(Seychelles News Agency) – The Seychelles has become an early adopter of an agreement launched by the G5 group of countries – the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – to automatically disclose details of individuals who have taxable income kept in offshore accounts. According to a press statement by Her Majesty’s… – Continue reading
Seven Dutch financial institutions may be involved in evading taxes and are ‘extremely vague’ about what they do to ensure this does not happen, the Dutch Fair Bank Guide said on Wednesday. ABN Amro, Aegon, Delta Lloyd, ING, NIBC, Rabobank and Van Lanschot emerge as potential tax avoiders in research… – Continue reading
HMRC looking at new laws that mean failing to declare offshore becomes a crime By Michelle McGagh, Sep 3, 2014 Tales of benefit cheats regularly hit the headlines with salacious details of how they’ve spent their ill-gotten gains – typically foreign holidays and flash cars – but we never seem… – Continue reading
The Indian government’s bid to unearth black money stashed away in hidden offshore accounts is starting to pay off. The government believes around £350 billion is hidden in undeclared bank accounts and investments outside the country and wants to bring the tax owed on the money back to India. Nine… – Continue reading
A useful – and legal – scheme for people who haven’t paid their dues to the taxman is being restricted, reports Alison Steed Expats who have failed to pay their taxes may find the attractive option of using the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) blocked, thanks to changes made to it… – Continue reading
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5470f66a-32a8-11e4-a5a2-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz3CLJSNkJT The Spanish government has launched a blistering attack on Jordi Pujol, the former Catalan… – Continue reading
In Beezadhur v The Independent Commission against Corruption and anor [2014] UKPC 27, the Privy Council dismissed an appeal by a retired nurse who was charged with and found guilty by the Intermediate Court of Mauritius of five offences under sections 5(1) and 8 of the Financial and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2002… – Continue reading
An ex-Attorney General believes the financial services industry will survive even if the automatic exchange of tax information becomes the global standard, warning that this nation “can’t stand apart” from the initiative. #John Delaney, now managing partner at Delaney Partners, said the Bahamas’ resilience in withstanding previous global tax/regulatory initiatives… – Continue reading
More Swiss banks are dropping out of the U.S. banking program that the IRS supposedly uses to prevent American citizens from stashing cash overseas to avoid taxes. Known for 100 years as the original tax haven, free from the prying eyes of governments around the world, Swiss banks have provided… – Continue reading
More to the point, extant global financial architecture facilitates transfer of illicit money through the Hawala route first to a Tax Haven, only to launder it in specialised locations like London. “There are 42,800 persons – let me repeat, only 42,800 persons – who admitted to a taxable income exceeding… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – At least 10 Swiss banks have withdrawn from a U.S. program aimed at settling a tax dispute between them and the United States, Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag said on Sunday, quoting unnamed sources. Around 100 Swiss banks came forward at the end of last year to work with U.S. authorities in… – Continue reading
Microsoft is avoiding paying billions in taxes—and it’s not the only one. a subsidiary of a foreign company, so the firm has not technically engaged in the so-called “inversion” scheme that President Obama and Democrats have lately been criticizing. However, according to a 2012 U.S. Senate investigation, the company has… – Continue reading
[ZURICH] SWISS banks have suffered from a massive outflow of funds since 2008, a survey said on Friday, squeezed by an international crackdown on tax evasion. The survey by auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers attributed much of the outflow – totalling almost 350 billion Swiss francs (S$474 billion) – to customers paying fines… – Continue reading
The Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the money laundering aspect of the multi-crore Saradha scam, has for the first time found evidence of the money being parked in offshore accounts. The ED sleuths, sources said, have found that Santanu Ghosh, chairman of Xenitis Group and an accused in the scam,… – Continue reading
They say Wolf is dodging taxes by shifting money to income-tax-free Delaware. Bringing business inside Delaware’s borders is big. Sixty percent of all public companies are incorporated there – just miles from Pennsylvania. It’s also home to Weidner University’s Institute of Delaware Corporate and Business Law. Professor Lawarence Hamermesh is… – Continue reading
PRWEB.COM NewswireWashington, D.C. (PRWEB) August 28, 2014 A new trend in the offshore banking regime has emerged. Many banks located around the world are sending letters to their accountholders seeking personal information to confirm whether the account holder is a U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident. In the letters,… – Continue reading
Banks in Switzerland lost 350 billion Swiss francs ($383 billion) from foreign clients over the past six years amid an international crackdown on offshore tax evasion, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers AG. Foreign clients withdrew as much as 100 billion francs to pay fines to governments in their countries of residence, PwC… – Continue reading
