Multinationals should pay their taxes where they make their profits, according to one of the recommendations by the tax rulings committee, which were adopted by MEPs on 25 November. Report authors Elisa Ferreira (S&D, Portugal) and Michael Theurer (ALDE, Germany) told us it had been difficult for the committee to… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Tightening the noose around Indians whose names figured in the ‘stolen’ Swiss HSBC bank black money list, the Enforcement Directorate has begun a preliminary investigation in these cases for an independent hawala and money laundering probe. The agency recently has begun obtaining from various court registries the details… – Continue reading
Lately, the IRS is warning offshore account holders to disclose before it’s too late. Under FATCA, banks everywhere want to know if you are compliant with the IRS. And the cost of compliance for many people is growing. The IRS updated its list of foreign banks where accounts trigger a… – Continue reading
Chinese authorities have uncovered the country’s biggest underground banking case involving transactions totalling more than 410 billion yuan ($64 billion), official media reported, part of a drive to combat illegal capital outflows. The investigation, which started in September and focused on the costal province of Zhejiang, found that dozens of… – Continue reading
Fed decision due after December 15-16 meeting Hong Kong and mainland Chinese stocks both closed significantly higher on Thursday, adding to a global stock rally after minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s October meeting sent a stronger signal about a possible December rate increase. The Hang Seng Index advanced 1.4… – Continue reading
Brussels – Google and Facebook were among US companies facing questions on Monday from European Union lawmakers about their tax-reducing techniques, a month after regional antitrust regulators raised the stakes by ordering Starbucks and a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV unit to repay millions of euros in back taxes. The queries… – Continue reading
Amazon, Facebook and Google in line of fire after committee backs proposals to force multinational corporations to pay tax where they make their sales MEPs have launched a scathing attack on Facebook, Google and Amazon in the European parliament, accusing them of diverting profits worth billions of pounds to low… – Continue reading
European Union lawmakers have called 13 multinational companies to a meeting next week to talk about the low-tax deals they have struck with EU jurisdictions, reports CBC News. Among the companies to be questioned on Nov. 16 will be Amazon.com, Disney, Coca-Cola Co, Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, HSBC Holdings, Ikea Group… – Continue reading
On a warm afternoon last month, Mexican central bank Governor Agustin Carstens looked out over sun-drenched piles of dirt and construction equipment near Guadalajara and hailed the groundbreaking of a new currency-printing plant as a sign of a solid economy. There’s one catalyst for rising cash demand that isn’t a… – Continue reading
Call to halt bank sale in favour of reform rejected by UK Government UK MINISTERS decided to “wash their hands” of a tax evasion scandal in a subsidiary of the government-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, according to damning testimony given by a former treasury official who is now a Labour… – Continue reading
British MEP Anneliese Dodds has accused national governments of hampering progress in tackling corporate tax dodging, warning that EU capitals are “far too focussed on their own self-interests”. On the anniversary of the breaking of the LuxLeaks scandal, Dodds said MEPs had made some progress in stamping out aggressive tax… – Continue reading
HM Revenue and Customs is failing to prosecute wealthy tax evaders who hide their fortunes in overseas, MPs have warned, reports the Isle of Man Today. The Commons Public Accounts Committee said HMRC’s record of just 11 prosecutions for offshore tax evasion in the past five years was “woefully inadequate”… – Continue reading
They say the only certain things in life are death and taxes, but a large number of non-U.S. citizens may have found a way to avoid at least one of those. Under U.S. tax law, the estates of foreign holders of U.S. assets, such as stocks, real estate and valuables,… – Continue reading
Claiming that a lot of information on illicit funds is lying unused by the Indian authorities, HSBC whistleblower Herve Falciani said on Tuesday that he is willing to cooperate with the investigative agencies in their black money probe but would need protection in return. He also claimed that millions of… – Continue reading
GENEVA – A former HSBC employee who leaked documents alleging the bank helped clients evade millions of dollars in taxes failed again to show up for his Swiss trial Monday, which opened in his absence. Herve Falciani, a 43-year-old French-Italian national who exposed the so-called Swissleaks scandal, has repeatedly said… – Continue reading
The trial has begun in Switzerland of banker Herve Falciani, whose leaks helped uncover the HSBC tax evasion scandal. The French-Italian national is accused of financial espionage, among other charges. Herve Falciani’s trial opened on Monday in the southern Swiss town of Bellinzona and will continue despite his refusal to… – Continue reading
How analytics will nab cheaters. Tomorrow is the Australian Taxation Office’s official cutoff for 2014-15 personal tax returns. Will you be tempted to tell fibs about your income? How will the tax man ever know? Take note: it may already know – or at least can find out – a… – Continue reading
