NEWS

By Juliet Leclerec As the new fiscal year began April 1 in Hong Kong, nine new agreements have begun to apply to Hong Kong earned income. According to the region internal revenue department, treaties with Austria, France, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Lichtenstein, Netherlands, and New Zealand will start to be effective for the 2012/2013 tax year, as well as a new protocol added to the treaty with Luxembourg. Additionally, a tax treaty signed one year ago with Spain will also enter into force April 16. Hong Kong ever expanding network of tax treaties, which now numbers 24, continues to boost the...

NEWS 2020

By Leo Zhang China financial regulators have expanded the quota of the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor program, known as RQFII, from 20 to 70 billion yuan, as part of efforts to beef up capital market liberalization and spur the use of the Chinese currency. The new initiative is aimed at urther opening the mainland capital market, expanding the investment channels of overseas RMB deposits and meeting the demand of foreign investors for mainland equities, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in an April 3 announcement. The RQFII program, which was launched in December last year, has already enrolled 21...

NEWS 2020

By Baron Laudermilk Before the European economic crisis erupted in 2008, Chinese HNWI, people with personal assets of more than 6 million Rmb ($950,000), were investing large sums of money in high-yield, high-risk financial instruments. They were making a fortune; some products were offering anywhere between 10-20 percent yearly returns. But the American economic downturn and the euro crisis put this in perspective in many HNWIs minds. According to a new report, he Chinese Luxury Consumer White Paper 2012, Chinese HNWI are now focusing on more fixed income products with lower yields and less risk. These products are typically government...

NEWS 2020

By John Paul Egan Guernsey based fund management company, Legis Global Financial Solutions, gained first place as Best Fund of Hedge Funds Administrator in the category nder USD30 billion at the HFM Week European Services Provider Awards. The awards recognise companies that outperformed their industry peers during 2011. With recent market volatility and growing investor demands, alternative investment managers are looking for ways to distinguish themselves from the crowd and achieving independent recognition like this offers such a means. According to HFMWeek figures European hedge fund numbers are approaching the 10,000 mark, increasing the standards and the competition for asset...

NEWS 2020

By Leo Zhang HSBC has raised 2 billion yuan (US$317 million) in London first Dim Sum bonds issue April 18, marking a key step in the city initiative to become a center for offshore yuan trading.The issue was the first yuan debt sale outside Chinese territory, although Hong Kong has been benefiting from China Dim Sum bond program in the past two years thanks to investors enthusiasm to buy high-yielding yuan debt.On the same day, a working group of five major lenders, including HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered, Barclays and Bank of China, also announced they would team up to...

NEWS 2020

By Baron Laudermilk Botswana Minister of Finance and Development planning, Kenneth Matambo, signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with China on April 12 in order to foster Chinese investment in the country manufacturing and agriculture industries. The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) is designed to minimalize or remove double taxation of incomes of residents in a country who earn money in another country. Prior to signing the agreement, Matambo said that this DTAA deal would benefit Chinese textile companies and other investors who are interested in establishing factories and businesses in Botswana. here is a notable level of trading...

NEWS 2020

By Baron Laudermilk Germany federal government is pushing their plans to simplify the country tax laws and to persuade multinational businesses to invest in its burdened economy. Four finance ministers, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Schleswig-Holstein, and Bremen, created a list of eleven proposals that are geared towards lowering the fiscal burden on the German people, with hopes of also attracting foreign investment. There are reports that confirm that the group of four states is now united on plans to simplify the tax law and to reduce the country administration, while also increasing incentives for corporations to invest in Germany. Carsten Kuhl, the social...

NEWS 2020

By Leo Zhang In 2012, Hong Kong plans to further beef up its yuan trading platform after strengthening its position as an international financial hub over the past year despite a weakening global economy and sharp rise in financial market tensions amid the deepening European sovereign debt crisis, its central bank said in the annual report. Yuan-denominated business has been expanding rapidly, enabling Hong Kong to develop as the premier offshore yuan business center, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said in the report released on April 30. On the policy front, following Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang visit to...

NEWS 2020