(Reuters) – Developer Sunac China (1918.HK) on Tuesday urged creditors of its takeover target, Kaisa Group Holdings (1638.HK), to accept a plan by the struggling property firm to restructure $2.5 billion in debt or risk the company running out of cash by end-April. Sunac’s comments come days after a group… – Continue reading
Clearstream now offers five offshore RMB accounts in four leading financial centres and will give customers more options and flexibility in managing offshore RMB liquidity Clearstream, the international central securities depository of Deutsche Börse Group, is making further progress in its Asia strategy: the company will open three new offshore… – Continue reading
Many investors are unaware of high charges that can eat into their wealth, according to finance experts Expat investors using offshore bonds as a way to boost their wealth could be paying nearly £89,000 in fees on a £100,000 investment over 20 years, it has been claimed. This would leave… – Continue reading
According to news reports, Gibraltar’s government isn’t going to take being called a ‘tax haven’ lying down. The little British Overseas Territory at the tip of Spain is suing ABC—not the TV network, the Spanish newspaper—for defamation. Gibraltarians may live in what many call a tax haven, but their government… – Continue reading
Mainland authorities are targeting tax evasion by multinationals, implementing new regulations aimed at “unreasonable” payments such as for service and royalties to overseas related parties. “The tax administration’s nationwide audit has discovered instances of multinationals in China making unreasonable payments to related parties overseas, causing the erosion of our tax… – Continue reading
The China State Administration of Taxation recently issued a notice extending the taxation of capital gains by non-Chinese tax residents arising from indirect transfers of Chinese assets. Where indirect transfers of equity in Chinese entities were already subject to capital gains tax based on Circular 698, Notice 7 now extends… – Continue reading
UK bank HSBC is the first non-Chinese bank to take advantage of new Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) rules designed to ease foreign currency borrowing and bring down funding costs. Shanghai FTZ allows corporates to use its free trade account to conduct foreign currency borrowing from offshore markets. People’s Bank… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — A steering committee representing Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd.’s offshore bondholders won’t agree to the company’s proposed debt restructuring by Friday’s early bird deadline. “We are working with the company to agree an acceptable and realistic timeline and process so that we can obtain for you a sensible revised… – Continue reading
The OECD’s base erosion and profit-shifting project has dominated the international tax scene for over a year. Ever since the G-20 tasked the organization with finding solutions to the perceived problem of multinationals paying low effective tax rates, the international tax community has talked about little else. The OECD hoped… – Continue reading
Communist Party’s anti-graft agency reveals how hundreds of suspects and their offshore assets were brought back to the mainland A powerful mainland task force has revealed in detail for the first time how it tracked down allegedly corrupt fugitives abroad, bringing the suspects and their assets back to China even… – Continue reading
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the signing of a protocol to the Russian-Chinese agreement aimed to eliminate double taxation and prevent tax evasion, the government said on its website on Wednesday. “Under the sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union, US and other countries, the signing of… – Continue reading
Irish eyes are smiling in corporate America. The Emerald Isle has emerged as the world’s top recipient of U.S. foreign direct investment, according to a report from the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland. In the first nine months of 2014, Ireland beat the likes of Canada, Mexico, the U.K. and… – Continue reading
(Seychelles News Agency) – Seychelles and Singapore are looking to increase their collaboration in a number of economic sectors from trade, financial services, port development – including transshipment and fuel bunkering – to public-private partnerships. This follows the recent official visit to Singapore by the Minister of Finance, Trade and… – Continue reading
SHANGHAI — China says it will appoint independent auditors to assess the value of overseas assets belonging to the country’s biggest state enterprises. According to a Xinhua News Agency report, the state assets department of China’s State Council (or cabinet) on Tuesday announced that accounting firms could bid for the… – Continue reading
The central bank yesterday welcomed positive remarks by its Chinese counterpart last week to consider removing the daily yuan conversion limit, as demand for the Chinese currency is flourishing. Taiwan has been seeking the removal of the daily 20,000 yuan (US$3,193) conversion cap, in line with its bid to develop… – Continue reading
Both China and most other Asian nations have been highly assertive in their use of Double Tax and Free Trade agreements over the past five years, as the reality of rising prices in China coupled with an emerging consumer class dictate that intra-Asian trade flows are growing as an astounding… – Continue reading
(Seychelles News Agency) – France’s ambassador to Seychelles, Genevieve Iancu, left the Seychelles archipelago, situated in the Indian Ocean on Friday after a little over two years spent in the post. Seychelles and France have good bilateral relations and strong historical ties due to the presence of the first French… – Continue reading
