To check black money generation, the government today approved signing and ratification of the agreement between India and Seychelles for exchange of information with respect to taxes, reports the Economic Times. The agreement will stimulate the information exchange between India and Seychelles for tax purposes, which will help curb tax… – Continue reading
According to recent estimates, Estonia, which is situated halfway between Stockholm and St. Petersburg, currently has more than 350 start-up technology companies – one for every 3,700 citizens – and the government expects this number to reach 1,000 by the year 2020. This makes Estonia the number one start-up technology… – Continue reading
NASSAU, Bahamas — This past week, a bill to enact The Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was passed in the Senate to ensure that The Bahamas continues to remain aligned with the most recent international financial standards. In an earlier debate within the House of Assembly Minister of Financial… – Continue reading
Bahamas Supreme Court rejects Baha Mar’s Delaware chapter 11 application In a ruling by Justice Ian Winder on Wednesday of this week, The Bahamas Supreme Court Denied Baha Mar’s Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Recognition Petition. This paves the way for the Supreme Court to appoint a provisional liquidator on the 31st… – Continue reading
Hollywood-resident James Robert Shipman Jr. is one of three men arrested in a $2.6 million money laundering sting, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced last week. Shipman and one of his co-conspirators, Kenneth Ardell Landgaard, were arrested after flying to an airport in New… – Continue reading
It’s well-documented that profitable Fortune 500 companies are stashing profits offshore to the tune of at least $2.1 trillion and avoiding as much as $550 billion in U.S. taxes. But instead of taking steps to halt this brazen tax dodging, lawmakers have floated various misguided “reform” proposals that would actually… – Continue reading
BENGALURU: AGacquisitions Group, one of India’s first few hedge funds, has launched an offshore fund in the Bahamas with an exposure of $40 million raised from family offices and high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) in India and overseas. Kanishk Agarwal, 32, and his brother Harsh Agarwal, 26, founders of AGacquisitions, have now… – Continue reading
Two more Swiss banks have agreed deals with the US Justice Department over tax evasion by Americans, reports BBC News. Banque Pasche will pay US$7.22m (£4.7m) and Arvest Privatbank US$1.04m in penalties under a deal that means they will not face criminal charges. Fifteen Swiss banks have already cut deals… – Continue reading
Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—July 9, 2015. The Department of Justice announced today that two banks, Banque Pasche SA and ARVEST Privatbank AG, have reached resolutions under the department’s Swiss Bank Program. “Banque Pasche and ARVEST have provided detailed information regarding the ways in which Swiss banks helped U.S. taxpayers conceal foreign accounts… – Continue reading
The OECD has backed Guernsey in its fight against tax haven status, describing the crown dependency’s inclusion on the European Commission’s list of top 30 non-compliant tax jurisdictions as “very surprising”. Monica Bhatia, head of the secretariat of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Global Forum on Transparency and… – Continue reading
An eyebrow-raising disclosure in the U.S. indictment of FIFA officials is that a representative of a Caribbean bank made it easy for one allegedly illegal transaction to be done by flying to New York to personally collect a check and then returned to deposit it in an account in the… – Continue reading
The Bahamian insurance industry was yesterday granted a ‘last-minute’ two-week extension for the filing of its first Value-Added Tax (VAT) ‘credits’ claim, a leading executive acknowledging the sector “didn’t get everything we wanted”, reports the Bahamas Tribune. Emmanuel Komolafe, the Bahamas Insurance Association’s (BIA) chairman, told Tribune Business that the… – Continue reading
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) issued a statement on Thursday to “strongly” oppose a recent blacklisting of its members as “non-cooperative” tax jurisdictions by the European Union (EU). The list published last week named 14 Caribbean states and territories, including Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Grenada, St. Vincent and… – Continue reading
The countries’ leaders say the label is doing untold damage to their reputations, reports The Voice. A number of Caribbean prime ministers have said the blacklisting by the European Union (EU) is unacceptable and they will not take the move lightly. The Union’s European Commission said the countries were singled… – Continue reading
The governments of Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines have complained about the European Union’s decision to include them on a list of 30 international tax havens, reports the Latin American Herald. “Grenada’s inclusion implies that Grenada is not doing sufficient to guard against harmful tax practices,” Prime Minister… – Continue reading
FATCA – Which Countries Are In And Out The controversial US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) law is set to start from July 1, 2014, so with less than 21 days to go, here’s a look at which countries are in and who is outside of the tax network…. – Continue reading