You’ll have to forgive Amazon for getting a little flustered when the British Parliament publicly blasted the company for “gaming the system” to dodge paying taxes. Amazon is an American company. They’re used to far more deferential treatment. Responding to how the company paid only $7 million in taxes despite… – Continue reading
Expat savers dealing with unfamiliar banks are unlikely to know how much of their cash is protected if the foreign bank goes bust. In Britain, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) safeguards up to £85,000 held by each person in accounts under a single banking licence. Each building society has… – Continue reading
I n July, the American pharmaceutical giant AbbVie, maker of the world’s top-selling drug – the arthritis treatment Humira – reached a blockbuster deal to acquire European rival Shire, best known for the attention-deficit medication Adderall. The merger was cheered by Wall Street, not for what the deal will do… – Continue reading
Ottawa (27 Aug. 2014)—Premiers and territorial leaders in Charlottetown for the Council of the Federation need to demand the federal government and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) stem the flow of Canadian money offshore because it is depleting revenues by at least $7.8 billion each year. Retrieving that money could… – Continue reading
An effort to control tax havens for those hiding their assets overseas has resulted in broad brush impacts on hard-working expatriate Americans living and working out of country. The previously delayed Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is now in full swing effective July 1, 2014. In an attempt to close a… – Continue reading
Pictet & Cie. Group SCA, Switzerland’s biggest closely held bank, increased assets under management six percent in the first half, as narrowing margins and a U.S. tax program led some competitors to sell or downsize. Managed assets grew to 319 billion Swiss francs ($348 billion) from 301 billion francs, Pictet said… – Continue reading
WEALTHY South Africans’ banking needs have changed in the past decade as exchange-control regulations have eased, and they have found themselves forging complex relationships with multiple global financial service providers. A wealthy South African might have a private bank and investment banking relationship domestically, as well as offshore banking and… – Continue reading
With all the talk about inversions and America’s Burger King Going Canadian, it’s easy to ignore even more prevalent tax savings by numerous American companies. Take Microsoft, which admits in its 2014 SEC filing that it avoids $30 billion in U.S. taxes. The trick? Keep about triple that amount, $93… – Continue reading
Microsoft is the most recent member of the get-your-money-out-of-the-country club. The technology giant is facing scrutiny amid findings that it is housing nearly $92 billion offshore in an effort to avoid as much as $29 billion in US taxes. Annual filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission exposed that the… – Continue reading
A political candidate has sparked the Reserve Bank and the Financial Markets Authority to visit a foreign-owned company offering “secret” offshore accounts. Grace Haden, an independent standing for election in Epsom, raised concerns with the regulators about Breder Suasso, which is referred to on overseas websites as a New Zealand… – Continue reading
More private Swiss banks are suffering slumping profits, with a crackdown by the US authorities on tax cheats having a big effect. A study by consultancy firm KPMG and Switzerland’s University of Saint Gallen found that of the 94 they examined more than a third did not make any profit… – Continue reading
Using the code name Hot Lips with Swiss banking representatives, an 83-year-old Delray Beach man conspired to hide more than $1 million from the Internal Revenue Service in foreign bank accounts. Bernard Kramer pleaded guilty Tuesday in New York federal court before U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, admitting he… – Continue reading
US has long tried to block tax inversions – with success – See more at: http://www.independent.ie/business/world/us-has-long-tried-to-block-tax-inversions-with-success-30520958.html#sthash.cT9EIpv4.dpuf US authorities have grappled for more than 30 years with corporate deals known as inversions by which American companies shift their tax domiciles abroad to avoid US taxes. Fifty-two substantial deals like this have occurred… – Continue reading
Abu Dhabi, 18 August 2014: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank ( ADCB ) announced today the launch of commercial offshore banking products through its Jersey branch. Eligible ADCB wholesale banking clients will now have the option to diversify and preserve their resources with full flexibility and control. Clients will be able… – Continue reading
Chinese yuan-denominated transactions in Taiwan have increased, according to central bank data. Increased business activity is expected to bolster ties between the two Asian economies. Chinese yuan-denominated deposits in Taiwanese banks increased on a month-on-month basis, for the month of July. The move highlights the growing interest in transactions related to the… – Continue reading
Just as financial institutions started to come to grips with the fact that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) went into effect last month in the U.S., the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) unwrapped a new global version. The OECD proposal is called the Global Standard for… – Continue reading
