Global banks may feel that purging their correspondent banking relationships will help them de-risk, but they should beware the unintended consequences. The Central Bank of Seychelles’ rescue of BMI Offshore Bank in November is one of the clearest examples of the impact global banks are having on smaller financial institutions… – Continue reading
It was billed as a multi-billion pound windfall for the long-suffering UK taxpayer, with HM Revenue & Customs getting its hands on a huge reservoir of untaxed “black money” stashed in Switzerland by wealthy subjects to keep it safe from the taxman. But the estimated take from what the former… – Continue reading
CORPORATE SECRECY, GLOBAL MONEY LAUNDERING MAKES IT HARDER FOR EMERGING ECONOMIES TO FIGHT CORRUPTION Corruption is a problem for all economies, requiring leading financial centres in the EU and US to act together with fast-growing economies to stop the corrupt from getting away with it, anti-corruption group Transparency International said… – Continue reading
Corruption is feared to be worsening in China, Turkey and other fast-growing economies, an anti-graft watchdog warned Wednesday, also urging the world’s banking centres to help combat sleaze and money-laundering. Transparency International released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which ranked Sudan, North Korea and Somalia as the worst offenders… – Continue reading
BVI Business Companies A1. What is the law on keeping and retaining records? Section 98 of the BVI Business Companies Act 2004 (BCA) has always provided that a BVI business company must keep records that: are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions; and will, at any time, enable… – Continue reading
Argentina and Belgium have separately accused HSBC bank’s Geneva branch of setting up a network of offshore accounts to help their citizens avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes. The Belgian charges were filed Monday and the Argentine charges were announced Friday. HSBC, formerly known as Hong Kong & Shanghai… – Continue reading
Complying with USA FATCA and UK/EU Data Protection Requirements The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), passed by Congress in March 2010, was finally implemented in July 2014. The Act makes the US the only large economy to tax its nationals on all of their earnings anywhere in the… – Continue reading
Even as Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said a heavy tax regime was responsible for black money, his ministerial colleague M Venkaiah Naidu told parliament amidst uproar that BJP had never promised to bring back black money stashed aboard in first 100 days of power. Reading BJP manifesto, Naidu,… – Continue reading
To prevent cross-border tax evasion, we endorse the global Common Reporting Standard for the automatic exchange of tax information (AEOI) on a reciprocal basis. We will begin to exchange information automatically with each other and with other countries by 2017 or end-2018, subject to completing the necessary legislative procedures,’’ says… – Continue reading
With the Opposition targeting the government on the black money issue, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that the identity of 427 foreign account holders has been established, of which 250 have admitted to having these accounts. Replying to a debate on the issue, Jaitley said… – Continue reading
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Thursday said that of the 28 accounts identified in the tax-haven of Liechtenstein, income tax proceedings have been concluded against 18 “illegal” account holders and cases filed against them. Of the 28 accounts in Liechtenstein on which Germany had information, 18 accounts were illegal (najaiz). We… – Continue reading
* Sistema’s Q3 net income down 71.5 percent * CEO says reporting period “most challenging” (Recasts, adds detail, CEO quotes) Nov 27 (Reuters) – Russian conglomerate Sistema is reviewing its costs, portfolio of investments and future plans, it said on Thursday, after a drop in profits and a “challenging” year… – Continue reading
UPDATE 1-Argentina charges HSBC with aiding tax evasion via Swiss accounts AFIP said it received the information on the secret accounts from France, which last week placed HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm under formal investigation for possibly aiding tax evasion. “We denounce the existence of an illegal platform created by… – Continue reading
RBC Wealth Management has announced plans to discontinue its private wealth management business in the Caribbean. The strategy to “realign certain businesses within [its] international operations” was presented to staff in an internal memorandum last Thursday. It is not clear whether the business will be closed or sold. Paul French,… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: As the market touches a new high, Sebi is clamping down on dubious inflows from loosely regulated, offshore entities, particularly those located in the Gulf. According to a Sebi communique on Monday evening, foreign funds investing on behalf of unknown investors and through opaque structures will now find it… – Continue reading
The Income Tax department on Sunday conducted searches on the premises of Sahara group in the national capital and adjoining areas on charges of tax evasion. Sources said the searches were launched by the taxman at at least three locations of the group, one in Delhi and two in the… – Continue reading
French magistrates examining whether the bank helped wealthy clients avoid a new tax, the European Union Savings Directive French judges have put the Swiss branch of HSBC under official investigation over allegations that Britain’s biggest bank helped wealthy clients avoid taxes. It was revealed on Friday that the unit had… – Continue reading
