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By Juliet Leclerec Germany and Taiwan have concluded a bilateral double taxation agreement, signed by Wei Wu-lien, the Taiwanese representative to Germany, in Berlin on December 19 and by Michael Zickerick, director general of the German Institute in Taipei, on December 28. The treaty is reported to include provisions pertaining to the avoidance of the double taxation of dividends and capital gains and a provision for tax information exchange. The pact will result in fairer taxation and create a more friendly investment environment for business, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an official press release. t...

NEWS 2020

By Baron Laudermilk To close out 2011, the Thai Central Bank signed a $1.4 billion currency swap deal with the Chinese Central Bank to facilitate trade, investment and business between the two nations.Thai Central Bank Governor, Prasarn Trairatvorakul, told reporters the currency swap deal will facilitate trade and boost the Yuan international acceptance. his agreement will help Thai business to directly exchange Yuan currency with the baht when necessary and they do not need to do it via the dollar, he said. his will help promote the use of the Yuan for international trade" The currency swap between these two...

NEWS 2020

By Wang Bin With the Chinese New Year Festival for the Year of the Dragon approaching, a raft of brokerages and fund companies are scrambling to launch RQFII products in Hong Kong. China Universal Asset Management Co and Haitong Securities Co started to sell units of RQFII funds to institutional investors and retail investors on January 11, becoming the pioneers in the pilot RQFII program. Many fund companies, including China Southern Fund Management, are keen to start the fund-raising process for their RQFII funds around the Spring Festival. RQFII is the abbreviation for "Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor", referring to...

NEWS 2020

By Anas Almasri The Cayman Enterprise City has opened its doors to new company registrations this month, as boasted by the Premier of the Cayman Islands, McKeeva Bush in his latest New Year address. The CEC hopes to attract many of the 94,000 offshore companies already registered in the Cayman Islands. The special purpose economic zone, which is said to be the first of its kind in the Caribbean region, offers businesses a host of unique benefits from advanced infrastructure and quick set up procedures to operational incentives, including many tax exemptions. The resulting business friendly environment of the CEC...

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By Baron Laudermilk The Chinese central bank and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a currency swap deal January 18. The deal, which is worth 35 billion RMB ($5.5 billion), further demonstrates the renminbi continued expansion and prominence the Middle East. The People Bank of China announced the deal on its website (www.pbc.gov.cn) and stated that the currency swap was worth 20 billion dirhams, the currency UAE uses. The deal expires within three years and will give central banks, traders, and investors the chance to use their local currency to ease bilateral trading. This is the first currency swap between China...

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By Juliet Leclerec Macau has signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with India, the Indian government confirmed January 25. The agreement was signed by Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman, Mr. Mukesh Chand Joshi, during a visit to the Chinese Special Administrative Region in early January. Macau, while not a major financial center, is considered an offshore center and its tax rates are among the lowest in South East Asia. Twenty-eight banks are authorized to operate in Macau, according to the latest available data, of which 17 are branches of foreign banks including banks from Mainland China, Portugal,...

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By Wang Bin The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and British Treasury announced the launch of a joint private-sector forum January 16, in order to promote cooperation between the two jurisdictions in developing the offshore renminbi. Representatives from financial institutions in both Hong Kong and London, including HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of China, Deutsche Bank and Barclays, will meet twice a year and focus on exploring synergies between the UK and Hong Kong, specifically looking at clearing and settlement systems, market liquidity and the development of new RMB denominated products. The first meeting will take place in Hong Kong in May...

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By Wang Bin The first RMB Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), the Hang Seng RMB Gold ETF launched by Hang Seng Investment Management Limited, debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange February 14. According to the company's website, the investment objective of the Hang Seng RMB Gold ETF is to provide returns in RMB that closely track the performance of the London Gold Fixing Price in US dollars. The minimum trading size is 100 units and the fund can be traded on the SEHK through stock brokers or banks. Previously, there were already RMB products traded on the SEHK. The first...

NEWS 2020