Apple Inc. (AAPL) is gearing up for its first bond offering in euros as the iPhone maker seeks to fund another round of shareholder rewards without tapping overseas cash that would be subject to repatriation taxes. Banks hired by the world’s most valuable technology company have started gauging investor interest… – Continue reading
Ingenious v HMRC, the case which begins at the Competition Tribunal in Bloomsbury Place London today, marks the culmination of almost a decade of wrangling between the blue chip British media investment company and the Revenue. Newspapers have been intrigued by the case because of the celebrity investors involved. David… – Continue reading
PARIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–On September 2, 2014, under the aegis of the President of the Commercial Court of Paris, LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton (“LVMH”) and Hermès International (“Hermès”) entered into a settlement agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) aimed at restoring a climate of positive relations between them. “Communiqué – Distribution exceptionnelle… – Continue reading
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla./ZURICH — From bundles of cash inside scraps of newspaper to setting up shell companies, the trial in Florida of a former UBS executive is a reminder of the extreme methods some Swiss bankers used to hide clients’ cash. Raoul Weil, 54, is the highest ranking Swiss banker… – Continue reading
A retired senior vice president at Israeli-based Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd. (MZTF) was acquitted in Los Angeles federal court on charges he helped U.S. customers conceal their assets from the Internal Revenue Service. Jurors deliberated four hours yesterday before clearing Shokrollah Baravarian, 82, of conspiring to defraud the U.S. and… – Continue reading
Foreign profits sit on sidelines as companies seek tax reform. WASHINGTON — They are all companies that call Minnesota home: Medtronic, 3M, St. Jude Medical, General Mills and Ecolab. But they also all hold 90 percent or more of their cash outside the United States. Amid a growing national political… – Continue reading
Ireland’s role in Apple’s affairs means the sums involved are material to Ireland Ireland has done extraordinarily well at attracting foreign direct investment, and the politicians and public servants involved must be hoping that when the current fuss over global tax competition subsides, that will continue to be the case…. – Continue reading
New U.S. tax rules applicable to Covidien acquisition make deal less attractive, Moody’s said. Two Wall Street rating firms expect to downgrade Medtronic Inc.’s debt because the company will have to borrow $13.5 billion more than it expected to buy health care supplier Covidien and move the combined company to… – Continue reading
MAJOR South African banking group FirstRand is to open a branch in Guernsey, part of a cluster of islands that form the Channel Islands. Though not a member of the EU, Guernsey has a special relationship with it, being treated as part of the European community for the purposes of… – Continue reading
* Leumi says working with NY State regulators on settlement * Says too soon to estimate final amount of deal * Bank rejects $300 mln settlement offer from NY State * Leumi has provisioned 950 mln shekels for final settlement * Share price falls 1.9 pct in Tel Aviv trading… – Continue reading
US banana producer and distributor Chiquita has decided to terminate its proposed inversion with its rival Fyffes, in a deal which would have involved moving its tax residence to Ireland, and will instead be acquired. Chiquita’s decision comes after the announcement of non-legislative measures by the US Treasury Department on… – Continue reading
New York’s banking regulator will ask for more than $300 million to settle an investigation into whether Bank Leumi Le-Israel (LUMI) BM helped Americans evade taxes, a person familiar with the matter said. Benjamin Lawsky, head of the state’s Department of Financial Services, is seeking more than what the bank… – Continue reading
Canada’s Competition Bureau says that Burger King’s plan to buy Tim Hortons does not pose a competitive threat to the fast food industry. The antitrust watchdog issued a No Action Letter (NAL) Tuesday, confirming that it reviewed the proposed transaction and concluded that it will not, at this time, “challenge… – Continue reading
Supreme court reverses decision against fashion duo, who had been sentenced to imprisonment The Italian supreme court on Friday overturned fraud convictions and 18-month jail terms against celebrated fashion duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, their company announced. “We have always been honest and we are extremely proud of this… – Continue reading
The Treasury Department has spent millions of dollars on federal contracts for companies that have shifted their legal address abroad, even as the Obama administration pushes to rein in the practice. Just last month, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew moved to limit the appeal of those tax deals, known as inversions,… – Continue reading
Oct 24 (Reuters) – China is studying pilot schemes that will allow domestic investors to make overseas investments using the Chinese currency, a move that could pump fresh oxygen into the stagnant offshore yuan pool. “The central bank is designing RQDII (Renminbi Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor) and QDII2 schemes to… – Continue reading
