Search

Photo By: Over Hong Kong By Courtesy of Lowtax.netOn November 13, Hong Kong and the United States signed an inter-governmental agreement (IGA), the substantive terms of which were agreed in May this year, and which will facilitate compliance with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) by financial institutions in Hong Kong.FATCA, which was enacted by the US Congress in 2010 and took effect on July 1, 2014, is intended to ensure that the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) obtains information on financial accounts held at foreign financial institutions (FFIs) by US persons. Failure by an FFI to disclose...

NEWS 2020

Photo By: AFP By Courtesy of FTChina will create three new free trade zones modeled on one established a year ago in Shanghai as the government tries to support lackluster trade and boost slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy.The three new zones will be established in the southern and eastern provinces of Guangdong and Fujian and in the northern port city of Tianjin, China’s State Council said in a statement.Shanghai’s free trade zone, or FTZ, which opened in September 2013, was heralded as a laboratory for ambitious free market reforms that would lift everything from financial and currency restrictions...

NEWS 2020

Photo By: EuroPix By Courtesy of FTGermany, France and Italy have launched a campaign to tighten EU tax rules that appears aimed at practices in Luxembourg and will add political pressure on the new European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, the Grand Duchy’s former premier.The three countries are calling for an EU-wide law by the end of next year that would outlaw “aggressive tax planning” and close some common loopholes used by companies and member states to limit their tax bills.In a key phrase, Berlin, Paris and Rome are demanding “stricter conditions and rules” for unilateral tax rulings, a clear reference...

NEWS 2020

Photo By: Ningxia FTZ By Courtesy of Lowtax.netThe Deputy Governor of China's Ningxia Autonomous Region recently led a seven-member delegation to Jebel Ali Free Zone to discuss potential collaboration with its own equivalent, Yinchuan Free Zone.Welcoming the delegation, Salma Ali Saif Bin Hareb, CEO of Economic Zones World (EZW), the parent company of Jafza, said: "Jafza can be a springboard for businesses from North West China to establish their footprint in one of world's fastest growing regions. We will be more than happy to be a trade bridge between North West China and the Middle East."Yinchuan Free Zone was established...

NEWS 2020

Photo By: AFP January 7, 2015 Nassau, Bahamas – Earlier today, the Bahamas Information Services issued a statement indicating that the Chinese President announced that The Bahamas would trade in RMB or Residential Mortgage Backed Security. This is incorrect. The fact is that during a thirty minute meeting with Bahamian Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Chinese President announced an agreement in principle that would allow The Bahamas to be a country where debts involving international parties can be settled. He also announced an agreement that would allow The Bahamas to trade...

NEWS 2020

Photo By: Getty Images As Chinese individuals and companies head overseas in greater numbers, the country's tax authorities are starting to follow. The Beijing billionaires who set up cryptically named companies in the British Virgin Islands to hold their fortunes are in the cross hairs. So are the Guangdong salesmen living and working in Africa and Latin America. China's tax officials are now demanding that citizens start reporting exactly how much money they earn overseas. In asking for this information, national and municipal tax agencies in China are quietly beginning to enforce a little-known and widely ignored regulation: Citizens and...

NEWS 2020

Photo By: CCB China Construction Bank has been granted a licence by British regulators to expand into the UK’s business banking market in an attempt to cement the City as a hub for Asian financial companies. The branch licence, the second to be awarded to a Chinese bank in less than six months, will provide the lender with greater freedom to offer wholesale banking services in the UK. The move comes after the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country’s largest lender by assets, was awarded a banking licence in September last year. Chaoyong Gong, head of strategic development...

NEWS 2020

Photo By: Shanghai FTZ The Shanghai District of Pudong announced at the Shanghai International Hedge Fund Summit that it will set up an ‘offshore-finance pilot zone’ to carry out cross border wealth management. This statement is backed by a recent decision from the State Council Executive Committee to expand certain Shanghai FTZ features to all of Pudong. Details are still being worked out, but the Director of the Pudong Financial Services Bureau Private Fund Industry Development Office revealed that the intention is to accommodate 20 to 30 of the top international asset managers in the pilot zone. On Dec 8,...

NEWS 2020