HSBC is moving its derivative trading book from London to Hong Kong in a bid to cut costs arising from tight regulations in the UK and EU, The Telegraph reports. Trading staff will stay put in London, but interest rate swap trades will be increasingly booked in Hong Kong. It… – Continue reading
Herve Falciani, the Frenchman wanted on charges of industrial espionage in Switzerland, has opted to skip his trial at the country’s top court and instead plead his case before a jury of journalists at a French hotel, less than a mile from the Swiss border. The Frenchman was the star… – Continue reading
After teasing the UK financial community — and the government — with a thinly-veiled threat to decamp from Britain, HSBC has continued to stoke speculation that it’s looking for more hospitable headquarters. Back in April, HSBC announced a review of whether to quit the UK, a somewhat provocative statement, coming,… – Continue reading
The Bank of Butterfield has agreed to buy the multibillion dollar private banking trust and investment arm of rivals HSBC Bermuda. The move means Butterfield will acquire the Bermuda Trust Company Ltd as well as the trust and investment business of HSBC. At the end of last year, HSBC’s trust… – Continue reading
HSBC, Google, Facebook are among firms that will now appear after threat from MEPs on access to Parliament. Several multinational companies have now dropped their opposition to appearing before a special European Parliament panel investigating allegations of tax avoidance in Europe. HSBC said Tuesday it would participate in a hearing… – Continue reading
Those thinking about a job or retirement abroad should consult their foreign counterparts, who believe they’re getting a better deal stateside. According to a new survey from HSBC, foreign expats living in the United States do so for the long haul. Nearly two-thirds (65%) live here for more than five… – Continue reading
Leading family offices in Latin America and the Caribbean are going through a transitional period, says Steven Cantor, managing partner of Cantor & Webb, a Miami-based law firm, reports the Financial Times. “As the world moves to tax transparency, with a crackdown on undisclosed tax savings in Swiss bank accounts,… – Continue reading
The “Evasion in the financial system” film is a documentary directed by former minister of Culture Jorge Coscia. It is based on the information leaked in the media by Hervé Falciani, an ex-employee of HSBC’s Swiss private bank, on clients and their tax situation. The C5N news channel aired this… – Continue reading
Expats living in the United States enjoy greater financial comfort than U.S. expats living abroad, according to a recent HSBC survey. Financial findings from the report, “Expat Explorer: Balancing Life Abroad,” revealed key differences between expats living in the U.S. and U.S. citizens living abroad. According to the report, expats… – Continue reading
Center-left MEPs turn up the heat on multinationals refusing to exchange views on tax policy. Google, Facebook, HSBC and AB Inbev are among a group of multinationals that have been “banned” from meeting MEPs from the European Parliament’s center-left grouping unless the companies agree to appear before a special committee… – Continue reading
Tunis, — The process of returning Tunisian property and assets frozen in a number of foreign banks in general and in Switzerland, in particular, has not moved an inch. More than four years have elapsed since the fall of former President Ben Ali without any hope of progress on the… – Continue reading
Some might be surprised to learn that certain areas of Richmond and Vancouver, despite being thoroughly decorated with mcmansions, monster homes, and incessantly rising land prices, are actually inhabited by low income residents that make up a surprising per cent of the population. Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper, during a… – Continue reading
[HONG KONG] China’s central bank has hired banks to arrange its debut offshore yuan bond issuance in London, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters on Monday. The so-called dim sum bond sale comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares for a state visit to Britain this week. Sources… – Continue reading
The number of banks with deferred prosecution agreements with the U.S. government keeps growing. The subject is tax evasion involving American account holders. Today, under FATCA, banks everywhere want to know if you are compliant with the IRS. And the IRS keeps updating its list of foreign banks where offshore… – Continue reading
Cyprus will as of January 1, 2016 have a new tool in its arsenal to identify monies hidden abroad as the island will begin implementing the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the Institute of Certified Public Accountants said. The CRS is formally referred to as the Standard for Automatic Exchange of… – Continue reading
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) rents office space from a Vancouver-based property developer – a company that exploits offshore tax havens in Liechtenstein, the British Virgin Islands and Channel Islands. Larco Investments Ltd. owns three buildings in Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton where they rent office space to the CRA. Larco… – Continue reading
After confirming that he would take part in the final round of the 2015 World Superbike Championship in Qatar, Max Biaggi’s presence at Losail this weekend is no longer a sure thing. The multiple World Champion has taken a fall from his mountain bike and sustained muscular injuries that may… – Continue reading
