News Archive

News Archive - June 2009


Swiss government steps into UBS v US battle

30/06/2009
The Swiss government launched into the legal battle between UBS and the US authorities by saying it would forbid the bank from handing over confidential client information if a crucial court case next week required it. Bern warned it might go as far as confiscating the data, should a US court in Miami rule the bank was obliged to transfer the client...
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Swiss at war over banking secrecy

30/06/2009
One of the managing partners of a private bank in Geneva, Mirabaud says that there is a feeling within the banking community that an economic war has broken out between Switzerland and the rest of the world following the measures to try and breakdown Swiss banking secrecy. In rare public comments, the Swiss private banker was quoted as saying: “There...
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The changing face of Swiss banking

30/06/2009
In a world of greater transparency, Switzerland’s private bankers are beginning to accept that their traditional business model of managing the undeclared wealth of foreigners cannot be sustained. There has been increasing international pressure to change following the damaging US legal battle with the largest Swiss bank, UBS. Swiss private bankers...
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Further crackdown on tax havens

30/06/2009
Finance ministers are meeting this week in Berlin to review the international crackdown on tax havens. As a key step to tackling the issues, Stephen Timms, financial secretary to the UK Treasury, is pushing for “country-by-country” financial reporting for all multinationals. The Treasury believes that this additional reporting requirement...
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Isle of Man announces greater transparency on tax

25/06/2009
Pressure on investors who deposit money in offshore accounts has stepped up a further notch with the Isle of Man (IOM) independently announcing plans for the automatic exchange of tax information. Tougher disclosure rules may soon be forced on offshore centres by the European Union and consequently this announcement by the IOM is seen as an attempt...
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Constitutional Crisis in Caribbean Tax Haven

24/06/2009
A property magnate embroiled in a corruption inquiry that has plunged a Caribbean offshore tax haven into a constitutional crisis is leading a legal challenge to curb publication of a report on the affair. Mario Hoffman, developer of the tiny paradise island of Salt Cay, is due to go to the Turks and Caicos Islands’ supreme court on Thursday 4th...
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Hedge Funds- new EU directive

10/06/2009
Some of Britain’s biggest hedge funds have warned the UK Treasury they will be forced to leave the country unless a draft European directive is radically changed. The move follows last minute changes to the draft directive on alternative investment fund managers to include a requirement for the European Commission to set a limit on borrowing....
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No more uncooperative tax havens

08/06/2009
In a report issued in 2000, the OECD identified a number of countries as tax havens. Between 2000 and April 2002, 31 of those countries made formal commitments to implement the OECD’s standards of transparency and exchange of information. There remained seven (Andorra, Liechtenstein, Liberia, Monaco, The Marshall Islands, Nauru and Vanuatu) who...
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Furnished Holiday Homes - New Rules

03/06/2009
Furnished holiday homes - good and bad news The commercial letting of furnished holiday homes situated in the UK is treated as a deemed trade if the conditions of the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) rules are met. The main conditions are that the property is available for holiday letting to the public on a commercial basis for at least 140 days –...
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