Critics of an EU tax-haven blacklist say the organisation is playing dice with small states’ reputations, while ignoring European tax avoidance hubs BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, June 19, 2015 (AMG) — Doubts have been cast over the methodology and motives behind the naming of fourteen Caribbean countries among a list of thirty… – Continue reading
Government appeared to brush off the latest blacklisting of the Cayman Islands when it released a short statement on Wednesday at around 5pm following revelations by the EU that the jurisdiction had been cited as facilitating tax evasion, reports the Cayman News Service. “It is unfortunate that the EU black… – Continue reading
The European Union: Labelled Bermuda as a tax haven Bermuda has been named by the European Union as a country that is not doing enough to crack down on tax avoidance. The Island was one of 30 countries on the list published by the EU’s executive Commission today. “These tax… – Continue reading
A disgraced senior FIFA official has agreed to forfeit 50 per cent of the $1 million he had stashed away in a secret CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) account, court documents have revealed. The plea agreement between the US federal authorities and Charles (Chuck) Blazer, which was unsealed late on… – Continue reading
The Bahamian financial industry is concerned it will have to start reporting information for the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) without the necessary legislation being in place, Tribune Business can reveal, reports the Bahamas Tribune. Lawrence Lewis, a Deloitte & Touche (Bahamas) partner and accountant, confirmed to Tribune… – Continue reading
The European Union has published its first list of international tax havens as part of a crackdown on multinational companies trying to avoid paying tax in the 28-nation bloc. The list of 30 territories includes Hong Kong and Brunei in Asia, Monaco, Andorra and Guernsey in Europe, and a series… – Continue reading
The Bahamian financial industry is concerned it will have to start reporting information for the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) without the necessary legislation being in place, Tribune Business can reveal. Lawrence Lewis, a Deloitte & Touche (Bahamas) partner and accountant, confirmed to Tribune Business that there was… – Continue reading
Dubai: The word offshore banking often evokes quite a number of unsavoury connotations. It’s associated with tax evasion, money laundering and high-level of secrecy, but the truth is that anyone can open an offshore bank account and it’s completely legal. Most expatriates set up a bank account offshore to protect… – Continue reading
The Compliance Commission (the Commission) has revised its Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Examination Forms which were last revised in 2010. The examination forms were revised to clarify: The requirement for a written Risk-based AML/CFT policies and procedures document; Examination of financial institutions with a branch or branches;… – Continue reading
The Bahamas Ministry of Financial Services released draft copies of the FATCA Legislation and the FATCA Guidance Notes to meet the International Tax Compliance Requirements of the Model 1 FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the Bahamas and the United States of America (US). The new FATCA Bill was drafted in… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI:Investment made by individuals or other entities may not have broken the law or acted improperly to hide details, details of investments made in famous tax haven countries or countries with little to offer besides registration of mail box entities are indeed intriguing. For example, total investment to Switzerland… – Continue reading
Mr Le Pen allegedly hid gold bars and cash worth £1.57 million in an account with a Swiss bank in the Bahamas, according to the latest leak from corruption investigations into the Front National Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the French far-Right Front National, hid €2.2 million (£1.57m) in… – Continue reading
NASSAU, Bahamas — The Ministry of Financial Services is doing everything necessary to ensure the full compliance of The Bahamas with established international norms and standards, as the Ministry prepares the country to be ready to comply with the United States Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The Ministries of… – Continue reading
Apple is worth roughly 700 billion dollars. Microsoft is worth rough 70 billion. Over the past few years, congressional hearings exposed how both companies moved money overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes. But as a new report shows, Apple and Microsoft are two of dozens of companies who take part… – Continue reading
His softball sentence of two years probation ended five years ago. But billionaire real estate developer Igor Olenicoff still can’t put behind him his December 2007 guilty plea to lying on his federal tax return about some $200 million he kept offshore. For that, he can blame his own litigiousness… – Continue reading
The tax man is coming for Guy Wildenstein, and may file charges against a wealth management company in the Bahamas in connection to the case against the billionaire art dealer. As reported by the Globe and Mail, the French agency that investigates tax evasion has recommended that a judge charge… – Continue reading
