http://www.sovereigngroup.com/offshore-news/sovereign-news/latest-news.htm The Sovereign Group - Latest News - RSS Feed en-gb Mon, 25 February 2008 8:48:07 AM GMT 5-Mar-2010 http://www.sovereigngroup.com/offshore-news/sovereign-news/940/0/New+German+government+drops+tax+haven+reporting+requirements.html The new German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble announced, on 7 January 2010, that he would not be seeking to impose new reporting requirements on taxpayers transferring money to jurisdictions that Germany had previously labeled as tax havens.

The position is a reversal from the previous administration, in which then-Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck pushed hard for legislation that empowered Berlin to take punitive steps against those jurisdictions. The resulting law, passed in September ... Fri, 5 March 2010 11:46:08 AM GMT 5-Mar-2010 http://www.sovereigngroup.com/offshore-news/sovereign-news/939/0/UK+to+bring+Perpetuities+%26amp%3B+Accumulations+Act+into+force.html UK Justice Minister Bridget Prentice announced, on 7 January 2010, a Commencement Order to bring the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 2009 fully into force on 6 April 2010. The Act, which received Royal Assent on 12 December 2009, is designed to modernise and simplify trust law on leaving property in trust for future generations.

Under the Act, a standard perpetuity period of 125 years will apply to property put in trust, by will or otherwise. The perpetuity period limits the length of ... Fri, 5 March 2010 11:45:02 AM GMT 5-Mar-2010 http://www.sovereigngroup.com/offshore-news/sovereign-news/938/0/UBS+data+transfer+%26quot%3Bviolated+secrecy+laws%26quot%3B%2C+Court+finds.html A Swiss court ruled, on 8 January 2010, that Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) had violated Swiss laws by authorising the transfer of data of 300 clients of UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, to US tax authorities. Three US clients of UBS brought the case against FINMA.

Last February, in a bid to settle charges of tax fraud in the US, UBS agreed to pay US authorities US$780 million and hand over details of about 300 clients. Banks in Switzerland are not allowed to provide ... Fri, 5 March 2010 11:42:25 AM GMT 23-Nov-2009 http://www.sovereigngroup.com/offshore-news/sovereign-news/936/0/Sovereign+invites+you+to+Shorex+Geneva+1%2D2+December+2009.html
Once again this year, The Sovereign Group will be represented at the Shorex Wealth Management Forum in Geneva by Simon Denton (London office) and Ian Le Breton (Gibraltar office). We are delighted to send you your personalized electronic invitation to the event that you may use with our compliments. To be held on Dec 1-2, this is the leading annual forum for the wealth management industry; some 1500 participants are expected.

If you are unable to attend but would like to pass this on ... Mon, 23 November 2009 5:28:28 PM GMT 26-Oct-2009 http://www.sovereigngroup.com/offshore-news/sovereign-news/935/0/Antigua+appoints+new+chief+financial+regulator.html The Antigua Ministry of Finance appointed, on 24 August 2009, John Benjamin as administrator and chief executive officer at the Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC). He replaces Leroy King who was indicted for involvement in the alleged fraud perpetrated by Texas financier Allen Stanford.

US prosecutors allege that Stanford and other executives of the now defunct Houston-based Stanford Financial Group orchestrated a massive Ponzi scheme by advising clients to invest more than $7 ... Mon, 26 October 2009 9:54:46 AM GMT 26-Oct-2009 http://www.sovereigngroup.com/offshore-news/sovereign-news/934/0/UK+and+Switzerland+sign+Protocol+on+exchange+of+information.html The UK and Switzerland signed, on 7 September 2009, a new Protocol on Exchange of Information to their existing double tax treaty.

Switzerland announced on 13 March 2009 that it would implement OECD standards on information sharing: this Protocol updates the exchange of information Article of the existing treaty to bring it into line with current OECD standards. The text of the Protocol will shortly be presented to Parliament for approval.

The Protocol will enter into force ... Mon, 26 October 2009 9:54:31 AM GMT