Offshore News: November 2010

14.11.2010: Hong Kong and Luxembourg signed a protocol to the existing double taxation agreement (DTA) between these countries, which was signed in November 2007. The protocol was signed by HK's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Professor K C Chan and Luxembourg's Minister of Finance Luc Frieden, and it has the purpose to upgrade the exchange of information article in the DTA to comply to the OECD international standards.
The provisions of the protocol shall have effect in Hong Kong in respect of tax for any year of assessment beginning after April 1 in the next year following that in which protocol enters into force. In Luxembourg, the protocol will apply, in respect of taxes withheld at source, to income derived on or after January 1, and in respect of other taxes on income and capital, to taxes chargeable for any taxable year beginning on or after January 1 in the calendar year next following that in which the protocol enters into force.

29.11.2010: Jersey signed two Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) with Turkey and Mexico. Jersey Finance, the promotional agency for the island's financial services industry, has fully supported the two latest TIEAs with G20 nations, signed by the Jersey authorities. Including these agreements, Jersey has now signed a total of 19 TIEAs.
Geoff Cook, Chief Executive of Jersey Finance, commented on signing the agreements:
“This is further good news for Jersey, raising its profile as a leading international finance centre and adding weight to Jersey’s reputation as a transparent, rigorously supervised, highly regarded jurisdiction."