On 30 June 2005, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”) finalised the self-assessment framework on AML compliance. The self-assessment framework has been introduced for the purposes of facilitating the assessment by authorised institutions’ (“AIs”) of their compliance with the regulatory requirements on AML and to supplement the HKMA’s on-site examinations ...
On 30 June 2005, the House of Lords delivered its judgment in National Westminster Bank plc v. Spectrum Plus Limited & others [2005] UKHL 41. The case has resolved a controversial legal issue concerning the distinction between a fixed charge and a floating charge. Fixed Charges and Floating Charges It may be helpful first to describe the basic difference between the operation of a fixed charge and that of a floating charge ...
The SFC has adopted a split approach in dealing with UCITS III funds. For funds which will adopt enhanced use of derivatives and make changes to their investment policies or objectives in migrating to UCITS III, the SFC requires: • a notice to existing holders explaining the proposed changes and confirmation from the fund or its manager that the home regulator has approved the final version of this notice ...
Under Part XV of the Securities & Futures Ordinance (SFO), where a company has an interest (or a short position) in Hong Kong listed shares, its holding company is deemed to have that interest; this attribution is carried the whole way up a corporate chain to the ultimate holding company. This imposes onerous monitoring requirements on financial services groups ...
This English law decision not only serves as a timely reminder of a bank’s duty of confidentiality to its clients but is potentially worrying as the case confirms loss of opportunity to earn future profits as a recoverable head of damage following breach of confidence. Jackson v Royal Bank of Scotland (2005) UKHL3, [2005] A ER(d)280 Facts: Jackson (trading under the name Sampson Lancastrian (Sampson)) had entered into a contract to supply dog chews to another UK entity, Economy Bag ...
Concord Trust v Law Debenture (http://www.lawdeb.com/). Law Debenture House of Lords considered the obligations and liabilities of bond issue trustees in relation to notices of acceleration ...
Amendments made to the Quebec Professional Code in 2001 authorize professional orders to allow their members to exercise their professional activities within the framework of a limited liability partnership, or a joint-stock company. In 2002, the Ordre des comptables agréés (Order of Chartered Accountants) was the first professional order to adopt a regulation to this effect. The Quebec Bar and the Ordre des comptables généraux licenciés (Certified General Accountants) followed suit in 2004 ...
On June 7, 2005, a Decree amending, enacting and repealing various provisions of the VAT Law was published at the Mexican Federal Register. These amendments, to a large extent, merely renumber and relocate various provisions of the VAT Law, leaving their content unaltered. Nonetheless, it is quite important to underline that these amendments repeal any reference to “activities which fall outside the scope of this tax” in the provisions dealing with creditable VAT ...
Mexican tax laws, rules and regulations are subject to amendments on a regular basis. Herein we intend to provide our friends and clients a general overview of the most recent and significant changes to our tax system[1]. Rule JG-SAT-IE-1-2005. - Debt Forgiveness for Certain Taxpayers ...
Inheritance tax is often assumed to be a rich man's concern, but the recent housing boom means that this is no longer the case. The sharp rise in house prices has completely outpaced tax thresholds, meaning that there has been a huge increase in the number of families who could face large bills for Inheritance Tax (IHT) when the homeowner dies ...
MAJOR INDUSTRY USE AND CLASSIFICATION ISSUES I.Introduction A.General Principles of Classification Under s. 19(14) of the B.C. Assessment Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 20 (the “Assessment Act”) and the Prescribed Classes of Property Regulation (B.C. Reg. 438/81) (the “Classification Regulation”), real property in B.C ...
EQUITY AND CONSISTENCY IN ASSESSMENTS I. General Principles of Equity A hallmark of the assessment and taxation of property in B.C. is the principle of equity: taxing authorities must deal even-handedly with all taxpayers in a municipality or rural area, and all taxpayers with a class must be treated in the same way. Equity in the context of the property assessment in B.C ...