Students from ‘ONE Durham’ took part in a campaign outside the Bill Bryson Library on Tuesday 11th November in support of an international campaign to fight corruption and tax avoidance. The group is part of a wider international advocacy organisation, ‘ONE campaign’, which has six million members across the globe…. – Continue reading
People curious to know the amount of “black money” stashed by Indians in foreign banks may be in for yet another disappointment after the Supreme Court monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT), submits its findings. After six months in office, the Narendra Modi Government has not been able to lay its… – Continue reading
An increasing number of South Africans are sending substantial amounts of money offshore each year due to frequent travel, a greater appetite for offshore investing, business interests abroad and a growing trend to educating their children there. The UK has proven to be the popular choice due largely to the… – Continue reading
The Central Bank says it is only a matter of time before this country becomes fully compliant with the United States’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which was enacted by the US Congress in March 2010. FACTA is a US law designed to prevent tax evasion by US citizens… – Continue reading
Belgian authorities have charged a Swiss subsidiary of HSBC with serious and organised fiscal fraud, money laundering, criminal organisation and illegal financial intermediary. Belgian prosecutors say HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) cheated the state by wooing very wealthy clients particularly in diamond businesses in Antwerp. The bank is said to have… – Continue reading
Westpac will shut down the accounts of money transfer operators on November 24, due to growing fears about breaching strict terrorism financing and anti-money laundering laws, leaving hundreds of legitimate remitters to developing countries in the lurch. Westpac is the last of the four major banks to withdraw from servicing… – Continue reading
The New York Times’ report on prominent American think tanks receiving some $92 million from a minimum of 63 governments since 2011, prompted Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) to ask Attorney General Eric Holder, a long overdue question: “Should think tanks be allowed to take undisclosed donations from foreign governments?” According… – Continue reading
Fifty-one countries signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement in Berlin on Oct. 29 to fight offshore tax fraud and evasion. The agreement aims to put an end to banking secrecy by sharing tax-related information with member states. Missing from the signatory list are the United States and China. China’s absence… – Continue reading
The LuxLeaks scandal is a classical example of the growingly frequent clash between the level of integration of the European economy (and the global for that matter) and the national sovereignty. Greece was first to prove that four years ago when it put to the test the very survival of… – Continue reading
A new report on tax transparency across 15 EU states highlights hidden profits People in Europe and in developing countries are being robbed. One trillion euro is lost to tax dodging every year in the EU, with billions being lost from developing countries each year for the same reason. It… – Continue reading
The 2013 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) peer review report states that Cayman Islands has developed its standards rapidly, and has proven its long-standing commitment to adhering to the highest standards of regulations. KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10, 2014: The often scrutinised Cayman Islands — having long been associated… – Continue reading
Regardless of how M&T Bank Corp.’s planned acquisition of Hudson City Bancorp plays out, one thing is clear: M&T will end up with a much stronger system for fighting money laundering. Buffalo-based M&T and New Jersey-based Hudson City Bancorp still want to complete their $3.7 billion merger – a marriage… – Continue reading
Ahead of next weekend’s G20 summit, the release of leaked documents showing Luxembourg’s facilitation of industrial scale tax avoidance by multinational corporations could not have been better timed. A cache of documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and released on Thursday, found hundreds of companies – including… – Continue reading
Cristina de Borbón could stand in the dock over claims involving husband’s charity unless special law is used to end case A Spanish court has approved charges of tax fraud against Princess Cristina de Borbón, the sister of King Felipe VI – paving the way for an unprecedented criminal trial…. – Continue reading
From 1970 to 2011, US$2 trillion from Latin America and the Caribbean have been funneled to offshore tax havens. It’s money that moves behind the scenes, in illicit financial flows (IFF). These transnational transfers come from three sources of illegal funds: corruption (bribery), money laundering (contraband, trafficking of drugs, weapons,… – Continue reading
The Writ Petition filed by the NDA Government in mid-October consists of two parts. The first part deals with the issue of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement [DTAA], the information obtained from Liechtenstein through Germany and confidentiality obligations of Indian Government under the said DTAA. I had dealt extensively on this… – Continue reading
