June 2006 Archives

Leaders affirm the central government has been attaching great importance to and supporting the financial development of Hong Kong. They pledged that the central government will actively take measures that would be favorable for the development of Hong Kong's financial industry, the consolidation of Hong Kong's status as an international financial center and the cooperation between the financial circles of the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

Continue reading "Beijing for Hong Kong IFC".

The Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority announced today that the Regulatory Authority has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) with the Jersey Financial Services Commission (“JFSC”). The MoU formalises arrangements for cooperation and information sharing between the two regulators.

Continue reading "Qarar Regulatory Authority Signs MOU with Jersey FSC"

Financially, expatriates could be said to be in a more privileged position than most - if a company chooses to send an employee overseas, it will usually give higher wages, expenses, and other perks. Expatriates can also find themselves with greater freedom when it comes to making investment decisions, as they are not usually restricted by the same regulations that domestic investors experience.

The Malta Financial Services Authority has published guidelines for companies on how to convert share capital from Malta Lira into Euro when the latter becomes the sole legal tender in Malta. The conversion exercise is applicable to all limited liability companies as well as the en commandite partnerships, while companies listed on the stock exchange must follow any additional guidelines issued by the listing authority.

Continue reading "Malta FSA Guidelines to Convert Share Capital into Euro"

CME Expands Global FX Product Line With New Chinese Renminbi Futures Contracts - Exchange Strengthens Asia Presence with New Office in Hong Kong

HONG KONG and CHICAGO, June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CME, the world's largest and most diverse financial exchange and the largest regulated marketplace for foreign exchange (FX) trading announced today that it plans to list new futures contracts and options on futures on the Chinese Renminbi against the U.S. dollar, the Euro and the Japanese Yen.

NEW YORK, June 20 (Reuters) - Some 665 hedge funds established a presence in the Cayman Islands in the first five months of 2006, a pace that could put the offshore banking center on track for another record year in registrations in 2006, Cayman officials said Tuesday.

Throughout history, those with substantial assets have often been faced with outside forces intent on the erosion of those assets. Often, these attacks have come from within one's home country. Unfortunately, the lessons of the past are often not taken into account when planning for the realities of the future.

PITTSBURGH -- Mellon Global Investments, the international distribution subsidiary of Mellon Financial Corporation has announced the launch of the Nikko Mellon GW Select Best Nine Fund* managed by its Japanese business, Mellon Global Investments Japan, and distributed in Japan by Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. This new launch is the largest fund launch Mellon has ever undertaken at an initial aggregate fund size at launch of over $3.0 billion.

Price of land in Uruguay has soared in the two last years with the average going price for a plot of good grazing selling in the range of 1.400 US dollars a hectare, according to the latest report from the Uruguayan Landholdings Institute. Land in Uruguay actually dropped to a historic minimum in 2002 following the Argentine financial crisis.

Continue reading Uruguay Real Estate Soars

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Competition Between Nations Lead to Better Policy, Better Economic Performance

(Washington, DC, Monday, June 12, 2006) – The Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation today released a research paper, entitled "Tax Havens, Tax Competition and Economic Performance," which finds, through a review of the recent scholarly literature, that low-tax jurisdictions promote global economic growth. Written by Dr. Yesim Yilmaz, a research fellow with CF&P Foundation, the study presents evidence that so-called tax havens provide a tax-efficient platform for cross-border investment, help boost capital formation, and also encourage pro-growth tax policies in non-tax haven countries – all of which boost economic performance.

Legislative moves to introduce a Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) under the jurisdiction of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) are reportedly underway by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the independent regulator of the DIFC.

"The proposed Investment Trust Law introduces a new investment vehicle for use by Funds to facilitate the establishment and operation of Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) products," said DFSA's CEO, David Knott, according to Khaleej Times.

Continue reading New Law to Introduce REITs to Dubai

Buyout specialist Advent International has completed its $167 million acquisition of Nuevo Banco Comercial SA, the largest commercial bank in Uruguay. The deal was first announced in September and recently won approval from Uruguay's central bank, the key financial services regulator in that country. Advent had originally predicted that the deal would close in December.

Continue reading "Advent International Acquires Largest Bank in Uruguay"

The Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange will begin the Persian Gulf's first trading of currency futures on June 12, said Chief Executive Officer Framroze Pochara. ``We will start with euro-dollar and pound-dollar currency futures in lots of 50,000, and yen-dollar futures in lots of 5 million…''

Continue reading article...

Annuity IQ a popular destination for both consumers and brokers now offers complete variable annuity information in a easy to use web based format.

Syracuse, NY (PRWEB) June 8, 2006 -- Annuity IQ moves forward to a web-based platform. After the great success of “The Annuity Report,” Annuity IQ wanted future updates to be easier to obtain by their clients.

US Trade Representative Rob Portman and Swiss Federal Councillor Joseph Deiss last Thursday signed the US-Switzerland Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement.

This agreement establishes a new forum for the United States and Switzerland to discuss bilateral trade and related issues and examine ways to strengthen their economic relationship.

Summer volatility yields new questions, opportunities

Notable moves since our last US Futures Summary report (4/5) include a sharp 4% drop in the US Dollar index, a $7 round trip in crude, a $140 rally in gold (followed by $100 drop), huge swings in the price of silver and the worst May performance in 22 years for the SP500 index. Questions of inflation, Iran, the Fed and over speculation in commodity prices continue to dominate.

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

The world's big money brigade is snapping up gold bullion at eight times the rate originally thought, according to a report by UBS, the world's biggest gold trader.

The huge sums entering precious metals below the radar are likely to help to put a floor under the gold price after the dramatic fall of $112 an ounce in late May - the sharpest correction since the bull market began five years ago.

Asset protection is a common objective of many families' financial and estate plans, and financial advisors should have a working knowledge of the fundamental concepts. The first key is to understand fraudulent transfers, can result in a court voiding a gratuitous transfer made when a creditor's claim is "threatened, pending, or expected," even though no claim has been filed. Some types of irrevocable trusts can be established for the benefit of one's self and family that will protect the assets in the trust.