The Benefits of Using a an Unlimited Liability Company (1) Introduction Unlimited Liability Companies (“ULC”) have become useful vehicles for the acquisition of a Canadian business by a U.S. investor. This paper summarizes the advantages of using a ULC, the treatment of a ULC in Canada and in the U.S. and the use of a ULC in a factual setting involving the acquisition of a Canadian business. Until recently, only Nova Scotia offered the possibility of incorporating a ULC ...
The year 2004 saw increased M&A activity in the Ukrainian banking sector. Some of the notable acquisitions include equity transfers in Kredit Bank (to PKO Bank Polski S.A.), Transbank (to Bank TuranAlem of Kazakhstan),Bank Leader (to Renaissance Capital of Russia), and, of course, the benchmark deal of the year — acquisitionby Vilniaus Bankas, a Lithuanian subsidiary of the powerful SEB Group of Sweden, of the Joint Stock Bank Agio ...
Introduction: A Second Union is a “Marriage” of Competing Interests As a general rule, individuals who enter into a second marriage or a second union are more than 40 years of age, have accumulated their own property and have enjoyed a standard of living that they want to maintain or even improve upon ...
The Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") have just released their consultation paper ("Paper") on the review of the disclosure of interests regime under Part XV of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) ("Part XV"). The Paper contains the SFC's proposals for changes to the law on disclosure of interests in shares. Most of the provisions of the Securities and Futures Ordinance was gazetted on 28 March 2002 and came into effect (including Part XV) on 1 April 2003 ...
By Eduardo A Trueba C. January 2005 Corporate subsistence, in an economy that each day becomes more competitive, dynamic and integrated to the global world in which we live, has exponentially increased corporate mergers and alliances, together with similar transactions, such as stock acquisitions from one company for another’s capital, company, know how, and royalties transfers, among others ...
Despite rumours from Westminster that the Pensions Bill was to be dropped to make room for the anti-fox hunting Bill, it looks certain that the Pensions Bill will finally receive Royal Assent in November. In its final form, the Bill now extends to over 350 pages. Those looking for simplification will be disappointed to say the least ...
The first legal issue to consider is whether your company has the power to carry out non-commercial dealings such as making political or charitable donations. The company's constitution should be reviewed to ensure the company is expressly empowered to make such donations. If no express power exists you could consider putting a relevant amendment of the constitution to a shareholders' vote ...
Introduction Patented inventions are a large source of revenue in the pharmaceutical industry. Ireland's tax exemption in respect of certain patent royalties, has been one of the driving factors behind investment by pharmaceutical multinationals, principally from the US, in the Irish economy. Irish tax legislation provides an exemption from tax for income derived from "qualifying patents" when received by a person resident in Ireland and not resident in any other country ...
Year-end deadline for application to the HKMA to adopt the basic approach and internal rating based approach for credit risk calculation The Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") issued a circular ("the Circular") to all Hong Kong incorporated authorised institutions ("AIs") on 7 December 2004, requesting formal applications from AIs that plan to adopt the internal rating based ("IRB") or the basic approach ("Basic Approach") for the assessment of their capital adequacy ...
Ukrainian tax authorities are notorious for their practice of failing to return VAT advance payments on time. This problem appears to be of an economic rather than legal nature and persists due to the constant shortage of budget funds, which are most commonly spent for purposes other than proper VAT rebates. Ultimately, the state is unwilling and often unable to refund VAT in the proper way, and so is continuously credited at the expense of local taxpayers ...
The State Administration of Taxation issued the Notice on Several Issues in the Implementation of Tax Agreements and the Individual Income Tax Law on Individuals With No Domicile in China on 23 July 2004. The Notice, which entered into effect on 1 July 2004, clarifies a number of issues related to the levy of PRC individual income tax ("IIT") on expatriate employees ...
Practically everyday new companies in Ukraine are entering international financial markets through attraction of loans from international financial institutions (IFI), placement of Eurobonds, etc. Some of them would certainly soon start thinking of Initial Public Offerings (IPO) and similar instruments. In this overview the author tries to shed light on some very important but rather hidden prerequisites for success in doing so ...
