Palladium Newsletter - January 2012

Dear Clients,

Welcome to our first newsletter of 2012.

This month we’d like to highlight changes in the regulation of Seychelles International Business Companies (‘IBCs’) as well as outline some of the useful potential applications of UK companies and LLPs. Since the new year we are able to offer UK companies and LLPs with the prestigious W1 postcode and located like our London office on Berkeley Square. It is not well known but UK holding companies are increasingly being used for multi-national deals and corporate structuring as the UK will not impute UK tax on subsidiaries of the UK company with no connection or management in the UK. This facilitates the speed, ease, strong legal and regulatory framework and excellent perception of UK companies to be applied in international and tax efficient pooling of assets and trading. UK LLPs may be used in similar fashion – for example in trading with no connection to the UK. Costs of UK entities are low compared to traditional ‘offshore’ vehicles, accounting requirements can be easily minimised, perception of using the UK invokes less onerous take on requirements with banks and counterparties and the service offered by UK legal, accounting and regulatory providers is world-class. Please ask us for more information…

A shock announcement by the Seychelles Government was recently made in relation to IBCs incorporated there. Firstly, all registers of shareholders and directors of Seychelles IBCs must be kept – at an increased cost to current arrangements – with the companies’ respective registered agents in the Seychelles. More onerously, all Seychelles IBCs must compile and maintain proper accounting records for all such companies for a full seven years. On the one hand, this will hearten some critics of offshore vehicles who see them as ‘rogue’ companies due to a lack of regulation and corporate governance affecting them. On the other hand, many users of such companies will find these new rules add unnecessary cost and time commitment to the Seychelles’ offering of offshore vehicles. Maybe this will spur more people to set up (and migrate to?) direct competitors such as the BVI, Anguilla and Panama.

Please visit us at www.palladiumtrustservices.net or contact me directly at stephen@palladiumtrustservices.net if you would like more information on what Palladium can do for you.

As always, we hope you enjoy the articles below and find them an interesting resource.

Stephen

19 new ‘millionaires’ created a day in brazil:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ivancastano/2011/11/28/brazils-booming-economy-is-creating-19-millionaires-every-day/

Hong Kong Government may need to bail out its banks:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-10/imf-says-worsening-crisis-may-force-hong-kong-to-back-banks.html

India’s drive to gain retrospective details of tax offenders gathering pace:
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-12-08/news/30490406_1_tax-information-exchange-tieas-tax-evasion

Singapore tops the pile for Asia’s highest ranked expat location:
http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/My%2BMoney/Story/A1Story20111208-315176.html