Channel islands appoint head of new Brussels office

Guernsey and Jersey announced, on 25 January 2011, that Steve Williams, currently British Ambassador to Bulgaria, had been appointed to head up the new Channel Islands’ office in Brussels. Williams, whose title will be director of European affairs, will assume the post on 4 April.

The new Channel Islands Brussels office will represent the political and economic interests of Guernsey and Jersey, which previously were handled by the Brunswick public relations and lobbying firm. The Isle of Man has also announced plans to open a representative office in Brussels.

Williams has worked for the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office for almost 30 years, with postings including Oslo, Buenos Aires, Sofia and the UK Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels. Jersey Chief Minister, Senator Terry Le Sueur, said: “We are pleased to have someone of Williams’ calibre and experience representing us in Brussels.

Hogan to sue over Australian criminal tax probe

Actor Paul Hogan said, on 6 January 2011, that he plans to sue the Australian government over its failed five-year criminal investigation of his tax affairs. His lawyer said the probe had damaged Hogan’s reputation and cost him millions of dollars in lost job opportunities.

The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) announced on 23 November 2010 that it was discontinuing its criminal investigation into alleged tax evasion by Hogan and his manager, John Cornell, because there were "insufficient prospects of securing convictions" and it was not in the public interest to continue. The Australian Taxation Office, however, is still conducting a civil investigation.

After the ACC investigation was dropped, Hogan said in media interviews that his name had been "demolished" and that job offers had dried up because of the probe.

KIZAD: Abu Dhabi's best kept secret

Khalifa Industrial Zones Abu Dhabi (KIZAD) unveiled to the Abu Dhabi and the rest of the world on November 13th 2010 and marks the emirates largest infrastructure project. The industrial Zone, which allows 100% foreign ownership and is situated at Taweelah (halfway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai) will prove to be an integral part of Abu Dhabi’s economy.

The magnitude of KIZAD is unprecedented since it’s 4 times bigger than Abu Dhabi Island, 2/3 size of Singapore, one quarter the size of Greater London (covering the distance from Canary Wharf to Slough) and has its own dedicated port. Its construction will continue until 2030 whereby over the years it will become a mega transport hub, linking its self to air, road, sea, and rail. It aims to become one of the largest industrial zones in the world, and by the year 2030 KIZAD aims to provide 150,000 jobs and to host around 100,000 residents-solidifying its importance to Abu Dhabi’s 2030 vision.

Access to local, regional and international markets

KIZAD is the ideal location for businesses to tap into huge regional and global markets. Its world central location means businesses in the Industrial Zone can tap into a market of more than two billion consumers within four time zones. Europe, Russia, India and Africa, are all easily reached while the markets of the Far East - Asia, Korea, China and Japan are readily accessible.

KIZAD will benefit from excellent access by sea though its ultra modern deepwater seaport, Khalifa Port. KIZAD is also directly connected to the markets of the UAE and the wider Middle East. The Industrial Zone and Khalifa Port have excellent access to the UAE’s excellent highway network which links to the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) and wider Middle East. Abu Dhabi International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai are both less than 30 minutes away, while the emerging freight and passenger rail networks will link tenants at KIZAD to the far corners of the Arabian Peninsula.

Low cost operating environment

KIZAD can create competitively priced infrastructure solutions tailored to address the specific utilities and logistics needs of major manufacturing projects. One of the major operating costs for industrial companies is utilities, which is why Abu Dhabi offers gas, water and electrical power at some of the lowest rates in the world.

Ease of doing business

At KIZAD support for your business starts even before your operations begin. For example KIZAD’s development of a long term “bankable” agreement ensures easy access to project and investment finance. KIZAD’s Business Development and Customer Relationship Teams include industry people who will help find the right plot for your business, ease you through set up and government certification and ensure that your business’s on-going administrative and business service needs continue to be met.

To make this happen Kizad has refined the One Stop Shop business services concept to deliver unprecedented value and convenience by facilitating relationships with Government and Licensing Authorities as well as utility companies to ensure rapid processing and approvals.

