Feb 11 (Reuters) – Austria signalled on Tuesday flexibility on exchanging cross-border bank account data with fellow European Union members even absent a final EU accord with Switzerland. “As far as banking secrecy for foreigners goes, it is important for us that there are similar accords with neighbours like Switzerland… – Continue reading
Swiss bank UBS is at the centre of embarrassing revelations that it helped to set up a secretive offshore firm for the wife and daughter of a former senior Chinese official who has since been convicted of corruption. Zhang Shuguang, a former deputy chief engineer of the disbanded railways ministry,… – Continue reading
NEWS RELEASE FROM EASTERN CARIBBEAN CENTRAL BANK (Basseterre, St Kitts, 11 February 2014) – On 12 August 2013, the ECCB assumed exclusive control of Caribbean Commercial Bank (Anguilla) Ltd (CCB) and National Bank of Anguilla Ltd (NBA) and placed both institutions into conservatorship. Since then the ECCB has been in… – Continue reading
Gibraltar plans to become an Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) jurisdiction within the European Union. The ILS market has grown significantly in recent years and the total volume of catastrophe bonds and ILS issued during 2013 was more than $7.5 billion and by the end 2013 there was an all-time high… – Continue reading
The income tax (I-T) department has not been able to make any headway in detecting the offshore investments by Indians, including 20 big names from Andhra Pradesh, in the safe havens abroad. The reason? ‘Non-cooperation’ by the foreign counterparts despite agreements for sharing tax information. It was after the much-publicized… – Continue reading
The U.S. tax code is perhaps the most notorious welfare program available to large corporations. Each year, all-star teams of lawyers and accountants use loopholes and gimmicks to legally reduce tax liabilities for Corporate America. Discussions about tax havens typically focus on how they impact federal revenue, but states are… – Continue reading
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collected more tax from smaller businesses than large multinationals last year as a result of its investigations into firms’ transfer pricing arrangements, according to figures obtained by Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com. Corporate tax expert Heather Self of Pinsent Masons said that HMRC… – Continue reading
When Taoiseach Enda Kenny was grilled over Ireland’s low tax regime for multinationals on a visit to Paris last week, he fell back on a familiar defence. By now it’s a regular refrain – Ireland’s corporate taxes are crystal clear and transparent. Ours, he added, is a statute-based system which… – Continue reading
Yahoo! Inc is shifting its main European tax base to Ireland from Switzerland, a Reuters examination of company statements and accounts shows, as pressure mounts on the Alpine nation to abolish some corporate tax incentives. The internet search group said the shift reflected a streamlining of its European operations and… – Continue reading
U.S. prosecutors on Thursday announced they indicted Peter Amrein, a Swiss asset manager, on charges that he assisted U.S. taxpayers in evading millions in taxes by hiding money in offshore trusts at multiple Swiss banks. Prosecutors accuse Amrein, who worked at an unidentified asset management firm, of working with Edgar Paltzer,… – Continue reading
It is becoming increasingly dangerous to maintain secret offshore accounts. The Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service have been engaged in an aggressive program to identify unreported offshore accounts. Kathy Keneally, Assistant Attorney General for Tax recently told tax lawyers at a Phoenix conference that the U.S. government… – Continue reading
SA faces serious competition. It’s worth taking note of Mauritius’s move to position itself as an attractive destination for financial services. With a population of just 1.3 million, the island boasts 21 banks, including such global names as HSBC, Standard Chartered, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and South Africa’s own Investec and… – Continue reading
One in three senior bank executives believes their institution has poor anti-money laundering controls at a time when the threat of vast regulatory fines and criminal prosecutions is increasing, according to a KPMG survey. The annual survey, which quizzed 317 anti-money laundering and compliance professionals in banks and financial institutions across 48… – Continue reading
Three Bermuda subsidiaries of Microsoft Corp. are involved in a tax inquiry launched by another country, according to documents made public by the Bermuda Supreme Court. The look into the three shell companies, the existence of which Microsoft does not acknowledge in public filings with regulators, comes as the technology… – Continue reading
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has received 106 requests from Swiss credit institutions willing to participate in its tax regularization program, which aims to put an end to attempts by US taxpayers to conceal their wealth in Switzerland. The figure corresponds to one-third of all banks in the Confederation…. – Continue reading
All UK trusts and trustees, whether or not they have any known US connections, need to consider their status under the UK/US IGA. If they are required to register with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under the agreement, they must do so by 25 October 2014. This note is intended to help… – Continue reading
Chinese companies registered under Samoa’s tax haven status are among those pouring billions back into China. Roughly 1 billion US dollars in foreign direct investment from Samoa to China is shown on a graph published last week. According to the Samoa Observer, this represents about two billion tala of funds… – Continue reading
The British Virgin Islands got more foreign direct investment last year than the major emerging economies of India and Brazil combined, a United Nations survey said on Tuesday. The Caribbean archipelago, a tax haven otherwise dependent on tourism, has jumped up the league table of top investment destinations in the… – Continue reading
Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne, the veteran dealmaker who has just wrested full control of Chrysler Group from its union retirees, is about to unveil his next trick: moving the group’s 115-year-old headquarters out of Italy. While Marchionne has said a New York share listing is on the table, he is… – Continue reading
Ten years ago, Congress passed a law intended to penalize chief executive officers whose companies shift their legal addresses to tax havens. It hasn’t worked out as planned. Companies have found ways around the law that create new rewards for executives. When Actavis Inc. (ACT) changed its incorporation to Ireland… – Continue reading
About a third of Swiss banks have applied for amnesty from the U.S. for helping Americans cheat the Internal Revenue Service, the top U.S. federal tax prosecutor said. The U.S. government gave more than 300 Swiss banks until Dec. 31 to seek non-prosecution agreements if they had “reason to believe”… – Continue reading
Seven companies, chiefly American-based, including Fortune 500 companies in the automotive, mining and retail industries are now under investigation for alleged tax evasion in Mexico. Oscar Molina, who lead audits of big companies at Mexico\’s tax collection agency SAT, says the firms cannot be identified for legal reasons. All seven… – Continue reading
An arrested Vatican prelate is now facing new money laundering charges. Monsignor Nunzio Scarano and two other people were served with warrants, suspected of money laundering in an attempted plot to smuggle 20 million euros from Switzerland into Italy and launder it through the Vatican Bank. Allegedly, these were “false… – Continue reading
Usually the issue of digital diversification at these events is something that is missing. A critical component of which is moving your email offshore to obtain significantly more privacy and protection. It is concerning to see people contacting their offshore lawyers, real estate agents, investment professionals, bankers, etc. using their… – Continue reading