(Seychelles News Agency) – The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) says that the Bank of Muscat International Offshore (BMIO) is currently unable to process outward foreign currency transfers for its clientele. According to a statement issued by the CBS this afternoon, the bank BMIO uses as an agent abroad to… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Italy’s top court cleared fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana on Friday over charges of hiding hundreds of millions of euros from Italian tax authorities. Two lower courts had previously convicted the pair, who are as famous as the stars they dress, on allegations that they used… – Continue reading
In June, the European Commission (“EC”) announced the opening of three investigations into tax rulings in Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands and, in particular, into tax rulings applied by Ireland to Apple, by Luxembourg to Fiat Finance and, last, by the Netherlands to Starbucks. In October 2014, the EC announced… – Continue reading
Credit Suisse’s future is more workmanlike than its racy third quarter may suggest. The Swiss group revealed on Thursday that its investment bank had trumped Wall Street. Fixed-income trading revenue leaped by a half over the same period a year ago, against its American peers’ average increase in the mid-teens…. – Continue reading
LUXEMBOURG — On the first floor of a rust-colored building near the main railway station, Marius Kohl spent years engineering this country’s most valuable export: tax relief. As head of a federal agency called Societes 6, Mr. Kohl approved thousands of tax arrangements for multinational corporations, sometimes helping them save… – Continue reading
For now, while the benefit for American corporations to buy or merge and move overseas may be over, as evidenced by AbbVie cancelling its merger with Shire Pharmaceutical, that doesn’t mean that consolidation within the industry is through. A new research report from Merrill Lynch features three top companies, dubbed… – Continue reading
The financial regulator said on Tuesday that it has ordered four foreign banks operating in Korea to strengthen their anti-money laundering protections. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) inspected some 60 local and foreign banks to check whether they are equipped with relevant safeguards. Among them were the Seoul branches of… – Continue reading
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) agreed to pay 72.2 million euros ($92 million) in fines to European Union regulators for attempting to rig the Swiss franc Libor rate and fixing spreads with rivals, the EU said today. UBS AG (UBSN) was fined 12.7 million euros by the EU and Credit… – Continue reading
The U.S. government’s move to hamper tax-inversion deals is good for the drug industry because it forces companies to focus on intrinsic business reasons for transactions, Actelion Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Jean-Paul Clozel said. Since the U.S. Treasury said last month that it would tighten tax rules, three of eight… – Continue reading
AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) and Shire Plc agreed to terminate what would have been the biggest U.S. tax inversion after AbbVie pulled its support for the deal in the wake of proposed changes to U.S. rules governing such transactions. AbbVie, based in North Chicago, Illinois, planned to buy Shire for an… – Continue reading
The tide of tax inversions has started to recede, taking with it a substitute for real growth at some of our biggest companies. AbbVie Inc. just decided to bail out of an acquisition that would have moved its headquarters overseas where corporate tax rates are lower than U.S. rates. AbbVie… – Continue reading
When you buy an internet coupon deal from Groupon Australia you are likely to find the receipt says Groupon Zurich. You the customer reside here, the service which you are buying is provided here, Groupon has companies registered in Australia, yet the transaction routed through Zurich. Why? The corporate income… – Continue reading
Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Friday that he hopes to build on the pharmaceutical company AbbVie’s move away from a tax inversion. AbbVie’s board advised shareholders to vote against the proposed merger with the Irish competitor Shire, which Wyden said showed the company saw “the strategic business value… – Continue reading
Ireland puts an end to a tax loophole that saved Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook billions in taxes “Double Irish” might sound like a drink that corporate tax lawyers reach for at the prospect of paying higher tax bills, but it’s actually the name of a controversial — albeit legal… – Continue reading
Bank of China Ltd. (3988) raised $6.5 billion selling offshore preference shares in the biggest-ever single tranche U.S. dollar bank capital sale. The country’s fourth-biggest lender by market value priced the securities at 6.75 percent, according to a person familiar with the matter. Citigroup Inc. raised $6 billion selling 8.4… – Continue reading
The £32bn takeover of a leading UK pharmaceuticals firm is in danger of collapse because of a tax crackdown announced by the White House. AbbVie said this week that its board would meet on Monday to reconsider the purchase of Basingstoke-based Shire, which is best known for its drugs to… – Continue reading
Ireland has this week moved to change its tax law, closing the “double Irish” tax avoidance technique widely used by multinational enterprises including Google and Microsoft. Picture: Getty Images In very broad terms, the current Irish tax law allows a company incorporated in Ireland to be a tax resident of… – Continue reading