Lawmakers on Tuesday complained of an ongoing ‘information blackout’ concerning the outflow of deposits in the midst of the 2013 banking meltdown. Politicians claim that, amid the confusion during the March 2013 haircut, companies and individuals whisked their deposits abroad, thus enabling them to avoid detection by tax authorities here,… – Continue reading
Switzerland has offered legal support to India in the case of a high-profile married couple suspected of evading taxes by hiding money in a HSBC bank account in Geneva. The Swiss tax authorities said on Tuesday that they were offering legal co-operation regarding Subhash Vasant Sathe, the son of a… – Continue reading
Chinese measures to steady its rocky markets are putting the future of the offshore yuan bond market at risk, prompting record redemptions from so-called dim-sum debt funds and choking new issuance, reports Reuters. Just a few years ago investors were lining up to buy these offshore bonds denominated in a… – Continue reading
A trial in Switzerland has been adjourned against Hervé Falciani, the former IT worker from the HSBC Private Bank in Geneva who leaked data about thousands of suspected tax evaders. Falciani, 43, now living in Spain, failed to appear in the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona in the canton of… – Continue reading
DBS Bank’s Chinese unit has been chosen to be among the first group of banks to test a new international payment system that promises faster transactions for businesses using the yuan. The Cross-border International Payment System (CIPS), launched yesterday, is seen as a big step towards making the yuan a… – Continue reading
Hervé Falciani, who exposed the global offshore industry with the HSBC data leak, is facing prosecution under skewed Swiss laws for data theft and espionage. This is his story. Swiss justice hounds those who breach banking secrecy even if in doing so they expose rogue banks. In the past decade,… – Continue reading
A senior officials say they have no legal jurisdiction over the accounts maintained in foreign countries and governments there can cooperate only in case of established criminal conspiracy While the government has threatened rigorous action against black money hoarders after tepid response to its one-time compliance window, it may have… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: India has found global allies in its fight against black money. Germany, France, Switzerland, Singapore, Mauritius and the British Virgin Islands are among those that are providing information, or will soon start doing so, on assets held by Indians, helping the Narendra Modi government in its campaign to… – Continue reading
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said that people who had not declared their undisclosed assets in the 90-day compliance window offered by the government will now face the law including penalty and sentence upto 10 years while 638 people who had made the declaration can “now sleep well.” In… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, OCT 4: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today warned that those who did not declare overseas black money during compliance window will face the consequences as the government will receive information about their wealth under automatic exchange of information, while others who took advantage of the scheme to come… – Continue reading
An offshore bank account is a must for many internationally mobile expats operating in the UAE and Middle East. But finding the right bank with the right extras as well as high service standards isn’t easy. There are plenty of big names to choose from, including the global operators Barclays,… – Continue reading
George Osborne’s plans to tighten tax rules for wealthy foreigners living in Britain will leave many offshore trusts outside the UK tax net, according to proposals published on Wednesday, reports the Financial Times. The Treasury’s consultation on “carefully targeted” changes to the rules for “non-doms” — people who live in… – Continue reading
SOUTH Africa has ranked higher than several developed countries in an assessment of money “hidden” in HSBC Swiss bank accounts, a report showed on Wednesday. “The money connected to SA was higher than money connected to France, eight times higher than that of the US, and 3.5 times more than… – Continue reading
After a whistleblower leaked the details of secret Swiss accounts at global bank HSBC earlier this year, the strongest reaction came from advanced economies, where governments launched efforts to reclaim tax money hidden abroad. But a new analysis by the Financial Transparency Coalition and Christian Aid shows that the financial… – Continue reading
30 September 2015 -New, detailed examination of the SwissLeaks files by Christian Aid working with the US-based Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC) graphically reveals the harm tax haven secrecy does to the economies of developing countries. The SwissLeaks scandal involves thousands of secret accounts at HSBC’s Swiss subsidiary HSBC Private Bank… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON, D.C. — United States authorities have begun the exchange of information with Mexico on all Mexicans with bank accounts or investments in the U.S. who have obtained more than $10 USD in annual interest. With the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Mexico plans to deliver… – Continue reading