Our ‘special relationship’ with the US gets forgotten when America looks at threats to the dollar’s dominance For a while now the phrase “special relationship” has sounded a touch desperate when spoken in a British accent and a tad condescending if uttered by an American. The lopsidedness of this transatlantic… – Continue reading
Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Tariq Bajwa has said that Pakistan and China are re-negotiating agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income. On the conclusion of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) at the Parliament House here on Thursday,… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: Signing of a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) between Pakistan and the United States has been put on the back-burner since America has become the largest export market for Pakistan with a volume of $3.7 billion, said US Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker on Tuesday. A key member… – Continue reading
Businesses are looking to increase exports and absorb the higher cost of imported inputs to make the most of a “sweet spot” for the Aussie dollar, executives said. Seafolly’s chief executive Anthony Halas said he had “mixed feelings” about the drop in the Australian dollar on Wednesday, but believed expanding… – Continue reading
It is time to look at overseas options if you want stocks with good dividends. If you are particular about investing only in the banking sector, U.S. banks would give you at the most around 3% dividend yield. If this is not good enough for you, you can try investing… – Continue reading
On Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a tour of three of India’s island neighbors as part of a charm offensive intended at veering India’s neighbors away from China’s influence and to counter its ‘string of pearls’ strategy in the region. Modi will visit Seychelles, Mauritius and… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Chinese developer Kaisa Group Ltd, mired in crisis since late last year after the local government in its home base of Shenzhen blocked sales at some of its projects, is seeking to restructure its debts, according to an exchange filing in Hong Kong on Sunday. The restructuring plans,… – Continue reading
Taipei, March 7 (CNA) Banks incorporated in Taiwan saw profits in their offshore banking units (OBUs) falling year-on-year in January, while earnings in their domestic banking units (DBUs) were up for the same month, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said Saturday. The FSC, the top financial regulator in Taiwan, said… – Continue reading
On December 2, 2014, the State Administration of Taxation (SAT), China’s highest tax authority, issued the Administrative Measures for the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (Trial) (GAAR), which went into effect on February 1, 2015. Prior to this legislation, China had no specific GAAR, only a few general anti-avoidance principles in various… – Continue reading
Double Tax Avoidance Agreement to be Applied to China Funds Investors no longer have to be worried about double taxation on China-based funds. On Mar. 4, the Korea Financial Investment Association told asset management firms to hand in documents for double tax avoidance agreement applications. Four months ago, when the… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Planning and Investment has asked Nokia Vietnam to submit a report on how it has fulfilled its investment commitments so that local authorities can consider whether the firm is eligible to receive tax policy incentives. Nokia Vietnam Co. Ltd., now known as Microsoft Mobile Vietnam Co. Ltd.,… – Continue reading
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 4: The taxman has taken a headlong plunge into an alphabetic soup to comply/align with emerging tax and jurisdictional requirements, domestic and foreign, of which is GST is only one. Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs); General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR); BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Sharing); and POEM (Place… – Continue reading
Alibaba’s multiple nationalities are an invitation to trouble. Taiwan has challenged the e-commerce company’s status as a non-Chinese company. The regulators could be forgiven for being confused. Chinese tax authorities regard Alibaba as a company with its main base in Hong Kong, licensing bodies see China, while investors see the… – Continue reading
[SHANGHAI] Off-shore investment and fundraising procedures for Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will soon be simplified, media reported on Tuesday. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and related government bodies have already submitted a proposal to streamline “going out” procedures for Chinese firms to the State Council, a central bank official… – Continue reading
Large businesses require access to finances to fund on-going market development, regional expansion and mergers & acquisitions (M&A) to name a few. Conglomerates in particular have discovered that pooling together the different business units’ assets under treasury operations enables these to better manage the company’s liquidity as well as mitigate… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Opposition today came down heavily on the government accusing it of remaining silent over cases of communal violence and failing on national security front and stopping transfer of public money to foreign telecom firms Main opposition Congress party also charged the BJP-led dispenation with failing to make sufficient… – Continue reading
