A long-held suspicion of financial services firms was confirmed by a senior Bank of England official last night as he revealed a 600% increase in UK regulation since 1979, comparing the tide of red tape to the country’s unwieldy tax system.
Switzerland has adopted a simplified version of the US government’s FATCA tax legislation which was agreed by the two countries earlier this year.
Luxembourg has set out its plans to automatically exchange tax information within the European Union, by easing its bank secrecy rules from 2015.
Those seeking to illegally evade tax are running out of places to hide, according to tax experts who are urging those with illegitimate assets overseas to come clean under one of the disclosure facilities on offer from HM Revenue & Customs.
Those evading tax by hiding money in the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey are being warned by HM Revenue & Customs to “come clean” before it clamps down on them.
As recently as last year, Americans were seen as the pariahs of the international financial services world, with many non-US banks unwilling to have them as clients because new US legislation, known as FATCA, meant that they came with onerous tax information reporting obligations.
The UK Government today announced that it is to develop and pilot a new “multilateral tax information exchange agreement” with four of its largest EU fellow members.
Businesses in Guernsey are being warned that the UK Serious Fraud Office is likely to “get tougher on bribery issues” this year, according to local press.
The secret financial dealings of some of the world’s politicians, companies, mobsters and the mega-rich have been exposed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Guernsey has signed a Double Taxation Agreement with Qatar, the island’s first full DTA with a Middle Eastern country.
From today, individuals looking to be qualified by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment as capital markets professionals will be required to pass a compulsory ethics test before being permitted to sit the qualifications exams.
A new unit has been established by HM Revenue & Customs to scrutinise the financial affairs of individuals and companies who have evaded tax for up to five years.
