10 Czech businessmen asked for bribe Four out of 10 Czech entrepreneurs have been explicitly asked for a bribe and up to six out of 10 have encountered the possibility of gaining an advantage in their business in exchange for a bribe, according to a survey… – Continue reading
A little over a week ago the British parliamentarian, Sir Eric Pickles – a cabinet member until May of this year and a former Chairman of the Conservative Party – told the London Guardian that the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, was determined to have the BVI and the Cayman… – Continue reading
HONG KONG: Pakistan and Hong Kong SAR signed a landmark agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income on Friday, a statement said. The agreement once implemented by Pakistan and Hong Kong SAR would encourage investment and business between the… – Continue reading
The central government is stepping up its anti-graft drive by cracking down on illegal lending and money-laundering operations in a bid to prevent outbound flows of stolen assets. The Ministry of Public Security says “black banks” and illegal currency exchanges have facilitated the flights of a number of former government… – Continue reading
Hong Kong (HKSAR) – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government noted that the European Commission (EC) updated its webpage on October 12 on the listing of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions amongst the European Union (EU) Member States. After the Government’s liaison and clarification with relevant authorities, the technical error of… – Continue reading
Staff Correspondent The National Board of Revenue on Monday started negotiations with Bhutan to sign an agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion and capital flight from the country. A five-member delegation led by NBR chairman Md Nojibur Rahman has been carrying out the first round… – Continue reading
Bangladesh is set to sign an agreement with Bhutan to avoid double taxation to boost investments, trade and facilitate information exchange between the two Saarc nations, the National Board of Revenue said in a statement. A team led by NBR Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman is now in Thimpu to take… – Continue reading
Chinese measures to steady its rocky markets are putting the future of the offshore yuan bond market at risk, prompting record redemptions from so-called dim-sum debt funds and choking new issuance, reports Reuters. Just a few years ago investors were lining up to buy these offshore bonds denominated in a… – Continue reading
Swiss fund manager will use new Irish Icav structure to move product from the Caribbean domicile UBS has shifted a fund of hedge funds onshore to Ireland from the Cayman Islands, delivering another blow to the reputation of the Caribbean tax haven as the domicile of choice for international hedge… – Continue reading
Hong Kong (HKSAR) – The Government will, in the light of stakeholders’ views collected during consultation, refine the legislative proposals for implementing in Hong Kong the new international standard on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters (AEOI), a government spokesman said today (October 12). Hong Kong pledged… – Continue reading
Both internal and external factors threaten politics, economics Hong Kong’s run of good luck is running out. One obvious sign is the increasing interference of Beijing in its domestic affairs, most recently using tame Chief Executive C.Y. Leung and a clique of yes-men to interfere in a senior academic appointment… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Within days of getting a favourable verdict in the Rs 8,500 crore transfer pricing case from the Bombay High Court, Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao will call on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley this week. Colao will visit India on October 14 and is scheduled to meet Jaitley the… – Continue reading
Dozens of banks signed amnesty agreements disclosing tactics, providing prosecutors with valuable information At a rate of one or two a week, Swiss banks are doing what was once unthinkable: revealing to the world how they helped wealthy Americans cheat on their taxes. Once bastions of secrecy, 41 Swiss banks… – Continue reading
Tax evasion is a massive global industry. Of every hundred dollars people put in bank accounts and investments, eight are socked away in tax havens such as Switzerland and Singapore, according to work by the UC-Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman. While only the very wealthy can afford to play this international… – Continue reading
Hong Kong (HKSAR) – Six orders for implementing the tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) with six Nordic jurisdictions (i.e. Denmark, the Faroes, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden), and an order for implementing the Fourth Protocol to the Comprehensive Arrangement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with the Mainland (the Arrangement)… – Continue reading
Using companies incorporated in international financial centres (IFCs) in structuring financial transactions, capital raisings and corporate structures has long been popular in Asia, particularly Hong Kong (itself an IFC). Following the energetic expansion of the PRC economy and assisted in part by the relaxation of PRC regulations in relation to… – Continue reading
