Articles
EU Substance Rules
Yet another process designed to pressure smaller jurisdictions with low tax regimes has been rumbling in the background – Substance Rules. These are being applied by EU bodies to countries outside of its borders but with the ultimate aim of making it uneconomic for EU...
The International Financial System
The various organisations in the wider international financial system have been built according to the preferences of the U.S., and to a lesser extent, the EU. The long-term viability of the system will now be dependent upon how China is accommodated (or not). We...
UK Budget and Brexit
Incremental changes to the tax and director liability rules tighten the net over many perceived loopholes but do make the UK less appealing for capital in the future. The unmistakable tone of the budget was to keep the UK in line with EU practise, even after Brexit....
EU Blacklist Overreach
The European Commission’s anti money laundering/terrorist financing blacklist was released yesterday. It named 23 jurisdictions as being deficient in some way, including four U.S. territories. Many of the world’s biggest oil producing nations were included – Saudi...
Italy From First Principles
Italian politics, economics and finance are understood by few outside of the country. While this is understandable, the potentially central importance of Italy to the future of the Euro and the European project encourages further study. This note is focused on...
Brexit – Varying Perspectives
The lack of progress in Brexit negotiations is generated by many things but chief among them is differing philosophical outlooks. We have undertaken an internal dialogue designed to identify the key issues which divide the sides. We continue to believe that a...