The private equity owners of video games retailer Game used tax havens in the two years they owned it, accounts have revealed. US buyout group Elliott Advisors snapped up Game Group after it collapsed into administration in 2012. It set up Game Digital in April 2012 in a deal masterminded… – Continue reading
Europe’s antitrust regulator is encroaching on what has been the preserve of national governments. There’s a new tax sheriff in town. Europe’s top antitrust regulator, the Brussels-based European Commission, has launched an unexpected assault on what it suspects are sweetheart tax deals for multinational companies, plowing into an area traditionally… – Continue reading
As the Irish government considers closing an infamous tax loophole for corporations, Wall Street has been scrambling to gauge the effect on the pharmaceutical industry. So far, the prognosis seems that damage will largely be minimal. Known as the ‘Double Irish,’ the loophole allows companies to send royalty payments for… – Continue reading
AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) may scrap its planned 32.4-billion-pound ($51.5 billion) deal for Dublin-based drugmaker Shire Plc (SHP), in what would be the biggest casualty of the U.S. crackdown on so-called tax inversions. Shire stock plunged the most in 12 years after North Chicago, Illinois-based AbbVie said its board will meet… – Continue reading
Two Brazilian companies are raising their bid for banana company Chiquita to approximately $658 million. Investment firm Safra Group and juice company Cutrale Group said Wednesday that they are now offering $14 per Chiquita share, up from their previous bid of $13 per share. That’s an approximately 6 percent premium… – Continue reading
Blue-ribbon corporations are deserting our country “to avoid paying taxes but expect to keep receiving the full array of benefits that being American confers, and that everyone else is paying for,” Fortune magazine reports. That’s right, Fortune wrote it; not Pravda. In a scathing article titled “Positively Un-American” by Allan… – Continue reading
Wealth inequality is growing worldwide, according to a new report by Credit Suisse. A greater share of wealth is being held by a smaller number of ultra-rich families worldwide as larger inheritances, family trusts, and similar arrangements to avoid taxes help the ultra-wealthy gain a greater portion of total capital… – Continue reading
The U.S. government’s attempt to prevent companies from seeking a tax address outside the country hasn’t stopped Steris Corp. (STE) The Mentor, Ohio-based provider of hospital sterilization products and services announced today that it will buy the smaller Synergy Health Plc (SYR) and establish the combined company’s tax address to… – Continue reading
The screw is being turned on American companies that use complex structures to whittle down their tax bills. But is the latest EU probe a paper tiger or a game changer? It was supposed to be good news. Amazon’s announcement yesterday that it would hire 1,000 staff was dressed up… – Continue reading
The drugmaker AbbVie said Tuesday it is having second thoughts about its deal to combine with British counterpart Shire after the U.S. government created new limitations on the tax benefits of incorporating overseas. North Chicago, Illinois-based AbbVie said it notified Shire that its board intends to reconsider the recommendation it… – Continue reading
In the history of the old west when gun fighters survived a gun fight they might put a “notch” in their pistol as a badge of honor. Well the U.S. Department of Justice can put another notch in its weapon of choice, threat of prosecution” because Deutsche Banks’ Swiss unit… – Continue reading
U2 frontman Bono has claimed that the controversial tax laws which have helped multinationals avoid billions in tax have “brought our country the only prosperity we’ve known”. In an interview with the Observer, the singer said the Irish economy needs companies like Apple, Facebook and Google, which have been the… – Continue reading
Cash in companies run by businessman Declan Conway was moved to two offshore companies Shareholders in two Business Expansion Scheme (BES) companies run by businessman Declan Conway have written to him demanding to know why almost €1.6 million was transferred from both firms to a number of offshore entities. Between… – Continue reading
Transactions within, rather than between, companies now accounts for about a quarter of Australia’s economic output, the Tax Office says. In a sign of the challenges facing the government’s crackdown on corporate tax erosion, the ATO said related-party dealings now amounted to more than a quarter of a billion dollars… – Continue reading
Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀) has inked a new cooperation pact with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC, 中國工商銀行), as part of the state-run lender’s move to expand its operations overseas, the Taiwanese bank said yesterday. Mega Bank chairman McKinney Tsai (蔡友才) on Wednesday signed a memorandum of… – Continue reading
Three House Democrats are urging the Labor Department to reconsider its proposed waiver of sanctions on Credit Suisse following its guilty plea over tax evasion charges. Reps. Maxine Waters (Calif.), ranking member of the Financial Services Committee, George Miller (Calif.), ranking member of the Education and the Workforce Committee and… – Continue reading
Australian tax authorities allege multinational oil giant Chevron used a series of loans and related party payments worth billions of dollars to slash its tax bill by up to $258 million. New documents filed in a long-running dispute in the Federal Court show how Chevron allegedly engaged in a complex… – Continue reading