Royal Bank of Canada’s wealth-management subsidiary in the Bahamas is caught up in tax fraud and money-laundering allegations involving billionaire international art dealer Guy Wildenstein. French prosecutor Franck Charon confirmed on Monday that France’s tax-evasion watchdog – Parquet national financer – has recommended to an investigating judge that RBC Trust… – Continue reading
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
Attorney-at–Law and Compliance Specialist We are living in a time where the tax landscape facing the Bahamian financial services industry is changing and evolving rapidly. On November 3, 2014, the Government executed a Model 1 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the US government to implement the latter’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance… – Continue reading
Seven Caribbean countries find themselves on the US “Major Money Laundering List for 2015”. The United States Government published its “2015 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report” on Wednesday, and the Cayman Islands is on the list, reports CNS News. The other six Caribbean countries listed are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas,… – 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
Martin McNamara had his suspicions. An OPP officer and executive officer of the provincial force’s union, McNamara was the first to complain to authorities about unusual financial transactions involving the union’s top brass. When McNamara, who had signing authority for the 6,000-member union, was asked to authorize a $5,000 cheque… – Continue reading
Ministry of Finance Enlists EY and Convey to Develop and Deploy FATCA Model Nassau, Bahamas – The Government of the Bahamas through the Ministry of Finance announced today that it has moved to a new stage in the development and rollout of its Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Model… – Continue reading
When an economist presents his opinion to the public on any subject he should be asked to swear, similar to what witnesses do in a court trial, that he will follow Henry Hazlitt’s Lesson (Economics in One Lesson – Henry Hazlitt – 1946 – Harper & Brothers): “The art of… – Continue reading
A list of leaked Swiss bank accounts is making news in Belize tonight. And that’s because the list shows that 97 Belizean bank accounts holding 54.8 million US dollars are hidden away in these accounts. Now, in a country like Belize with an active offshore banking sector, that’s not too… – Continue reading
Bond trader Ben Eiler swapped life in suburban Georgia for an island in the Caribbean, and he didn’t even have to apply for a visa. The towering 38-year-old native of Arkansas is one of at least 250 people who’ve accepted Puerto Rico’s invitation to well-heeled U.S. citizens to move to… – Continue reading
I realise it’s a bit odd to be writing about the Irish tax system while eating grilled fish at a beach shack in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. I’m in this tax haven to give a speech about the economic challenges facing small countries when old certainties start to… – Continue reading
A secret deal with the Swiss government negotiated by media group Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd when James Packer was chief executive set a tax rate of less than 2.15 per cent on PBL’s intra-company loans. “We do have good news for you!” Ernst & Young Swiss partner Markus Huber wrote… – Continue reading
Thousands of rich Australians have come forward to declare billions of dollars in untaxed assets and income stashed in bank accounts in Switzerland and in other countries. The rush comes as what the Australian Taxation office says is the last tax amnesty it will ever offer comes to an end…. – Continue reading
The lead article in The Sunday Times Business section today (authored by Simon Duke and David Smith) says that Britain is at the forefront of a crackdown on corporate tax avoidance – a blitz on tax avoidance by multinationals. The UK Treasury is planning a consultation on forcing multinationals like… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Financial Services has floated for consultation a draft bill aimed at providing a framework for the implementation of the agreement which was signed on November 3, 2014 between The Bahamas and the United States (U.S.) to implement the provisions of the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance… – Continue reading
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has nominated global tax avoidance as one of the key issues on the agenda for this weekend’s G20 summit in Brisbane. Major companies including Google and Apple have faced strong criticism over their efforts to lower their tax bills by shifting profits to jurisdictions with low… – Continue reading
The Bahamian government yesterday took a “critical step” in complying with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) by signing an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the U.S. During a press conference held at the Ministry of Financial Services, Minister of Financial Services Ryan Pinder stated that industry consultation represents the… – Continue reading
CAIRNS/AUSTRALIA: India may have scored a big win in its efforts to receive information on black money stashed away overseas as the G20 grouping of nations is set to endorse on Sunday a framework for automatic exchange of information on bank accounts, putting an end to global bank secrecy. A… – Continue reading
