Menu

More News

Automatic Information Exchange or Banker’s Pet Scheme: Europe Remains Undecided
September 14th, 2011
In Germany, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has come out against the deal. Meanwhile, the European Commission has also said it will have to assess the legality of the deals but has not taken a firm position. The final withholding tax concept, known as ‘Rubik,’ was initially formulated by the Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland (AFBS) and by Swiss banks to protect banking secrecy against the international moves towards automatic tax information exchange, which followed the global financial crisis.
SPD Plans to Block Rubik Ratification in Germany
The SPD’s financial concept note published last Monday rejects the agreement with Switzerland. It is...
Continue Reading
Cayman Islands to Create a New Nowhere Land
September 13th, 2011
On September 9th the Cayman Islands introduced a bill for the establishment of new Special Economic Zones. The most Alice-in-Wonderland part of the bill is this bit, on page 14:
"A special economic zone shall be deemed to be outside of the Islands and not in the Islands."
Emphasis added. So where will this zone be? It seems that it will, for the relevant purposes, effectively be 'elsewhere' - which, in practical terms, means 'nowhere.' This 'it's elsewhere, don't-blame-us, we-can't-regulate-this' approach is what a lot of the activity of secrecy jurisdictions is designed to do - it's not so common,...
Continue Reading
UK-Swiss Tax Deal Rewards Those Who Hide Their Money in Switzerland
September 9th, 2011
George Osborne says that 'those who evade taxes, like benefit cheats, are leeches on society'. However, he has agreed a deal that rewards those who avoid paying taxes in the UK by hiding their money in Switzerland. George Osborne says: 'my message to those who try to hide their incomes from the Revenue in offshore bank accounts and false declarations is simple: we will find you and your money.' A senior official at the Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes says: 'money laundering or illegal commission are a criminal offence. So, our effort will be to not...
Continue Reading
Update on the UK's Squalid Secrecy Deal with Switzerland
August 26th, 2011
The UK has initialed an agreement with Switzerland which we recently wrote up on the Task Force blog. In short, UK tax evaders using banks in Switzerland will have to start paying some tax - but the UK will allow those (criminal) tax evaders to avoid penalties and retain their anonymity. The UK will have to trust that Switzerland will keep its part of the bargain, even though it will be impossible to conduct any comprehensive checks. There are reasonable fears that this model may spread widely to other countries. We at TJN think this is a thoroughly rotten and...
Continue Reading
Follow @FinTrCo