European Commission list identifies the city as one of 30 non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, reports the South China Morning Post. The European Commission is likely to remove Hong Kong from its list of top 30 tax havens, according to a source familiar with the situation. The source, who cannot be identified,… – Continue reading
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China has halved sales tax on small cars to revive growth in the world’s biggest automobile market, a move likely to provide a limited boost to carmakers including Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE), the company embroiled in a global diesel emissions scandal. The cut in sales tax on cars… – Continue reading
Floor traders work during afternoon trading at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in this November 6, 2013 file photo. Hong Kong is working night and day to launch an initiative that will let global investors trade Chinese stocks from the city for the first time and secure the former British… – Continue reading
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) on Monday sought simplified requirements for making investments in India, during their meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Jaitley, who has wrapped up his two-day visit here, highlighted recent initiatives taken by the government to attract investments and told them, efforts were being taken to further… – Continue reading
Hong Kong’s Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) has released a report setting out recommendations on policies, including tax measures, to enhance the city’s role as a regional and global financial booking center. Financial institutions utilize such centers to enter into contracts for financial products, undertake primary obligations for delivery or… – Continue reading
AUGUST DECLINE:Deposits at banks’ offshore banking units plunged 7.3 percent to 49.79 billion yuan and fell 2 percent to 277.15 billion yuan at domestic banking units Yuan deposits at Taiwanese banks fell 2.88 percent to 326.94 billion yuan (US$51.29 billion) last month from July, as the Chinese currency’s widening volatility… – Continue reading
Exclusive: company faces renewed questions over its fitness as security contractor at Australian detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru Wilson Security faces renewed questions about its fitness as security contractor in Australia’s offshore detention centres in light of its corporate links to a tax haven, a corruption scandal that… – Continue reading
Kenneth Leung (PC,F-Accountancy) explains what he – and the government – are doing to get Hong Kong off the EU’s undeserved blacklisting as a “non-cooperative tax jurisdiction”. Why has Hong Kong been placed on this list? There are ten European countries that have named Hong Kong as a tax haven…. – Continue reading
Is Xi Jinping (習近平)’s anti-corruption campaign crushing it or embarrassingly ineffective? You make the call. It was widely reported the year before Xi assumed office that upwards of 18,000 corrupt officials had fled China since 1990 with about US$120 billion. In early 2012, the Ministry of Supervision released figures saying… – Continue reading
A wave of wealthy Asians is hurriedly moving assets to the United States – to school their children, invest in property or even avoid political uncertainty in China. But few of those immigrants know just how much of their money will eventually end up in the hands of the feds…. – Continue reading
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook announced on Wednesday, Sept.9, that the famed brand’s revenue significantly increased in China by up to 75 percent in the past year. However, the country’s finance authorities cut the celebration short. China’s Ministry of Finance demanded Apple to pay 452 million yuan, a price equivalent to… – Continue reading
Indonesians hold $300 billion in Singapore; controversial tax amnesty on the cards. Indonesia’s finance minister Bambang Brodjonegoro told Euromoney earlier this year that tax collection falls way short of targets and must improve to provide funding for infrastructure and other projects It doesn’t take much for Indonesia’s government officials to… – Continue reading
The yuan was headed for a record gain in the freely-traded offshore market, spurring speculation China’s central bank intervened to deter bets against its currency. The yuan strengthened 1 percent to 6.4013 per dollar as of 6 p.m. in Hong Kong, poised for the biggest one-day advance since offshore trading… – Continue reading
Recently the Curaçao Minister of Justice, Mr. Nelson Navarro, approved the so-called Investor’s Permit to accommodate bonafide high net worth persons and entrepreneurs who seek admission to Curaçao. The purpose of the Investor’s Permit is for the investor to provide real economic benefit to Curaçao by increasing employment opportunities and… – Continue reading
China appeared to expand efforts Thursday to bolster its currency in what traders said is an attempt to align its exchange rates at home and abroad. The yuan rose a record 1.2 percent in the offshore market amid speculation the People’s Bank of China was again acting to contain the… – Continue reading
In September 2014, the Hurun Research Institute published its annual listing of the richest people in China. It showed that IT tycoon Ma Yun had increased his personal fortune during the last year by 500% to $25 billion and in doing so, had climbed to first position on the list…. – Continue reading