For more than a decade, tax gurus at PricewaterhouseCoopers helped Caterpillar Inc., the U.S. heavy equipment maker, move profits produced by its lucrative spare-parts business from the U.S. to a tiny subsidiary in Switzerland. Little changed except the bookkeeping. Parts were still shipped from suppliers to a warehouse in Morton,… – Continue reading
Top UK regulator says threat of fines is scaring banks and poses risk of cutting off financial services to emerging economies Andrew Bailey, the UK’s most senior banking regulator, has highlighted a ‘serious international coordination problem’. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images There should be more international cooperation on money laundering rules to… – Continue reading
London is an increasingly important hub for offshore law firms, which are winning business from City-based financial institutions, and clients in Russia, western Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Offshore law firms are constantly evolving, it seems. Traditionally, they operated in one offshore territory: whether the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey… – Continue reading
Finance ministers from more than 50 countries recently signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement, with another 30 countries pledging to sign the agreement by 2018. The agreement, signed in Berlin, is an effort to end what the US Bank Secrecy Act, which they called “obsolete.” The ministers met for two… – Continue reading
U.S. tax law creates perverse incentives for American companies to hold cash offshore, and the U.S. Treasury recently announced proposals to deter the practice. The proposals have triggered an outcry that ranges from criticisms that the Obama administration has overstepped its authority, on one side, to criticisms that the proposals… – Continue reading
In front of European Commissioners, leading politicians, chief executives of huge multinationals, senior bank bosses and billionaires, the Egyptian investment tycoon was asked to set the tone of the forum, a three-day lobbying event funded by the EU. Dr Heikal is founder and chairman of Qalaa, an African investment fund… – Continue reading
Hawala networks are being replaced by sophisticated transfer pricing approaches. The image is easy to envision. Corrupt politicians, crooked corporate honchos and evil criminals stashing away their ill-gotten gains in shady Swiss banks. Thousands of crores of rupees that should be earning India tax revenue wilfully being hidden from authorities… – Continue reading
On Wednesday, when the Supreme Court accepted and handed over the sealed envelope from the government carrying the Swiss bank account details of Indians to the special investigation team, what seems to have won is the concern over the double taxation avoidance treaty (DTAT) and many such agreements that the… – Continue reading
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times New Delhi, October 29, 2014 First Published: 09:16 IST(29/10/2014) | Last Updated: 10:26 IST(30/10/2014) The government on Wednesday submitted a list of 627 Indians holding accounts in HSBC Bank, Geneva, to the Supreme Court, which directed its special investigating team (SIT) to examine them and take… – Continue reading
Furious at what it sees as the Modi government’s flip-flops on the black money issue and selective revelation of names of Indians holding foreign bank accounts, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered it to disclose by Wednesday the names of around 800 holders of accounts abroad. A bench led by… – Continue reading
In its first report submitted to the Supreme Court, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money has sought an investigation unit, with the Enforcement Directorate as the nodal co-ordinating agency. The court-appointed SIT, headed by retired Supreme Court judges M B Shah and Arijit Pasayat, has made several recommendations… – Continue reading
The European Court of Justice has ruled against Italian gambling tax legislation, which taxes winnings from games of chance that are obtained in other EU member states but exempts such winnings obtained in Italy. The Court said that by exempting from income tax only winnings from games of chance obtained… – Continue reading
The government may have revealed the names of three black money account holders, but will it be able to get the money back or catch big fishes who have stashed the illegal money in tax havens across the globe. As of now it seems impossible. With at least three different… – Continue reading
Colombia’s minister of finance stated this weekend that Colombians are hiding $50 billion abroad in an attempt to avoid paying taxes over their assets. Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas told Spanish news agency EFE that no penalties for Colombia tax evaders had been finalized, but that they were on the agenda…. – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The renewed vigour to unearth suspected blackmoney of Indians in Swiss bank accounts after a recent meeting of top officials on both sides is expected to initiate final prosecution in one of the most prominent tax crime cases related to Pune-based stud farm-owner Hasan Ali Khan. Sources privy… – Continue reading
The Crown has asked that a couple who laundered millions in drug money for a prolific trafficker before he was murdered receive the maximum sentence for their crimes. Prosecutor Marie Michèle Meloche said sentences of between eight and 10 years were justified for Sy Veng Chun, 67, and his wife… – Continue reading
Wednesday, October 22, 2014 – The BVI Advantage was the theme of a feature presentation at the recent China Offshore Summit. The summit was held from October 15-16 in Shanghai, China. Global Head of BVI Practice at Maples and Calder, Mr. Michael Gagie presented on behalf of the BVI International… – Continue reading
