Category: Offshore Trusts

Foreign criminals use London housing market to launder billions of pounds

Corporations, usually based in offshore tax havens, are sometimes used by buyers keen to hide ownership of assets, says National Crime Agency spokesman Foreign criminals are using the London housing market to launder billions of pounds, pushing up house prices for domestic buyers, a senior police officer has warned. Donald… – Continue reading

Proposed UK Non-dom Tax Changes, No Need to Panic

Shipping should not panic in wake of proposed U.K. non-dom tax changes, Moore Stephens says Shipowners likely to be affected by wide-ranging changes to the taxation of non-U.K.-domiciliaries introduced in the U.K. Summer Budget have been urged not to panic by international accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens, which says… – Continue reading

Serial tax avoiders to be ‘named and shamed’, Osborne reveals

The UK’s chancellor of the exchequer has said serial users of tax avoidance schemes will be ‘named and shamed’ as he promised to introduce further measures to tackle evasion, avoidance and aggressive tax planning in his Summer Budget. This move is part of a plethora of changes which chancellor George… – Continue reading

London estate agents caught on camera dealing with ‘corrupt’ Russian buyer

Channel 4 documentary shows agents in wealthy districts agreeing to continue with purchase to be made with ill-gotten gains from Russian health budget Top estate agents in Britain’s wealthiest postcodes are willing to turn a blind eye to apparent money laundering by corrupt foreign buyers, according to an investigation by… – Continue reading

Bridgepoint To Snap Up Offshore Trust Giant

Booming demand for offshore tax services will trigger a £240m takeover deal involving a unit of Appleby Global, Sky News learns. The booming demand for offshore trust and fund administration services will be underlined in the coming days by a $370m (£238m) takeover deal involving Bridgepoint, the London-based buyout firm…. – Continue reading

UK offers vast tax-efficient real estate opportunities for Qatari investors: Aqua

Confidence has returned to real estate markets in Europe, and London is still a firm favourite with investors, offering vast tax-efficient opportunities for Qatari investors, according to Aqua Group, the first offshore trust company to receive licence from the Qatar Financial Center (QFC). In view of the need for better… – Continue reading

Wyly Family Fights SEC Asset Freeze in $550 Million Fraud

The children of craft store kingpins Charles and Sam Wyly say they shouldn’t suffer for their fathers’ transgressions. The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission says they shouldn’t be allowed to spend the proceeds of the brothers’ fraud. The Wyly brothers used gains from secret, illegal, offshore transactions “as their own… – Continue reading

Manager turnover speeds up at investment companies

Turnover at UK and offshore investment companies has risen rapidly, with almost one in five fund managers being replaced in the past 18 months amid growing pressure to improve performance, reports the Financial Times. Figures from the Association of Investment Companies showed that 18 per cent of funds had appointed… – Continue reading

Barclays to sell offshore trust arm

Barclays Wealth & Investment has struck a deal to sell its offshore trust and fiduciary business to an independent investor group. The Barclays offshore trust business is based in Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Cayman Islands, Singapore and Switzerland. The purchaser, an independent investor group led by the Sarikhani and… – Continue reading

Offshore accounts of UAE expats: All you need to know

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

Canada: The Estate Planner: The Effective Use Of Trusts In Connection With Income Splitting – Part IV Of IV

Part I of this series of articles reviewed some of the basic tax requirements for using trusts to split income, Part II discussed a number of tax planning opportunities that can be accessible through the use of trusts, and Part III reviewed traditional testamentary trust income splitting planning and the… – Continue reading

Worldwide: Tax Transparency – The New Global Reporting Standard

A COMMON REPORTING STANDARD ACROSS THE WORLD The goalposts in international tax reporting are moving rapidly. In conjunction with the G20, the OECD developed the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) as a global standard for the automatic exchange of information. This was approved by the OECD Council on 15 July 2014… – Continue reading

UK: Non-UK Domiciliaries: Inheritance Tax Issues And Opportunities

This note is intended as an introduction to inheritance tax (IHT) issues that need to be covered where a “non-dom” (an individual domiciled outside the UK) is planning on becoming resident in, or is already resident in, the UK. It should be emphasised that this is a complex subject, and… – Continue reading

Bank of Singapore Knows Family Matters

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) were among the first Congressional leaders to welcome the May 7th signing of the U.S.-Armenia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), a longstanding policy priority for the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). Chairman… – Continue reading

Truth Be Told: International Pension Plans in Bermuda

With its enviable reputation in offshore trusts, pensions and insurance, Bermuda is an ideal jurisdiction for employers to establish international pension and employee benefit plans (IPPs). Global organisations may consider establishing Bermuda IPPs for employees who work outside their home country or the home country of both the employees and… – Continue reading

FATCA reporting: who and what

Introduction Every non-US entity has FATCA status Passive NFFEs report substantial US owners Trustee of trust or its sponsoring entity will report US persons Other reporting FFIs in structure will carry out FATCA due diligence Reporting when US account holders are identified Enforcement Comment Introduction The policy statement in the… – Continue reading

