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Offshore Yuan UK and HK Monetary Authority launched a joint private-sector forum to enhance cooperation and support China's efforts to develop an offshore market for its yuan also known as renminbi. The move suggests the agreement between the U.K. and Chinese governments in September to support the development of an offshore yuan market in London is bearing fruit, even though it falls short of elevating the city to the status of Hong Kong, the only officially designated offshore yuan trading center. The recent decision of the HK Monetary Authority to extend the operating hours of its yuan payments systems to better accommodate European transactions, making it easier for yuan transactions in London to be settled. Australian bonds Bond investors including central banks from across the world have sought Australian assets as a safe haven. Attracted by Australia's triple-A rating, strong credit quality and relatively attractive investment returns on government bonds, investors have flocked here in recent months. That is in contrast with Europe. Last week Standard & Poor's warned it might downgrade 15 European countries, including the biggest economies, from their AAA ratings because of their huge levels of debt. If so, those countries would follow the US, which lost its triple-A rating this year. According to investment bank UBS, balance of payments data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates offshore demand for Australian government bonds reached a record level of $23 billion in the third quarter of this year. Swiss-UK tax agreement HMRC released the full details of its controversial deal with Switzerland, designed to enabling the taxation of undeclared assets hidden in Swiss bank accounts in return for account holders retaining their anonymity. This is the second groundbreaking tax agreement signed by the UK in a number of years – following hotly on the heels of the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF), a partial amnesty negotiated with Liechtenstein two years ago – and many are seeing this as just the tip of the iceberg. As governments across the globe try to minimise their deficits by tapping into unpaid tax bills, "tackling offshore tax evasion" has become the buzz phrase of the moment. The past month alone clearly indicates the political will to deal effectively with the issue. Panama's New Projects Panama celebrates because the country face enormous changes such as the expansion of the Panama Canal which will by expectation increase by 40% goods traffic capacity. Companies like Procter & Gamble will establish their operations in Panama, what will attribute to significant growth of the local economy and make new employment. Europe crisis stings Erste Bank Austria's biggest bank Erste Bank warned Monday of a billion-dollar loss this year because of the eurozone debt crisis and problems with its eastern Europe operations. Erste Bank, one of the largest retail and corporate lenders in central and eastern Europe with 17 million customers in 10 countries, said it expects to end the year 700-800 million euros in the red. BMI Bank With Profit Bahraini retail and commercial banking institution BMI Bank moved into the black in the third quarter of the year. This reflects strong growth and performance across its various operations in Bahrain, Qatar and Seychelles as well as at its associate in Kenya. Hong Kong banks' yuan strategy Deposits in the Chinese currency have grown to about $100 billion from almost nothing two years ago, since the rules on China's currency were relaxed. The lenders barely make any money on them because as people swap their savings into yuan deposits, banks must pay more for HKD deposits. US IRS target offshore accounts Starting in 2013, all world banks will be obligated to report to the United States Internal Revenue Service on accounts held by US citizens and businesses. The new reporting requirement for foreign financial institutes are part of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which the IRS says is aimed at US taxpayers who avoid paying their due by keeping their holdings in accounts outside the US. Europe's bank recapitalization The European Commission President outlined a five-points aimed at bringing an end to the eurozone crisis, which would include a massive recapitalization of the bloc’s banking sector. Swiss Banks Settle With The US US and Swiss officials are concluding negotiations on a civil settlement amid US criminal probes of 11 firms, including Credit Suisse, HSBC Holdings as well as other non-US traded European and Israeli banks. The firms, suspected of helping Americans hide money from the IRS, will likely settle with billions of dollar in payments, and by divulging the names of Americans with secret accounts. The US Justice Department may still consider criminal charges. |
