In a bid to crackdown on tax evasion, European citizens could have their private financial affairs exposed to the public after members of the European parliament (MEPs) voted to include trusts and allow EU citizens access to beneficial ownership registers.
More than half a billion euros was collected by the Irish tax authorities last year from 571 of the country’s wealthiest individuals.
Estate planning in France is made far more challenging by ‘forced heirship’ succession law and inheritance tax rates of up to 60%, explains Jason Porter, director of European IFA firm Blevins Franks. The regime is particularly daunting for complex family situations.
A lot more financial institutions could find themselves caught by the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) requirements despite being exempt from Fatca reporting, Allan Wilkinson, associate director of chartered accountancy firm Buzzacott, has warned.
The US Labor Department has proposed a 60-day delay for the start of the fiduciary rule, which requires financial advisers to act in the best interests of their clients, in a move signalling a possible derailment of the controversial reforms.
The freshly appointed chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) has vowed to close cross-market financial product loopholes and tighten oversight of the nearly CNY30trn (£3.5trn, $4.4trn, €4.1trn) held in Chinese banks’ wealth management products.
The Isle of Man’s financial services regulator is looking to officially liquidate the stricken Eco Resources Fund, which convinced 189 investors to put $61m (£48m, €57m) into building a bamboo plantation in Nicaragua.
The Isle of Man government has said it will not be forced to create a public register on the beneficial ownership of offshore companies until it becomes the “international norm” amid mounting pressure from UK politicians.
There has been little buzz around the last-ever Spring Budget taking place on 8 March, ahead of triggering Article 50. International Adviser has pulled together views from the industry about what it expects or would like to see addressed when the chancellor takes to the despatch box.
The UK is considering introducing a ‘death tax’ as part of a move to overhaul how Britons pay for care in their old age.
Two directors who ran a wheat-based investment scam have been banned from acting as directors by the UK’s High Court, after failing to account for more than £500,000 ($621,465, €586, 572) of investors’ money.
The UK government will replace the current flat fee system for grants of probates with a new tiered levy, which could see estates over £1m ($1.24m, €1.17m) tens of thousands of pounds worse off.
