Category: Russia

How did London become ground zero for the global plutocracy?

The opening of Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet finds Afghanistan veteran Dr John Watson pondering his future. Inevitably, he finds himself in London, “that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drawn”. The century that followed saw London lose much of… – Continue reading

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

Tax amnesty: an opportunity to be seized or a further challenge for business to tackle?

On 8 June 2015, the Law “On optional declaration of assets and bank accounts (deposits) by individuals” (the “Capital or Tax Amnesty Law”) came into force. It was announced as part of the deoffshorisation campaign and opens a window of opportunity for the business community to declare “grey” assets without… – Continue reading

A proposal to extend beneficial ownership rules to UK land-holding foreign companies

A report published today by Global Witness, alleging that an individual with ties to a former Kazakh public official owns large swathes of London, follows much recent interest in the issue of public officials owning property in the UK via secretive corporate structures that conceal their interest. Earlier this month,… – Continue reading

Deutsche Bank ‘faces money laundering probe’

US authorities are investigating German banking giant Deutsche Bank over alleged money laundering in Russia, people familiar with the matter said Monday. The investigation centers on billions of dollars’ worth of transactions carried out by Deutsche Bank in Russia that New York state regulators believe may have been used to… – Continue reading

OECD establishes roadmap for membership with Lithuania

10/07/2015 – The OECD set out a clear path for Lithuania’s accession to the Organisation, reinforcing the OECD’s commitment to further extend its global membership. On 8 July 2015 the 34 OECD Members adopted the Roadmap for the Accession of Lithuania to the OECD Convention setting out the terms, conditions… – Continue reading

WB to assist Azerbaijan in combating money laundering

The Financial Monitoring Service of Azerbaijan’s Central Bank will send the National Action Plan on the elimination of risks in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing to the World Bank in September 2015. The National Plan was discussed by WB’s experts during a seminar held in Baku between… – Continue reading

Russia: The OECD Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters Enters Into Force

On 1 July 2015, the OECD Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters entered into force in Russia. The Agreement was signed by Russia on 3 November 2011. The agreement is designed to facilitate international co-operation among tax authorities to improve their ability to tackle tax evasion and… – Continue reading

FATCA – Which Countries Are In And Out

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

Cyprus: The Potential Impact Of Russian De-Offshorization Legislation On Cyprus Holding And Finance Structures

Abstract Over the past 25 years, Cyprus has become the portal of choice for investment into and out of Russia and Central and Eastern Europe. The new Russian de-offshorization law, which took effect on 1 January 2015, will have significant implications for users of overseas structures. This article examines the… – Continue reading

Swiss attorney general cites 53 possible money-laundering incidents in FIFA World Cup probe

BERN, Switzerland – Reeling from an American federal investigation of bribery in soccer, FIFA was put under more pressure Wednesday as the scale of a separate Swiss investigation of suspected money laundering was revealed. Banks in Switzerland have flagged up 53 possible acts of money-laundering that could be linked to… – Continue reading

Birth of a New Era in Private Wealth

As the financial world continues its march towards a more transparent and open environment, regulations governing private wealth are under scrutiny. The traditional is changing for good while new players emerge. Once was a time, not too long ago, the words “Swiss bank” conjured up evocative imagery: secret deals; bank… – Continue reading

Russian Federation: Russian De-Offshorisation Legislation And Voluntary Disclosure: Which Way Now?

The new law on the taxation of controlled foreign companies (the ‘CFC’ law) and other anti-offshore measures effective as of 1 January 2015 have raised a number of questions for clients and advisers. A number of changes to the new laws were long anticipated and have now been passed by… – Continue reading

Putin signs law on offshore assets amnesty

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing Russians to voluntarily declare foreign assets and bank deposits to avoid criminal, administrative and tax liability. Amnesty will be granted if the violation related to the declared property was made before January 1, 2015, according to the law published on the… – Continue reading

Russian Parliament Approves Amnesty for Offshore Capital

A bill offering legal amnesty to Russians who willingly declare their foreign assets sailed through Russia’s lower house of parliament on Friday, forcing companies and individuals to face a crucial question: to declare or not to declare? Under the legislation, known as the “capital amnesty bill,” businesses and citizens who… – Continue reading

Belgium and Russia sign new tax treaty

Belgium and the Russian Federation announced in March 2007 that they would negotiate a new double tax treaty (the “Treaty”). Nearly seven years after discussions began on 20 November 2008, the Treaty was finally signed on 19 May 2015 in Brussels. This newsflash is based on an unofficial version of… – Continue reading

Georgia seeks broader economic ties with Poland

Georgia and Poland held negotiations in Warsaw this week over an agreement on avoiding double taxation on income and capital. At the bilateral meeting the sides initialed the renewal agreement, which is based on the OECD Model Convention 2014 and envisages the introduction of new standards of cooperation in taxation… – Continue reading

Russian Federation: Russia’s Deoffshorisation: First Foreign Ownership Filing Deadline Approaching Swiftly

Ahead of their joint event on Deoffshorisation Compliance on 21 May, TMF Group’s Sub Regional Director for CIS and the Nordics Alex Medlock and Artem Toropov, Senior International Tax Associate at law firm Goltsblat BLP LLP (the Russian practice of Berwin Leighton Paisner), outline the key deoffshorisation/CFC compliance requirements and… – Continue reading

Chairman Royce, Rep. Pallone welcome US-Amenia Trade & Investment Framework Agreement

The advantages of off-shore investments Two of the top reasons that South African investors are given to encourage offshore investments are that going offshore diversifies your portfolio and that it gives you access to sectors you could never find on the resource-heavy JSE. “While those are not reasons to be… – Continue reading