Tom to ‘fly Isle of Man flag’ with Wolf of Wall St captor

Law firm boss Tom Maher has been invited to be a speaker at a prestigious conference alongside the FBI special agent who caught the notorious ‘Wolf of Wall Street.’ He will also share the platform with a host of other newsworthy people in the business world including the whistleblower who… – Continue reading

Swiss Leaks: No further tax amnesties envisioned – Prime Minister Joseph Muscat

Frank R. Suess writes: Every time you think the US establishment can do no more to threaten the freedom and livelihood of the very Americans who contribute the most to the prosperity of the country, they increase the heat in the furnace by a notch with more cheap money and… – Continue reading

No wonder Nick Clegg has gone quiet on tax dodging: His wife’s paid by law firm that helps rich avoid tax and his father is chairman of bank with ties to tax haven

‘His failure to make more noise is odd’ says prominent tax QC His father, Nicholas, has worked for banks operating in tax havens Wife, Miriam Gonzalez Durantez’s, firm advertises ‘tax-planning services’ Lib Dems insist there is no conflict of interest involved in his position Not long ago, a law firm… – Continue reading

The Common Reporting Standard: CRS brings the walls tumbling down

A country known for its clocks, chocolate and most importantly banks, the agreement by Switzerland’s government to share details of those super-secret bank accounts is one that will change the world at large. Gone are the days of the elusive Swiss bank account. The arrival of Common Reporting is upon… – Continue reading

FATCA: The End of ‘Shadow Boxing’ in the Offshore Trust Industry

Not long after the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division (“DOJ”) made international headlines in 2009 for its bombshell announcement that it had entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the United Bank of Switzerland (UBS), lawmakers in Washington, D.C. began reviewing the testimony of hundreds of UBS’s U.S. clients… – Continue reading

Key Miliband backer in offshore tax row: Labour donor transferred shares to Liechtenstein and Jersey and later sold some for reported £37 million

Sir David Garrard transferred shares offshore before some were later sold The tycoon has given the Labour Party more than £1.2million Ed Miliband attacked ‘dodgy Tory donors’ for having off-shore accounts Sir David held accounts in Liechtenstein and Jersey according to reports By GLEN OWEN FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY… – Continue reading

Tancred Tabone had deposited $1 million in Jersey offshore trust set up by HSBC Switzerland

Former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone had set up a Jersey offshore trust into which he deposited $1 million, according to the HSBC data revealed in Swiss leaks. Reporting on the matter today, The Guardian said Mr Tabone planned to transfer more funds, with the bank noting “the potential is evaluated… – Continue reading

HSBC files: Swiss bank hid money for suspected criminals

Documents detail customers who faced allegations including drug-running, corruption, doping and money laundering This article is the subject of a legal complaint made on behalf of Anura Perera. HSBC’s Swiss bank concealed large sums of money for people facing allegations of serious wrongdoing, including drug-running, corruption and money laundering, leaked… – Continue reading

Irish names in HSBC bank’s secret files

International clients include those involved in arms trade and blood diamondsA huge cache of secret files from the Swiss branch of one of the world’s largest banks includes Irish people who made tax settlements with the Revenue Commissioners for more than €4.5 million. Other clients include arms dealers who sold… – Continue reading

Trust Protectors

Over the past few years, Canadian courts have started taking note of the existence of trust protectors. Despite comments from a certain Saskatchewan judge in 2009 (“As indicated, the term “trust protector” is foreign to me…”[1]), recognition of trust protectors as a legitimate party to a trust may be on… – Continue reading

Real estate investment trusts may get taxation relief

CBDT to make provisions for MAT and reduce tax liability on Reits Jayshree P Upadhyay  |  New Delhi  January 9, 2015 Last Updated at 00:50 IST Real estate investment trusts (Reits), notified last year, have so far found few takers due to taxation-related issues. To address this, the Central Board… – Continue reading

Tax Planning Considerations for the Purchase of a Residence in the U.S. by Foreign Buyers

Many factors influence a foreign buyer’s decision to purchase residential real estate in the United States. Generally, most of these decisions tend to be driven by concerns over political and economic uncertainty in the buyer’s home country. Most foreigners do not leave their home country, family, and friends for trivial… – Continue reading

The Year of Transparency’s Tipping Point

More countries are requiring an exchange of client information In 2014, we saw a marked increase in transparency regarding foreign assets. The United States took the lead, and other countries followed suit. It looks like we’ve reached the tipping point, that is, “the magic moment when an idea, trend, or… – Continue reading

New UK Capital Gains Tax

KOTA KINABALU: For Malaysian property investors, especially in the London property market where some Malaysian developers, welcomed by Mayor Boris Johnson are active in projects, the United Kingdom Government will introduce new Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on the sale of UK residential property with effect from April 6, 2015. Following… – Continue reading

My Turn: Legislature needs to work on closing tax loopholes

Gov. Maggie Hassan has done an excellent job working with legislative leaders to craft and oversee the state’s current two-year budget. An array of problems is being effectively managed. This budget will end in balance. But looking ahead to the next two-year budget, we in state government face difficult challenges…. – Continue reading