China is promoting foreign direct investment at 23 national industrial parks in the Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region by providing tax incentives to investors in a bid to boost the economy and turn Xinjiang into a core zone for trade, investment, and logistics on the Silk Road economic belt of the… – Continue reading
More Koreans have reported their foreign bank accounts this year, as the government has warned of increased penalties on undeclared offshore balances. The aggregate amount of money divulged in foreign bank accounts and exceeding 1 billion won ($840,000) on any last day of the month in 2014 stood at 36.9… – Continue reading
Labour leadership front-runner Jeremy Corbyn has suggested a party run by him would consider a ban on the purchase of homes by non-UK based entities or by companies and offshore trusts. With the result of the party’s leadership campaign to be announced in only eight days time, Corbyn acknowledges that… – Continue reading
SEJONG, Sept. 3 (Yonhap) — More South Koreans reported their overseas financial accounts to authorities in 2015 than a year earlier as the government turns up the heat on individuals and companies to disclose hidden assets, the tax office said Thursday. The government has taken a firmer stance toward people… – Continue reading
In July 2015 the Hong Kong government gazetted changes to the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap 112) to extend the existing profits tax exemption for offshore funds to private equity funds. The recent amendments are a proactive move by the Hong Kong Government to encourage private equity fund managers to set… – Continue reading
After years of commentary on FATCA from a distance, this writer got a little taste of it up close. It left a very unpleasant aftertaste and is taking a long time to go down. FATCA is bad for America. While knowing of, and criticising FATCA for years, it finally became… – Continue reading
The yuan traded in Hong Kong strengthened on speculation that relatively high offshore borrowing costs are keeping some investors from making bearish bets on the currency. The overnight Hong Kong interbank offered rate for the yuan reached the highest in almost seven months on Tuesday, before the People’s Bank of… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands as one of the leading offshore financial centres have a great level of uncertainty in its future with all the recent developments around tax compliance. One looming uncertainty is the European Union’s (EU) Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) passport. The AIFMD is one of several measures… – Continue reading
The Bahamas Ministry of Financial Services (MoFS) and the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) once again are collaborating on a broad outreach in Asia, using the 2015 China Offshore Summit series as an anchor event, reports The Bahamas Weekly. The Summit series (2 events annually) is designed specifically to educate… – Continue reading
After the leak of two major secret documents from HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm that revealed names of roughly 2,000 Indian account holders, the global bank itself has done it now. For the first time ever, HSBC Singapore shared a new list of 1,200 individuals all across the globe of… – Continue reading
A round of capital flight is taking place in China, with many of the country’s wealthy rushing to send their assets abroad to dodge an imminent introduction of inheritance tax. A significant example is the recent purchase of a luxury house in Hong Kong by Alibaba founder Jack Ma for… – Continue reading
Singapore-based wealth managers, already under pressure from a global move towards tax information sharing, face a more immediate threat as Asian countries including Indonesia and India look to chase undeclared money in the low-tax city state. A global crackdown on tax evasion launched during the 2008 financial crisis has already… – Continue reading
The Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) is pushing for the city-state to have more double taxation agreements. Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday, Rene Pedersen, chairman of the SSA International Committee said, “Singapore today has some 65 double taxation agreements and that’s actually not a lot.” By comparison the UK… – Continue reading
Hong Kong (HKSAR) – The agreement between Hong Kong and Italy for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and the prevention of fiscal evasion has entered into force. The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K C Chan, said today (August 14), “Hong… – Continue reading
The first reporting cycle for the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) kicked off with the 31 March deadline set by the US Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) for countries and territories such as Hong Kong that have a Model 2 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). Although the IRS has granted… – Continue reading
City-state has long excelled at attracting international headquarters but now it aims to do even better by combining programmes in a more holistic approach. Singapore first established its Operational Headquarters (OHQ) programme in late 1992 to encourage multinational companies to use the city-state as a base for their incursions into… – Continue reading
