Overview

This newsletter, compiled by Baker & McKenzie partners and lawyers across the globe, gives a summary of the latest wealth-management-related legal developments.

Table of Contents:

Key Feature
• Turkish Cypriot domiciled in England
Cases
• Removal of Trustees by the Courts
• The Rule in Hastings-Bass: HMRC Strikes Back
• English Letters of Request and the offshore courts
Legislative Developments
Brazil
• Brazilian Internal Revenue Service creates reporting obligations for individuals or legal entities remitting funds abroad
China
• Individual Income Tax Crackdown
France
• Deduction of costs for acquisition of shares by private individuals
• Heavier measures to penalize fraud linked to assets located abroad
• Fight against non cooperative countries and territories
Germany
• Voluntary disclosure – German Federal Court of Justice imposes stricter requirements for valid voluntary disclosure and current developments in legislative procedure
Hong Kong
• SFC concludes consultation on reforms for the sale of unlisted structured investment products in Hong Kong
• Introduction of Securities and Futures and Companies Legislation (Structured Products and Amendment) Bill 2010
Spain
• The Spanish Tax Authorities are investigating taxpayers that held allegedly undeclared funds at Swiss banks
• Luxembourg finally excluded from the Spanish black-list of tax haven jurisdictions
• Amendment to Spanish Criminal Code increases the penalty for tax criminal offence but the statute of limitation period finally remains set at 5 years
United Kingdom
• UK Emergency Budget 2010
• Philanthropy: HMRC’s latest guidance on the “Fit and proper persons test”
Ukraine
• Overhaul of Data Protection Rules in Ukraine
United States
• Experiences with the “New” Voluntary Disclosure Program

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