An international bank executive formerly of Naperville has pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges and faces up to three years in prison at sentencing later this year. Aamir H. Khan, 43, was the managing director of a Middle Eastern bank based in Bahrain when he filed false income tax… – Continue reading
Swiss Banks Return To The United States by Julie Zaugg in New York, swissinfo.ch A handful of Swiss banking institutes have started to re-engage with the United States off-shore market – entirely within the law. Their assets under management (AUM) are seeing a spectacular increase. At UBS the AUM has risen… – Continue reading
A new global standard for governments to crack down on tax evasion has been released by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Almost 70 countries have already signed up to the charter, which will roll out a US style Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) law globally. FATCA… – Continue reading
The New Zealand arm of the French bank, BNP Paribas, is the latest international bank to fall foul of the New Zealand tax department’s campaign against the use of cross-border convertible notes, quietly agreeing to pay back tax of $18.435 million in an out of court settlement reached on March… – Continue reading
July 31 (Bloomberg) — Swiss banks will on the whole meet the deadline for delivering information on offshore accounts to the U.S., improving their chances of settling the cases this year. Roiled by the demise of the country’s oldest bank, the lenders are helping the Justice Department build cases against… – Continue reading
DALLAS, TX, Jul 29, 2014 (Marketwired via COMTEX) — This week, the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing to question leaders of major banks and hedge funds about an alleged tax avoidance strategy. According to the Senate’s report, these entities have used basket options to skirt billions in… – Continue reading
Once was a time when what was Swiss was as clear as an alpine lake. Its Gruyère could be relied upon to be meltingly delicious in a fondue. The finely crafted watches of Zurich could be relied upon to keep the time to the second. And the bankers could be… – Continue reading
Hong Kong’s banks, in the midst of adapting to the new US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), are now facing a tax headache on a global scale. In July, the month where FATCA became a reality for the region, the OECD published guidelines on the adoption of a much… – Continue reading
DONETSK, Ukraine (AFP) – A rebel leader on Sunday said east Ukraine was a “de facto offshore zone” following a decree from the country’s government that shuts down the banking system in the area. “They’ve taken their banking system out of here. They’ve switched it off,” Mr Pavel Gubarev, head… – Continue reading
The Swiss banks in “category two” of the deal struck with American tax authorities could face smaller fines than they had feared, but only if they cooperate more with the United States. The Swiss publication Finanz und Wirtschaft reported on Saturday that those banks with some exposure to American clients… – Continue reading
EFG International AG (EFGN), the Swiss bank controlled by billionaire Spiro Latsis and his family, said it set aside 21.4 million Swiss francs ($24 million) to pay a penalty to U.S. authorities probing tax evasion. That amount represents EFG’s “best estimate of the final cost of the penalty,” the Zurich-based… – Continue reading
World banking giants Barclays and Deutsche Bank have been accused by the US of helping more than a dozen hedge funds in tax evasion. Addressing a news conference, US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations chairman Carl Levin said the banks sold complex option products to Renaissance Technology that saved them… – Continue reading
New Delhi/Paris: In a major development in the fight against black money, multilateral grouping OECD Monday unveiled a ‘single global standard’ for automatic exchange of financial account information by various countries including India and Switzerland.The new framework, to be presented before a meeting of G-20 finance ministers in September, would… – Continue reading
Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) plans to allow the sale of offshore structured products linked to China’s securities and stock indexes on the island as early in late July and no later than the end of this year, our sister paper Taipei’s Want Daily reports, citing FSC chairperson William Tseng…. – Continue reading
As offshore moves onshore, will there be a challenge to the position of Singapore and Hong Kong as the wealth centres of Asia? As offshore banking becomes ever more challenging, Asia’s traditional bastions of the industry, Hong Kong and Singapore, find themselves in uncharted waters. On one hand, they stand… – Continue reading
Many Expect to Assume More Responsibility for Documentation and Files PR Newswire NEW YORK, July 17, 2014 NEW YORK, July 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Most companies involved with transfer pricing believe that a streamlined audit process will be the greatest benefit resulting from the new Transfer Pricing Audit Roadmap developed by the Internal Revenue Service… – Continue reading
British Columbia’s securities regulator is funnelling more resources into a crackdown on suspicious trading activity coming from offshore bank accounts in “secrecy” jurisdictions, saying the accounts often belong to locals who are hiding their identities. Lang Evans, manager of special investigations at the British Columbia Securities Commission, is heading a… – Continue reading