Please feel free to contact our Abu Dhabi office more information: AD@SovereignGroup.com or Free Local Call 800 Offshore

The Sovereign Art Foundation announces 2010 Prize Finalists and Exhibition

The Sovereign Art Foundation has announced the names of the artists short-listed for its seventh annual Asian Art Prize. Entry is accepted only by nomination by one of the Foundation’s network of art experts. The works of the 30 finalists will be exhibited at the Rotunda, Exchange Square from the 21 - 26 February 2011, thanks to the support of Hongkong Land.

During the exhibition, the judges will choose the winner of the US$25,000 prize. Voting to select the winner of the US$1,000 Schoeni public prize has already commenced on The Sovereign Art Foundation website. The public can also cast votes at the exhibition.

The winning entry of this year’s Sovereign Asian Art Award and the Schoeni public prize will beannounced at a Gala Auction and Dinner sponsored by Julius Baer, leading Swiss private
banking group, on 16 March 2011 at the Four Seasons hotel. During the evening, the works of the remaining 29 finalists will also be auctioned.

As the principal sponsor, Julius Baer, the leading private bank with unwavering tradition and dedication in supporting art, is proud to bring continuous support to talented artists in the region. Their involvement with the Sovereign Art Foundation is evidence of their commitment to Asia and the value they place on art platforms worldwide.

“Julius Baer has a long tradition of sponsorship commitments in the fields of art and we are
delighted to lend our support to The Sovereign Art Foundation to celebrate emerging artistic
talent in the continent,” said Andrea Benenati, CEO Hong Kong & North Asia, Julius Baer.

Howard Bilton, Chairman of The Sovereign Group commented, “We have received
overwhelming numbers of nominations this year, an indication of The Sovereign Asian Art Prize has become one of the most well-recognised annual art awards in the region.”

“In addition to recognising the most ground-breaking and influential emerging artists of our time, The Sovereign Art Foundation will continue to support charitable artistic causes across Asia,” added Mr. Bilton.

Works are accepted across all 2D media and the entries received this year demonstrated the
exciting range of practices occurring within these mediums.

The 30 works were selected from over 400 nominated entries from across Asia by this year’s
distinguished judges, David Elliott, Fumio Nanjo, Graham Sheffield, Tan Boon Hui, David Tang and Xu Bing. This year’s entries also include works by artists from Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Iraq for the first time.

A compelling range of emerging artists will be featured at the exhibition, including Hong Kong
artists Sarah Lai and Tang Kwok Hin, both fine arts graduates of the Chinese University of
Hong Kong. Lai aims to freeze and extend moments of time through her simple but richly
expressive paintings, and Tang produces photographs of intricate imaginary landscapes, using ready-made elements taken from print and electronic media and product labels. Macau block print painter and printmaking teacher Wong Cheng Pou, has also been shortlisted as a finalist for his delicate Song Dynasty-inspired paintings.

The Sovereign Art Foundation will keep the winning entry and the remaining 29 works will be auctioned with 50% of the proceeds going to the artist and the other 50% to charities supported by the Foundation.

This year, The Sovereign Art Foundation has pledged to continue its support to help the
children in M’Lop Tapang in Cambodia and Kalki in India using the arts as rehabilitation and therapy. The Foundation will also be launching a new partnership with the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation in Vietnam.

Exhibition dates and hours:
Press Preview:
21 February 5:00 – 6:00pm
Opening Day:
21 February 7:00 – 9:00pm
General Opening:
22 - 25 February 10:00am – 8:00pm
26 February 10:00am – 3:00pm

Fashion designer Valentino named in tax inquiry

The fashion designer Valentino Garavani appears on a list of almost 7,000 Italian account holders, reported in Italian newspapers on 12 January 2011, who allegedly held secret offshore bank accounts and are now under investigation.

The 700 people being investigated by the Rome prosecutor's office are accused of holding secret offshore accounts in Switzerland, according to data stolen from a Swiss unit of HSBC bank by an IT worker four years ago.

The names reported in Italian newspapers included several fashion and film world celebrities and top business figures such as fashion designer Renato Balestra and jeweller Gianni Bulgari. The majority are wealthy, lesser-known individuals.

