YOUR TAXES: WORLD BUSINESS TAX UPDATE
Chinese tax reform: We recently discussed the tremendous investment potential of China. The new Corporate Income Tax Law establishes a unified 25 percent tax rate for almost all enterprises in China, whether domestic or foreign owned.

SVG PUBLISHES NEW IBC ACT
The government of St Vincent and the Grenadines on Tuesday published its new IBC Act 2007.

MAURITIUS DOUBLE TAX TREATY MAY BE FINETUNED TO SURVIVE I-T SCRUTINY
The controversial double tax avoidance treaty between India and Mauritius is likely to survive despite pressure from the income-tax authorities. The pact may be reworked, but not scrapped, thanks to the lobbying by a high-level delegation headed by Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam.

TIME TO END LONDON’S “LISTINGS OF CONVENIENCE”
Monaco for tax exiles, the British Virgin Islands for incorporating companies, Liberia for registering ships – and London for share listings. The UK stock market is top of the list for foreign companies that do not want to list their shares in their home countries but it is reducing the City to the same level as those tax havens and places where few questions are asked.

LAW SOCIETY CALLS FOR BETTER PROTECTION OF CAYMAN’S OFFSHORE FINANCIAL SECTOR
President of the Cayman Islands Law Society Charles Quinn, QC, has called for appropriate and timely laws for the Cayman Islands to maintain its reputation as the leading offshore financial jurisdiction. In his address to the 2008 Grand Court opening in George Town on Wednesday, 9 January Mr Quin said the Islands should not be complacent while other jurisdictions compete for the same business.

EU’S KROES WARNS MASTERCARD OF FINE ON FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH FEE RULING
EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes has reminded US credit card group MasterCard Inc (NYSE:MA) that it faces a fine from the EU executive if its fails to comply with a ruling that its multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) are unlawful.

SHANGHAI MAKES BIG STRIDES IN ITS BID TO BE A GLOBAL FINANCIAL CENTRE
The stock market boom last year put Shanghai in the map of world markets, but that’s only half the story of the journey the city has embarked on to emerge as a global financial centre to rival New York and London. While the world was fixated on the bulls and bears in the Shanghai stock exchange, the city made great strides in its quest of this global status, from playing host to international banks to expanding its commodities market, with the China Financial Futures Exchange putting the final touches for the launch of the mainland’s first index futures contract.

COMMERZBANKS ROLLS OUT ANTI-MONEY-LAUNDERING SYSTEM AS SEPA LOOMS
Germany’s Commerzbank has gone live with message filtering and anti-money-laundering technology designed to flag up suspicious payments ahead of the introduction of the Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) legislation on 28 January.

RUSSIA SLAMS ‘ILLEGAL’ FRENCH BANK ACCOUNT FREEZE: MINISTRY
Russia will appeal against an “illegal” French court order freezing the bank accounts in France of several Russian organisations, the finance ministry said here on Monday. “The Russian side intends to protest the court order on the freezing of bank accounts of Russian organisations … The Russian Foreign Ministry has already sent a note to the French authorities,” the ministry said in a statement. The ministry said the freeze was an “illegal seizure of Russian assets.”

FOREIGN BANKS CAUTIOUS OF UK TAX CHANGES
Recent tax proposals put forward by the UK government are likely to make foreign banks think twice about locating in the UK, the Association of Foreign Banks has warned this week. According to a Financial Times report on Monday, the managing director of the AFB, John Treadwell, warned that Britain needs to be careful about sending ‘unfriendly’ messages to foreign banks.

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Capital Conservator is composed of financial services companies organized and authorised in various countries. The Flagship Company is Capital Conservator Savings & Loan Limited (CCS&L), a New Zealand authorised offshore finance company. In addition to CCS&L, the Group includes Capital Conservator Treasury Services SA, SwiftTrust Treuhand SA, and other subsidiary financial services companies in various countries.

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