InfoAnda - New rules, tough talk as Singapore seeks to end tax haven image |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Arizona Military Base Shooting Leaves One Dead, One Injured | 24 February 2010
LG eyes 4-fold jump in 2011 smartphone sales | 7 January 2011
Defence Minister Teo outlines strategies for dealing with security challenges | 15 December 2008

Whip It remarkable directing debut for Barrymore | Entertainment | | 17 September 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : New rules, tough talk as Singapore seeks to end tax haven image |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Aerospace & Defense Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Campaign Polling Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Anatole Kaletsky Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Reihan Salam Frederick Kempe Christopher Papagianis Mark Leonard Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Slideshow Full Focus Photos of the week Our best photos from the past week. Slideshow Images of September Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Cambodia's quixotic former king Sihanouk dies in Beijing | 3:19am EDT In second debate, Obama faces challenges on key issues 14 Oct 2012 Pakistani schoolgirl shot by Taliban sent to UK for treatment | 3:33am EDT Satellite burns up following SpaceX rocket glitch 12 Oct 2012 German city battles elusive new-look neo-Nazis 11 Oct 2012 Discussed 162 Democrats frustrated by Obama’s ”Big Bird” campaign turn 138 Biden and Ryan in high-stakes election debate 96 Jobless claims fall to lowest in four and a half years Sponsored Links New rules, tough talk as Singapore seeks to end tax haven image Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Eleven euro states back financial transaction tax Tue, Oct 9 2012 Spain's tax take tumbles as companies go abroad Wed, Oct 3 2012 Microsoft, HP skirted taxes via offshore units: U.S. Senate panel Thu, Sep 20 2012 UBS Paris offices searched in tax evasion probe Wed, Sep 19 2012 Analysis & Opinion Is Mitt Romney a closet Keynesian? It’s time to eliminate anonymous shell companies Related Topics World » Australia » 1 of 2. An aerial view of the Sentosa Cove luxury homes in Singapore in this February 14, 2012 file photo. Credit: Reuters/Edgar Su/Files By John O'Callaghan and Rachel Armstrong SINGAPORE | Sun Oct 14, 2012 5:25pm EDT SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Billionaire Australians buying exclusive condominiums. Germans moving money from Swiss accounts. Secretive banking laws. Asia's premier wealth management centre. Low tax rates. As Singapore revels in its reputation as an open economy with the world's highest concentration of millionaires, the tiny island of 5.3 million people is also accused of being a magnet for tax evaders - an image it is vehemently seeking to banish. Amid German concerns that its wealthy citizens are moving funds from Switzerland before a new German-Swiss tax treaty takes effect next year, Singapore and Germany said on Sunday they had agreed to bolster their double-taxation agreement with internationally agreed standards on information sharing. "Banking secrecy will not constitute an obstacle to exchanging information," said the joint statement, which came at the end of German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble's weekend visit to Singapore. Media reports have put the amount of German money moving to Singapore in the double-digit billions. "The perception is that Swiss banks have concluded Switzerland is unlikely to remain a tax haven for much longer and Singapore is the new place to do business," said Ronen Palan, a professor at City University London who has conducted numerous studies on offshore finance. Swiss banks could see assets from Western European clients fall 28 percent to 623 billion Swiss francs ($668 billion) by 2014 because of the deals to tax undeclared accounts, the Boston Consulting Group said in a report in May. Singapore and its rival Hong Kong look set to benefit. Together, the two Asian hubs manage $1 trillion in offshore funds, with about 75 percent of that coming from within the region. But Singapore and Hong Kong may overtake Switzerland - now the largest offshore wealth centre with assets of about $2.1 trillion - in 15 to 20 years, Boston Consulting said. "INTEGRITY AND REPUTATION" Singapore, with tax rates that top out at 20 percent and no capital gains tax, is already synonymous with wealth. BMW and Mercedes were the top two brands among all cars sold in the first eight months of this year, bestsellingcarsblog.com says. Safe and clean, the city-state bills itself as a tropical refuge with exclusive residential enclaves, a marina for super-yachts, two casinos, fine dining, high-end boutiques and an annual Formula One race that brings in the global jet-set. Rich residents include Eduardo Saverin, the co-founder of Facebook, who has called Singapore home since 2009. Brazilian-born Saverin, who renounced his U.S. citizenship this year, was in eighth spot on a Singapore rich list published by Forbes Magazine with an estimated net worth of $2.2 billion. Locals who made fortunes in real estate, finance and trading figured prominently but the list also included New Zealand-born investor Richard Chandler with $2.9 billion and China-born property developer Zhong Sheng Jian with $1.4 billion. A 10 percent property duty imposed on foreigners, part of efforts to cool the housing market, has done little to dissuade the ultra-wealthy - many of them Chinese, Indian, Malaysian and Indonesian - from ploughing money into Singapore real estate. Australian mining tycoons are also moving in. Gina Rinehart reportedly paid S$57 million ($46.7 million) for two units at Seven Palms Sentosa Cove, a luxury beachfront condominium, while Nathan Tinkler recently moved his family to Singapore. But authorities bristle at any suggestion of tax dodging. A short paragraph on page 17 of an Indian government white paper on "black money" was inflammatory enough to prompt Singapore's prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, to make a formal complaint in July to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh. The paper did not directly call Singapore a tax haven but suggested figures showing it accounts for nearly 10 percent of foreign direct investment in India could be due to Indian nationals routing money through the city-state to avoid taxes. "We have demarched the Indian government on this matter to put this record straight and explain why this is not true and it has been mistaken," Lee said during a visit to New Delhi. Over the past three years, Singapore has upgraded half of its 70 tax treaties with other countries to make it easier to exchange information on possible tax dodgers. From next year, bankers who help clients evade tax risk ending up in court on money laundering charges. The new rules are part of "efforts to protect the integrity and reputation of Singapore as a trusted international financial centre," the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the central bank and financial regulator, said last week. The first stage of a peer review by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2011 found Singapore had most of the agreed standards in place but needed to continue to update and expand its information exchange pacts. Thomas Eigenthaler, chairman of the German Tax Union, welcomed an upgrade to Germany and Singapore's "rudimentary, fragmentary" tax agreement but said "the decisive thing will be how it is actually implemented." BENEFITS OF TRANSPARENCY Palan at City University London said trying to assess the city-state's credentials is tricky, partly due to difficulties getting detailed information about its offshore finance sector. "We cannot get any access to Singapore and that for us does raise flags," he said. "It's easier to do research on Jersey or Switzerland but in Singapore it's almost impossible." Before the start of the global financial crisis in 2008, most questions about Singapore's offshore role focused on the billions of dollars kept in the city-state by rich Indonesians. Now, as cash-strapped Western governments ramp up their efforts to improve tax collection and Swiss banks are forced to open up their books, Singapore is facing renewed accusations that some of the funds flowing in may be illicit. Lawyers say much of the recent inflows reflect the growing number of Asian millionaires, the region's strong growth and the fact that some legitimate funds are choosing to abandon offshore centers with less savory reputations in favor of Singapore. As more tax-paying millionaires want to get exposure to Asian growth, they say, Singapore must do all it can to show it will not tolerate black money. "Singapore stands to gain a lot from proactively embracing the move towards global tax transparency," said Dawn Quek, a senior associate at law firm Baker & McKenzie, Wong & Leow. The MAS is pushing banks to toughen scrutiny of clients with plans to designate a variety of serious tax crimes as predicates for money laundering offences from July 2013. In 2010 and 2011, a total of 44 people were convicted of money laundering offences in Singapore, mostly related to fraud, and close to S$130 million ($106.5 million) was seized or frozen, the Commercial Affairs Department said. "Singapore has always taken a tough enforcement approach against money laundering and our authorities will not hesitate to pursue and prosecute such cases," MAS told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Gernot Heller and Michelle Martin; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) World Australia Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Monday, 15 October 2012
Armed men seize military vehicle in Egypt's Sinai |
Libya's national assembly elects former diplomat as prime minister |
UAE sends medics to Pakistan to evacuate girl shot by Taliban |
Russian elections preserve Putin's dominance, opponents cry foul |
Abbas says Olmert was two months from peace deal |
Ghana investigating death of Chinese boy during miner round-up |
Montenegro ruling party set for win: exit polls |
Israeli air strikes kill three Palestinian militants in Gaza |
Thriller Taken 2 earns second box office win |
Swedish House Mafia pip Adele to top of UK pop chart |
Turkey bans Syrian planes from its air space, rebels gain |
Pakistani schoolgirl shot by Taliban sent to UK for treatment |
Cambodia's quixotic former king Sihanouk dies in Beijing |
U.S. exports to Iran rise nearly one-third despite sanctions |
Rats, mold won't delay Guantanamo hearings in 9-11 case |
Poland sticks to plan to build $15.8 billion nuclear power station |
Scotland moves step closer to independence vote |
Gunmen kill 22 in village in northern Nigeria |
Montenegro ruling party claims election victory |
New rules, tough talk as Singapore seeks to end tax haven image |
Microsoft debuts Xbox music service to take on Apple |
China's ZTE to post nine-month loss of up to 1.75 billion yuan |
Amazon in talks to buy Texas Instruments' mobile chip arm: paper |
MTN confirms U.S. court puts Turkcell suit on hold |
Russell Crowe separates from wife: media |
New U.S. envoy to Libya pledges support |
Mexico systematically weakening crime cartels: minister |
EU agrees on wider Iran sanctions, Ashton sees more talks soon |
Scotland seals terms of historic independence vote |
In political gamble, UK's Cameron takes on Brussels |
Costa Concordia ship hearing opens with anger and sorrow |
Russian elections underscore problems faced by Putin foes |
Armenian plane en route to Syria searched in Turkey |
Japan's Softbank snaps up Sprint in $20 billion deal |
EU data chiefs find legal flaws in Google privacy policy |
App lets strangers weigh in on why relationships go wrong |
Amazon in talks to buy TI mobile chip arm: paper |
New computer spying program linked to Flame authors |
Rolling Stones to play four gigs, Jagger hints at more |
New York businessman charged in elaborate fraud over Broadway's Rebecca |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01