Category: Privacy

UK: FATCA Compliance And Data Protection

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

London Mayor Boris Johnson makes ‘brave’ stand against American taxes

The refusal by the Mayor of London to pay his American taxes has been hailed as “noble” and “brave” by the CEO of independent financial advisor, deVere Group. The comments from Nigel Green, founder and chief executive of deVere Group, which operates in 100 countries and has $10 billion under… – Continue reading

Out of 627, 427 black money account holders identified: Arun Jaitley

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

UK: New Trust And Tax Reporting Obligations For UK Resident Non Doms – A Mini UK FATCA?

UK resident non-domiciliaries (RNDs), who have offshore bank accounts and interests in non-UK structures, are currently not required to provide any information about those accounts/structures to HMRC, provided that they claim the remittance basis of taxation in the UK, those accounts do not hold assets which produce UK source income… – Continue reading

Tougher operating environment calls for a new business model

Rüschlikon is just a 20-minute boat ride from the centre of Zurich, yet a world away from the intense rivalry of the city’s financial powerhouses. Every autumn, the sleepy lakeside settlement hosts the Private Banking Summit, where delegates seek safeguards for their threatened industry. “Swiss private banking is in turmoil,… – Continue reading

UK: In Uncle Sam’s Footsteps

When FATCA was signed by Barack Obama in 2010, many commentators were quick to argue that such ‘breathtakingly extra-territorial’ provisions would never come to fruition. Fast-forward only a few years and those five letters, FATCA, have become etched in the minds of exasperated US taxpayers (many of whom are queuing… – Continue reading

HMRC bank raid proposals diluted to protect the ‘vulnerable’

HM Revenue & Customs has introduced “safeguards” to reduce the potential impact of its proposals to recover tax directly from debtors’ bank accounts. The plans, which are known as Direct Recovery of Debts (DRD), will allow the Revenue to recover cash directly from the bank accounts, building society accounts and… – Continue reading

FATCA: Are Transnational Criminal Networks Influencing US Policy?

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

Businesswoman contests release of Cayman bank records

A high-profile businesswoman accused of using Cayman Islands bank accounts to dodge more than $7 million in taxes is seeking to challenge the use of information obtained by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service through a tax information exchange request. Cheryl Womack, a Kansas City businesswoman who has a home and… – Continue reading

Bahamas signs FATCA IGA

The Bahamian government yesterday took a “critical step” in complying with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) by signing an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the U.S. During a press conference held at the Ministry of Financial Services, Minister of Financial Services Ryan Pinder stated that industry consultation represents the… – Continue reading

Most global companies are far too secretive about operations

WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Most of the world’s biggest companies get a failing grade for transparency and are far too secretive about how they operate, despite mounting pressure for business to stand firm against bribery, corruption and tax avoidance, a survey has found. Transparency International, the leading… – Continue reading

Offshore firms: in the zone

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

Offshore metadata storage fine by me, says Malcolm Turnbull

iiNet says ‘your data could land in China’ Communications minister Malcolm Turnbull has told the telecommunications industry he doesn’t think Australian telecommunications carriers should be required to hold stored customer data within Australia. Data sovereignty has become a hot-button privacy topic in Australia with the rise of the cloud, and… – Continue reading

Tougher disclosure rules for offshore accounts held by ‘non-doms’ once single tax reporting standard in force

Financial institutions based in certain British Overseas Territories (BOTs) and Crown Dependencies (CDs) will be subject to stricter reporting requirements covering accounts held with them by UK resident non-UK domiciled taxpayers from 2016 if specific “carve outs” are not negotiated, an expert has said.31 Oct 2014 Private wealth tax Tax… – Continue reading

The growing threat of wealth taxation

At the September 2014 convention of American labor unions, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont specifically urged taxation of wealth, asserting that, “We need a tax system which asks the billionaire class to pay its fair share of taxes and which reduces the obscene degree of wealth inequality in America.” The… – Continue reading

“Taxation Must Go Global,” Says German Finance Minister

In one of the bluntest statements on the topic by any globalist thus far, controversial German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble (shown) openly called for “global standards” and “global governance” in taxation to ensure that governments can continue extracting huge sums in taxes from the wealth-producing class in perpetuity. In an… – Continue reading

Cyprus banks in the process of implementing FATCA

In the fight against tax evasion, member banks of the Association of Cyprus Banks (ACB) are currently in the process of implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), in anticipation of the upcoming intergovernmental agreement between the United States of America and Cyprus, ACB Director General Michael Kammas said…. – Continue reading

Only case-specific information can be disclosed: Switzerland

Amid a debate on disclosure of names of suspected black money holders, Switzerland on Thursday said information exchanged under the Swiss-India tax treaty cannot be disclosed “in principle” to a court or any other body outside the proceedings of a “specific and relevant” case. The comments come at a time… – Continue reading

UAE in top five offshore markets for client origination over next five years

Offshore Incorporations Limited (OIL), a division of OV Group, a company formation and corporate service specialist focused on serving the financial and professional intermediary sectors, has released its fifth annual market research report “Offshore 2020”. This year, over 300 global senior industry stakeholders were surveyed, highlighting major trends and providing… – Continue reading