Italian investigators earlier said that the sum held by Italians in the accounts on the HSBC list totalled 5.3 billion euros and that 132 of the accounts held sums of more than 10 million euros. An amnesty law that ran out last year allowed Italians with foreign accounts to repatriate their money by paying a fine.

Hong Kong introduces one-stop company registration

Hong Kong’s Companies Registry and the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) jointly launched a new regime of one-stop company and business registration, together with a one-stop notification of change of company particulars, with effect from 21 February 2011.

Under the new regime, the Registry will process the simultaneous business registration applications and notify IRD of changes of the relevant company particulars.

Any person who submits an incorporation form of a local company, or an application form for registration of a non-Hong Kong company, will be deemed to make a business registration application at the same time. Therefore, under this new registration regime, companies will only require to lodge one single application for both company and business registration.

The new registration regime applies to both paper and electronic applications. Upon the approval of the application, the Registry will issue a Certificate of Incorporation together with a Business Registration Certificate to the applicant.

For applications lodged through the e-incorporation service at the “e-Registry”, if approved, the Registry will issue both Certificate of Incorporation and Business Registration Certificate in the form of electronic records. Any request for the issue of the certificates in paper will not be entertained.

The new registration regime will not be applicable to application for business registration by other types of businesses such as sole proprietorship, partnership businesses and branch registration. These should be lodged directly with the Business Registration Office, as previously.

Last year, the Companies Registry posted a record high of almost 140,000 local companies, an increase of 27.5% over the registrations seen in 2009. By the end of last year, the total number of live local companies registered under the Companies Ordinance was 863,762, up more than 91,500 from that in 2009. The total number of non-Hong Kong companies that had established a place of business stood at 8,165 at the end of the year.

Hong Kong’s new Companies Bill has been gazetted and was introduced into the Legislative Council for its first reading on 26 January 2011.

The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K C Chan, said: "The Companies Bill aims to achieve four main objectives, namely, enhancing corporate governance, ensuring better regulation, facilitating business and modernising the law. Rewriting the Companies Ordinance (CO) allows us to leverage the developments regarding company law in other comparable jurisdictions and enhance our competitiveness. We look forward to enactment of the Bill in the 2011-12 legislative session."

The rewrite of the CO started in mid-2006, and three public consultations were conducted to gauge views on a number of complex subjects. Some of the measures introduced by the Bill to enhance corporate governance include: improving the accountability of directors to enhance transparency and accountability, and clarifying the directors’ duty of care, skill and diligence; emphasising shareholder engagement in the decision-making process; improving the disclosure of company information; and strengthening auditors’ rights.

OECD publishes ten information exchange evaluation reports

The OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax purposes released, on 28 January 2011, ten reports that evaluate jurisdictions’ commitment to tax transparency, and examine whether information is made available and accessible to foreign tax authorities. These reports follow eight others released in September last year.

The Global Forum has been mandated by the G-20 to assist specific jurisdictions, as well as the international community, to assess the status of national tax legislation, examine whether the laws are enforced, and make recommendations for improvement.

The Global Forum released Phase 1 reports, which assess the legal and regulatory framework of the jurisdictions, in respect of five jurisdictions – Barbados, Guernsey, the Seychelles, San Marino and Trinidad and Tobago – as well as combined Phase 1 and Phase 2 reviews assessing both the legal framework and the practical implementation of the standard in respect of five others – Australia, Denmark, Ireland, Mauritius and Norway

Of the Phase 1 reviews, Barbados, the Seychelles, San Marino and Trinidad and Tobago all fell short of the international standard and will need to implement the recommendations made in their reports before moving to the next phase of their evaluations. It was noted that San Marino had recently passed important legislation and would be further examined by the Global Forum. The report on Guernsey found that a satisfactory legal framework was in place but the OECD said there were minor issues that Guernsey has been asked to address.

Of the combined reviews, Australia, Denmark, Ireland and Norway had achieved effective exchange of information in practice, although there were some minor issues related to information on bearer shares or nominees that would have to be addressed. For Mauritius, there were missing elements in the legal framework, such as accounting information on some of the offshore companies, while there was also room for improvement in practice, in particular as regards the access to bank information by the tax authorities.

More than 60 reports will be completed by the year-end.