Indian move to check illegal capital outflows

THE BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government, which had made a lot of noise about black money and the illegal stashing of funds abroad in the run-up to general elections last year, finally got down to some serious work to tax ill-gotten wealth and curb its growth. Last week, the government… – Continue reading

Unnerved by tax demands on capital gains, foreign funds flee for safety

The minimum alternate tax row has damaged the credibility of government promises to enforce an investor-friendly tax regime and made the Indian stock market Asia’s worst performer this year New Delhi/Mumbai: Castleton Investment Ltd, a unit of GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK), in 2012 asked an arm of the Indian finance ministry… – Continue reading

Armenian parliament decides to double-tax people

The parliament of Armenia has approved amendments to the law on income, setting a 13% tax rate for workers employed abroad. The Armenian government says they should be registered in Armenia and pay taxes in their homeland. Consequently, 65 MPs voted for the amendments, RusArmInfo reports. Armenian Deputy Minister of… – Continue reading

Russia’s Offshore Money Looks Set to Stay There

Russia is set to enact an amnesty on offshore assets next month, but disagreement and lack of clarity over the terms of the pardon threaten not only to render the measure impotent, but undermine the government’s very drive to lure overseas money back home. The capital amnesty, part of a… – Continue reading

Treasurers should provide transaction documentation according to BEPS

Corporate treasury departments will have to start complying with International tax rules and provide documentation for transactions according to recent reports. G20 leaders attempted to reform the international tax system in July 2012 by setting up the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. This task was given to the… – Continue reading

Beneficial Ownership and AML, Sanctions and Anti-Corruption Compliance

Sometimes compliance realities outpace enforcement and regulatory requirements. When it comes to FinCEN’s proposal to implement a beneficial ownership rule for financial institutions (see Here), global financial institutions do not need to worry about the outcome of the FinCEN regulations. Global financial institutions already have to know their (your) customer… – Continue reading

10 Notorious Tax Cheats: Billionaire Olenicoff Still Battling UBS Over $200 Million Offshore Stash

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

Art: A market laid bare

An arrest over allegations of price fixing has increased calls for tighter regulation of the booming sector On a late February morning, Yves Bouvier arrived at the Monaco home of one of his best clients. He expected Dmitry Rybolovlev, the Russian billionaire owner of AS Monaco football club, to pay… – Continue reading

Azerbaijan can become economic bridgehead for Arab countries

A serious need emerges, amid the global political and economic crisis, for the dialogue among religions, cultures, different political forces, and an important role in this process is in recent years played by Azerbaijan. In this regard, the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Saudi Arabia is significant. It is… – Continue reading

Luxembourg: Luxembourg’s Direct Tax Administration Publishes Circular On Residency Certificates For Funds

Luxembourg’s Direct Tax Administration has published a circular on February 12 clarifying issues relating to residency certificates for Luxembourg funds. These are applicable to both UCITS and non-UCITS funds regulated by Luxembourg’s investment fund legislation of December 17, 2010, which transposed the UCITS IV Directive, as well as Specialised Investment… – Continue reading

Russia Ratifies OECD’s Multilateral Tax Pact

The Government of Russia has ratified the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The OECD said, with this development, Russia has joined the most comprehensive multilateral platform available for tax co-operation and exchange of information. The Convention, as amended by the 2010… – Continue reading

Political and economic factors continue to rock the transaction boat

Transactional work varies from jurisdiction-to-jurisdiction with the ebb and flow of various economic cycles, but a prevailing theme across the EMEA region has been that more and more advisory firms are urging taxpayers to prepare for the impact of the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) action plan. Joe… – Continue reading

Warwick Bartlett on tax – The Only Way is Up

Warwick Bartlett, CEO of Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, discusses how government’s approach taxation means that rates are more likely to go up than down. The most pleasing sight at ICE 2015 was to see some of the younger companies which two years ago took the smallest booths are now… – Continue reading

Worldwide: Asia Tax Bulletin – January 2015

CHINA China Releases GAAR Administrative Measures Courtesy of Mr Glen Wei, an attorney at law, certified tax adviser, and CPA based in China.China’s State Administration of Taxation (SAT) on December 12 issued Decree 32 (dated December 2) introducing administrative measures for applying the domestic general anti-avoidance rule to special tax… – Continue reading

North Korea making agreements for foreign investment

Though North Korean labor more expensive than previously thought – RFA The DPRK government made agreements promoting mutual investment and preventing double taxation for foreign investors, particularly highlighting cooperation with Russia, according to an article from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) published this week. Governments often form tax treaties… – Continue reading

Year in Review: Legislation and Guidance for Financial Institutions in 2014

2014 was a year replete with new legislative and regulatory initiatives impacting federally regulated financial institutions. The key initiatives introduced or implemented in 2014 are outlined in our annual year in review. PRUDENTIAL REGULATION: GUIDANCE FROM OSFI Proposed New Bail-in Regime for Large Banks On August 1, 2014, the Government… – Continue reading

North East business and airport leaders concerned region to be made guinea pig for tax reforms

SUCCESSFUL INTERNATIONAL STRUCTURES in most cases begin with choosing the right jurisdiction to host a company that will form part of an international business. Depending on the company’s activities, the choice will depend on the range of double taxation treaties and the availability of tax reliefs followed by a host… – Continue reading

G20 pledges to improve business environment, check tax evasion

ISTANBUL: Committing to resist protectionism, the G20 nations have pledged to improve business environment to promote growth and strengthen transparency to prevent cross border tax evasion. The G20 Ministers also expressed concern over terrorist activities and called upon the member nations to expeditiously comply with international norms concerning exchange of… – Continue reading