Centre gives black money full list to SC, names to remain secret

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

Black money: SC order may impact other tax treaties

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court’s directive on sharing the names of overseas account holders has raised worries about India’s commitment to the confidentiality clause in various tax treaties and may impact remittances from the US. Any move to make the names public without prosecution may hamper signing of the Foreign… – Continue reading

Angry Supreme Court demands black money list TODAY: 800 names could surface as Modi government is accused of protecting the guilty

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

Bloomberg BNA and Tax Analysts Interview Elan Keller on OECD Forum Tax Chiefs’ Pledge for Greater Cross-Border Cooperation

NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Bloomberg BNA’s International Tax Monitor and Tax Analysts interviewed Caplin & Drysdale’s Elan P. Keller concerning a pledge made at the 2014 OECD Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) by tax chiefs from 38 countries to invest in resources to implement a new standard… – Continue reading

NSW to add offshore data rules into privacy legislation

Privacy Commissioner welcomes the news. The office of NSW Attorney-General Brad Hazzard has confirmed the government’s intentions to update the state’s privacy legislation to make it clear where agencies and healthcare providers stand when it comes to storing data offshore, particularly as part of cloud computing arrangements. The NSW Privacy… – Continue reading

US delegation calls for repeal of FATCA

(CS) As part of a European tour organised by Republicans Overseas, US Senator Mike Lee on Tuesday visited Luxembourg to rally support for the repeal of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, more commonly known as FATCA. Luxembourg and the US signed FATCA as an inter-governmental agreement in March this… – Continue reading

Gideon Spanier: At last, Europe is targeting the tech giants on tax

American technology companies are suddenly living in fear. European governments are finally standing up to the power of these giants that are happy to talk about the benefits their digital products and services bring to society while being accused of not paying their fair share of corporation tax, not doing… – Continue reading

‘I was terrified we’d lose all our money’: banks tell US customers they won’t work with Americans

Thousands of Americans abroad are giving up their citizenship as the implementation of a complex new tax law causes banks to shut down accounts for US expatriates Angry Canadians are rare. But Patricia Moon qualifies. Until 2012, Moon was actually an American – albeit one who had lived in Canada… – Continue reading

Swiss banks at crossroads as secrecy goes up in smoke

As Switzerland’s long-cherished banking secrecy practices evaporate, the institutions in the world’s largest offshore tax haven are dramatically rethinking their business models in a bid to survive. Already reeling from the painful process of making amends for allowing foreign nationals to hide assets from the taxman back home, the secretive… – Continue reading

Bahamians In Fraud Probe Held In Belize

TWO Bahamian men were arrested on Friday at an airport in Belize three days after they were indicted by US federal prosecutors over an alleged $500 million securities fraud and money laundering scheme, according to a Belize news report. #The US is seeking to extradite the men over the allegations…. – Continue reading

The cost of cutting ties with Uncle Sam soar: Tim Harper

Americans living in Canada are in a rush to renounce their citizenship in the face of Washington’s invasive tax grab. OTTAWA – Thomas Jefferson is famously believed to have defined the price of freedom as eternal vigilance. The price of freedom from Uncle Sam is a lot steeper. Faced with… – Continue reading

Facing up to Fatca

This article was first published in the 2nd quarter 2014 edition of Personal Finance magazine. Most people accept that they have to pay taxes in their country of residence. But citizens of the United States and green card holders who live outside that country – even if they have never… – Continue reading

‘Tax haven’ Monaco experiences luxury-housing boom

LONDON: Monaco, the tax haven on the French Riviera, is experiencing a luxury-housing boom that includes the world’s most expensive penthouse as developers prepare for an influx of millionaires and billionaires escaping higher taxes or a loss of banking privacy.A “flow” of new residents is emigrating from Switzerland, where financial-secrecy… – Continue reading

FATCA 2 Ready In Global Crackdown On Tax Cheats

A new global standard for governments to crack down on tax evasion has been released by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Almost 70 countries have already signed up to the charter, which will roll out a US style Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) law globally. FATCA… – Continue reading

United States: FATCA Implications For Offshore Investment Funds And Their US Investment Managers

FATCA Background The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) was enacted in response to concerns that US taxpayers were avoiding US tax by using offshore financial institutions to hide assets and avoid reporting income.  Generally, FATCA imposes due diligence, information reporting and withholding obligations on non-US financial institutions (“FFIs”) and… – Continue reading

Tough puzzle of who owns property held in offshore vehicles

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/26dbdbce-1409-11e4-8485-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz39PGGY2lR Property ownership through an offshore company evokes an image of a rich foreign buyer… – Continue reading

Do You Want the Global Destruction of Financial Privacy to Enable Higher Tax Rates and Bigger Government?

It’s a bad idea when governments demand information on your bank accounts and investments so they can impose economically destructive double taxation. It’s a worse idea when they also demand the right to tax economic activity in other jurisdictions (otherwise known as “worldwide taxation“). And it’s the worst possible development… – Continue reading