Smaller companies, which innovate and create jobs, carry an unfair share of the burden In pre-revolutionary France aristocrats were exempt from direct taxation. On present trends the world’s elite corporations may soon find themselves similarly privileged. In the larger advanced countries the corporate tax base is eroding, partly because the… – Continue reading
Working overseas can lead to tricky tax pitfalls, but seeking expert advice can keep you from paying up twice. Going overseas to work is a grand adventure for many young professionals. It offers the opportunity to experience a different culture, expand your work experience and enhance future career opportunities. But… – Continue reading
After several rounds of revisions and consultations in the past few years, the State Administration of Taxation (“SAT”) has recently promulgated the Bulletin on Several Issues concerning the Enterprise Income Tax (“EIT”) on Indirect Asset Transfer by Non-Resident Enterprises (“Bulletin 7”)[1]. Tax matters occurred but have not been settled before… – Continue reading
When combined with aggressive tax planning, Hong Kong’s onshore-offshore tax regime often results in a reduced tax burden for taxpayers that operate through Hong Kong companies by pricing intra-group transactions. This has led to heightened transfer pricing scrutiny from the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department in recent years. In order… – Continue reading
Following the financial crisis, dividend yields from American banks have remained below the level many income investors are looking for. While all four major American banks yield less than 3%, U.S. investors can still get fat bank dividends by looking abroad. The United Kingdom London has long been a financial… – Continue reading
Investors seeking global diversification for their property portfolios are increasingly seeing New Zealand as an attractive investment option. Although our commercial and industrial property market is too small to attract the interest of giant global real estate investment trusts (REITs), our manageable size is regarded as an advantage by other… – Continue reading
Warwick Bartlett, CEO of Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, discusses how government’s approach taxation means that rates are more likely to go up than down. The most pleasing sight at ICE 2015 was to see some of the younger companies which two years ago took the smallest booths are now… – Continue reading
CHINA China Releases GAAR Administrative Measures Courtesy of Mr Glen Wei, an attorney at law, certified tax adviser, and CPA based in China.China’s State Administration of Taxation (SAT) on December 12 issued Decree 32 (dated December 2) introducing administrative measures for applying the domestic general anti-avoidance rule to special tax… – Continue reading
Firms need clear rules, certainty to remain in compliance with tax law, says expert Heightened scrutiny of foreign companies’ tax practices is a sign of China’s effort to modernize its taxation system to keep up with the fast-changing international business environment, but there is another dimension that concerns the foreign… – Continue reading
CANBERRA: Australian Tax Office has said that Australia’s corporate tax base is in crisis because of tax relief by multinational companies in the country. The alarming data in these internal documents is at odds with the public position of the Australian Tax Office (ATO), which maintains the tax regime in… – Continue reading
BEIJING – Li Xiaolin, daughter of former Chinese Premier Li Peng, known for his support of the bloody military crackdown on the 1989 democracy movement in Beijing, held close to $2.5 million in a secret HSBC account in Switzerland, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has found. The revelation,… – Continue reading
The mainland has stepped up its participation in the G20’s fight against international tax avoidance by passing a law cracking down on the indirect sale of assets outside the country to avoid paying taxes. The law would affect investment companies, analysts said, adding it would also have a significant impact… – Continue reading
Jeremy Grant in Singapore Clampdowns on bank secrecy in Europe and a proliferation of billionaires in Asia helped Hong Kong and Singapore attract more overseas money over the past two years than rivals such as Switzerland, according to a report by Deloitte. The consultancy’s annual ranking of wealth centres highlights… – Continue reading
As countries share more information, opportunities to squirrel away cash abroad will continue to narrow AMONG the sins that have most angered the austerity-weary everywhere is the use of undeclared offshore accounts to stash the wealth of the rich. Greeks were particularly enraged when data stolen from Swiss banks showed… – Continue reading
On 29 January 2015, the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department (“IRD”) announced new, hard-line procedures for obtaining a certificate of Hong Kong resident status (“tax residence certificate”) for the purpose of Hong Kong’s comprehensive double taxation agreement (“DTA”) network. The new rules became effective on 1 February 2015. This Client… – Continue reading
Offshore yuan bond issues are set to fall this year for the first time since the Hong Kong market began in 2007 as funding costs have become more expensive than in mainland China. The dim sum market, as the offshore yuan bond market is known, had expanded rapidly since its… – Continue reading
Emirates Investment Bank yesterday said its total assets under management jumped 81 per cent last year as the economy boomed and the UAE’s safe haven status continued to attract funds from politically troubled countries in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Total assets under management increased to… – Continue reading
