Offshore News: February 2007
27.02.2007 Deutsche Bank has been recognised as the best private bank in the Channel and Cayman Islands in the Euromoney private banking survey 2007, which reflects the opinions of both advisers to private clients and other wealth management companies. The survey provides a qualitative and quantitative review of the best services in private banking, organized by region and service areas. The results of the survey announced this week include a list of the world's best private banks, fund and investment management houses, and private client stockbrokers. Deutsche Bank Offshore Group has operations in Jersey, Guernsey, Cayman and Mauritius, and employs more than 450 staff. Deutsche Bank has been in the top of the rankings in the Channel Islands section since the start of the listings in 2003, however this is the first time the Bank has been named as the leader of the list. On the global scale, Deutsche Bank has risen from 12th to 6th place in the Euromoney Private Banking Survey 2007.
22.02.2007 On Friday this week, Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury Robert M. Kimmitt and Finance Minister of Bulgaria Plamen Orescharski are signing an income tax treaty and protocol. The purpose of this treaty is to strengthen economic relations between the United States and Bulgaria, by reducing the rates of taxation on different kinds of payments, and by providing for better exchange of information between the two countries, including bank information. On January 1, 2007 Bulgaria entered the European Union, and due to this fact there were changes in many aspects of its relations with third countries. In the end of January, the Office of the United States Trade Representative announced that the status of Bulgaria under the Generalized System of Preferences, - a program designed to promote economic growth in the developing world, - had changed.
09.02.2007 Countries - members of OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) have agreed to make some improvements in Model Tax Treaty Convention. The countries will broaden the mechanisms available to companies and individuals involved in international tax disputes, by introducing the possibility of arbitration if other attempts to resolve disagreements fail, and the disputes remain unresolved for more than two years. The OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs has agreed to modify the OECD Model Tax Convention, which serves as a basis for most negotiations between countries on tax matters. The new OECD arrangement has broader purposes than just transferring pricing issues. The full text of the OECD report on Tax Treaty Arbitration can be found in the Tax News Resources section.
