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By Baron Laudermilk Canada Prime Minster, Stephen Harper, has made an agreement in principle with China that would update both countries existing Double Tax Agreement (DTA), which the stated objective of reducing taxes, and promoting investment and trade between the two countries. The current DTA between Canada and China goes back to 1986. Since then Canada domestic policies, tax treaties, and domestic tax agreements that are in the tax treaty standards have significantly changed, said the Canadian government in a public statement. So there was a need to update the DTA to benefit both countries economies and stimulate business between...

NEWS 2020

By Wang Bin On February 16, Sailing Capital International, a RMB-denominated international fund, finished the first-phase of its fund raising process. It has been the biggest RMB international investment fund so far in China. The parent fund has a size of 50 billion RMB and it has raised 12 billion yuan in the first stage. Through the arrangement of parent and sub funds and with the multi-level leverage mechanism supported by both investment and credit, the fund is expected to leverage more than 150 billion yuan of investment capital at home and abroad. Sailing Capital International is managed by Sailing...

NEWS 2020

By Baron Laudermilk On March 12 2012, the Chinese central bank made a major step in internationalizing the renminbi and stimulating its use by allowing all businesses that trade with China to use the currency.The Chinese central bank released a statement stating that all companies who are importing and exporting with Chinese companies are now allowed to use the renminbi to settle trade, significantly increasing the number of Chinese and foreign companies that can use the currency. David Sear, the chief operating officer of Western Union Solutions, a company that facilities international money transfers in different currencies said, e are...

NEWS 2020

By John P. Egan Recent figures released by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) revealed that the island's fund sector declined by 3.7 percent during the final quarter of 2011, which equates to £10.2bn off the island's net asset value of funds under management and administration. According to the GFSC report released this month, the uncertainty in the Euro zone and resulting disturbance in the international markets appear to have had a continued impact on Guernsey funds. This comes as the second successive quarterly drop in the value of the island funds business; however, it follows eight consecutive quarters of...

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By Leo Zhang The southwestern Chinese municipality of Chongqing and southern province of Hainan have both shown keen interest recently to develop offshore finance, hoping to lure more international business to drive local growth. Huang Qifan, mayor of Chongqing municipality, said recently the weakest part of China financial strategy is offshore finance, which is currently at an opportune moment to grow as the country strives to develop offshore financial settlements. Huang is a former vice mayor in Shanghai, taking charge of the city economic work. He was also a key member of officials that helped draft policies for the opening-up...

NEWS 2020

By Baron Laudermilk The President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, has pledged that if he is re-elected as president, he will tax all French nationals wealth if they leave the country. During a speech at a factory, Sarkozy announced his plan to ensure that tax exiles pay the same amount of wealth tax as if they were residents in France. The only way to get out of this would be to renounce their French nationality. Ultimately Sarkozy wants to link taxation with nationalism, similar to what the US does for its own personal taxation model. In both systems, expats can claim tax...

NEWS 2020

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...

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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