NEWS

By Anas Almasri On January 14, 2013 Hong Kong added yet another agreement to its already notable network of double taxation treaties with its trading partners, this time with Italy, taking its tally up to 27. The special administrative region Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Professor KC Chan and Italy Minister of Economy and Finance Vittorio Grilli signed the latest DTA in Hong Kong. Professor Chan highlighted the benefits such an agreement brings to both jurisdictions, stating that it sets out the allocation of taxation rights and identifies the types of passive income that now qualify for tax...

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By Baron Laudermilk John Tsang, the Financial Secretary of Hong Jong, said at the RMB Cross-border Trade and Investment Forum on July 23rd 2011, that as a Special Administrative Region of China and working under the principle of ne Country, Two Systems Hong Kong will continue to be the ront and center of the RMB liberalization process. Tsang said Hong Kong role as China global financial hub requires tapping into and building relationships with other worldwide financial centers, and that Hong Kong will continue to be the world main and possibly only RMB offshore hub for the foreseeable future. "In...

NEWS 2020

On January 17, the rhetorical battle against offshore services went up a notch, when Chuka Umunna, a labor MP since 2010, called on Barclay banks to close or reduce the number of its offshore subsidiaries, including 30 in the Isle of Man, 38 in Jersey and 181 in the Cayman Islands. Umunna suggested that Barclays, through its structured capital markets division, uses its offshore companies to facilitate UK tax avoidance. The UK code of practice on tax for banks, to which Barclays is signed up, requires banks not to undertake tax planning to achieve tax results contrary to the intentions...

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Garth Kimber, head of E-gaming development on the Isle of Man says he expects the size of the local industry to double in 2011. E-gaming accounts for 5% of the island economy, with 24 companies set up and another 22 in the process of establishing themselves. These companies include Asian giants SBObet and 188bet.An e-gaming business is not one that can be completely run remotely. Companies have to bank locally, and have a minimum of two directors and an operations manager based on the Island. The industry employs 700 people locally. Still the island is attractive for this sort of...

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According to an analysis by Global Financial Integrity, a non-governmental organization aimed at combating illegal money flows, between 2000 and 2009 the Bahamas US$1.2 billion left the country unaccounted for. These outflows were largely accomplished through trade mispricing, where invoices are marked with a price lower than what the end buyer actually paid in order to avoid customs duties. Around US$3 billion came into the country through similar channels. A spokesperson for Global Financial Integrity said that the problem was probably accentuated because of the country status as a major offshore center.Zhivargo Laing, the minister of finance of the Bahamas...

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Century Banking Corporation recently opened an office in Mauritius, making it the first islamic bank to establish itself on the island, and the 20th licensed bank in Mauritius. Mauritius is attempting to turn itself into a financial center bridging Africa, the Indian sub-continent and Asia, and this new institution should bring in more business from the middle-east, Northern India and Indonesia. "For a country that is second to none in its pluralism, with our multiple identities, ethnicities, religions, languages and cultural affinities with the world, we could not stay away from Islamic banking, said Rundheersing Bheenick governor of the Bank...

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Jersey held onto its position as the highest ranked offshore financial center in the Z/Yen Group ranking of the top 75 global financial centers. Jersey ranked 23rd overall, down from 22nd in the last ranking in September 2010, but it is still ranked higher than Guernsey (27th place), Isle of Man (35th place) and the Cayman Islands (38th place). Several offshore financial centers fell in the rankings, reflecting, Z/Yen suggested, a growing mistrust of offshore finance in an atmosphere of stronger regulatory limits. The Cayman Islands and Malta both dropped four places in the index, Isle of man dropped three....

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Barbados Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Chris Sinckler declared that the government wouldn oll over and play dead, after a recent OECD/Global Forum Phase 1 assessment of Barbados arrangements regarding the exchange of tax information effectively placed Barbados in a category of countries which do not meet OECD standards. The island was also downgraded to a category 3 country by the UK government, implying a inability to meet international tax exchange standards. Which Sinckler noted was remature and ncludes some of the world uncooperative tax havens. /p> This matter is made especially threatening for Barbados because penalties amounting to 200%...

NEWS 2020