The Financial Services Commission (“FSC”) which was established on April 1, 2011 under the Financial Services Commission Act, 2010-21 (the “Act”) has been mandated to, amongst other things, supervise and regulate the operations of the financial services sector other than the banking services ...
We are pleased to advise that, with effect from 15 May 2013, some important changes were made to the Virgin Islands Special Trusts Act (VISTA), the Trustee Act and various other British Virgin Islands statutes relating to the trusts and estates. The main changes include the following: 1 Amendments to VISTA 1 ...
IntroductionOn 6 June 2013 the Council of Ministers approved the bill to finalise the transposition of Directive 2003/49/ EC of the Council of 3 June into the IRC (corporate income tax) Code. The Directive, which establishes a common system of taxation applicable to interest and royalty payments made between associated companies of different Member States, is commonly known as the ‘Interest & Royalties Directive’ ...
Translation of the FAQ on the New Foreign Exchange Rules:What currency should be used to pay the salaries of employees in angola?The salaries of employees who are foreign exchange residents in Angola, irrespective of the sector of activity, must be paid in Kwanzas, the national currency. When Will i start to receive my salary in KWanzas?As of 1 July 2013, in accordance with the implementation calendar of Law 2/12 of 13 January, defined by Order no ...
Banks are classified into universal banks, commercial banks, thrift banks (composed of savings and mortgage banks, stock savings, loan associations and private development banks), rural banks, cooperative banks, and Islamic banks. The General Banking Law governs primarily universal and commercial banks, as well as cooperative banks ...
The financial services sector tends to define “high-net-worth individual” (HNWI) asan individual or a family possessing substantial amount of investable funds. There is no generally accepted prefixed denominationof the size of wealth that an individual must possess in order to fall within this category. However, high net worth is commonly used in terms of liquid assets exceeding a certain amount while precise figures differ by financial institution and region ...
The renewed focus on the ’global tax share’ of OECD countries relative to the global profits of multinationals has reignited the debate about the adequacy and transparency of tax information in Australia. The following article considers the viability of recent proposals. In April 2013, Australia’s Assistant Treasurer released a discussion paper – Improving the transparency of Australia’s business tax system – that outlined three options for reform in this area ...
2012 was a challenging year for Australia's loan markets. Australian loan markets were affected by continued uncertainty in global markets due to concerns over the Eurozone, the slowdown in China, a weak recovery in the US and, towards the end of the year, concerns around the US "fiscal cliff". Locally, there has been a lack of confidence among corporates, resulting in sluggish M&A activity. Certain sectors of the economy remained relatively soft, such as the retail sector ...
The FCA’s new webpage, published on 24 July 2013, will record permissions and passports granted under the AIFM Directive. The FCA is currently updating the Financial Service Register to include firms which have been granted new permissions under the Directive, as well as any associated management passports. However, in the meantime, information will be published on the webpage. For more information in respect of the Directive, please visit our AIFMD microsite ...
The Court has now issued its written decision. This provides further analysis and confirms the position that we previously reported. Parties represented The Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire Councils and the Lord Advocate on behalf of the Scottish Ministers were all represented at the hearing ...
Serbia Following the last amendments to the tax laws, the Ministry of Finance has since prepared several rulebooks to help implement the amended legal provisions. Amongst these, the Rulebook on Transfer Pricing is the most important. Other rulebooks of the Ministry prescribe new forms of tax returns for tax payable on capital gains and income from the lease of movable and immovable assets, and newly introduced withholding tax on income from the sale of scrap and waste ...
The Government has issued a specific regulation on sales tax on luxury goods for motor vehicles, ie Government Regulation No. 41 of 2003 on Taxable Goods classified as Luxury Goods in the form of Motor Vehicles on which Sales Tax on Luxury Goods (PPnBM) is imposed ...
Government Regulation No. 46 of 2013 on Income Tax for Taxpayers with Certain Gross Income was promulgated on 13 June 2013 and came into force on 1 July 2013. Under the Regulation a final income tax of 1% will be imposed on any taxpayer who: is an Individual or Entity (Legal or Business), excluding permanent business entities; and earns gross income from his/her/its business, excluding any freelance services, of up to Rp.4 ...
On July 2, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia1 (the “District Court”) vacated Rule 13q-1 (the “Rule”) under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) ...
On July 10, 2013, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted amendments to Rule 506 of Regulation D under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, that will lift the ban on general solicitation for certain private offerings, including offerings of private fund interests (“New Rule 506(c)”). New Rule 506(c) will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register ...
On July 10, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted the new, much-anticipated rules that lift the ban on general solicitation and advertising in connection with certain private offerings of securities ...
Court decisions regarding company names are rare. So the recent decision of the Western Cape High Court in the case of Bloomberg’s Posterity Investments (Pty) Ltd v The Registrar of Companies and Bloomberg LLP is worth discussing. What makes company name cases interesting from an intellectual property (IP) law point of view is that they deal with issues that are very similar to the issues that are dealt with in trade mark infringement and passing-off cases ...
After the recent downturn, examiners have been placing more emphasis on reputation risk. This emphasis, however, is being applied paternalistically, in a way that is limiting legitimate transactions. I have heard of examiners advising bankers to terminate relationships with payday lenders because of reputation risk. The examiners are implicitly saying the risk of such association will so damage an institution's reputation as to jeopardize safety and soundness ...
On June 19, 2013, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (“the Court” or “WVSCA”) issued an important decision that bolsters the ability of financial institutions and other defendants to enforce arbitration agreements. Credit Acceptance Corporation v. Front, Docket Nos. 11-1646, 12-0545 (W. Va. June 19, 2013), Slip Op. Spilman consumer finance attorneys were pleased to obtain this victory on the consolidated appeal of two orders denying arbitration ...
Frequently asked questions on new foreign exchange rules: What currency should be used to pay the salaries of employees in Angola?The salaries of employees who are foreign exchange residents in Angola, irrespective of the sector of activity, must be paid in Kwanzas, the national currency. When Will i start to receive my salary in Kwanzas? As of 1 July 2013, in accordance with the implementation calendar of Law 2/12 of 13 January, defined by Order no ...
IntroductionOn 6 June 2013 the Council of Ministers approved the bill to finalise the transposition of Directive 2003/49/ EC of the Council of 3 June into the IRC (corporate income tax) Code. The Directive, which establishes a common system of taxation applicable to interest and royalty payments made between associated companies of different Member States, is commonly known as the ‘Interest & Royalties Directive’ ...
Insurers often have a duty to settle underlying claims against their insureds. While that duty generally requires insurers to accept reasonable settlement offers, insurers and insureds alike face many other issues regarding settlement of the underlying case ...
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held that excess insurance policies are triggered when the payment of losses exceed the attachment point rather than when the policyholder’s loss obligations exceed the attachment point. Ali v. Fed. Ins. Co., No. 11-5000-cv, 2013 WL 2396046 (2d Cir. June 4, 2013). The decision is another reminder that outcomes in insurance disputes may depend on subtle differences in the wording of insurance policies ...
On June 14, 2013, the Act respecting insurance (Quebec) (the "Act") was amended by sections 1 to 5 of An Act to amend various legislative provisions mainly concerning the financial sector. The new sections, 66.1.1 to 66.1 ...
Law 55-A/2012 of 29 October – published last year as part of the package of measures to combat the financial crisis – made ownership, use or surface rights of residential urban properties with an official taxable value (valor patrimonial tributário) equal to or greater than EUR 1 million subject to Stamp Duty, calculated at the rate of 1% ...
