Tag Archives: Bank Secrecy

Singapore Tops Hong Kong as Residence for Mobile Rich in Asia

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Hotel guests are seen at the infinity pool at the SkyPark atop Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Courtesy of photographer: Sam Kang Li/Bloomberg

According to Bloomberg news; Singapore topped Hong Kong as the most desired place in Asia for so-called mobile millionaires to reside, with quality of life cited as the main attraction, a RBC Wealth Management (RY)survey showed.

Almost a third of the millionaires in Asia who live, work or spend more than half their time outside their countries of origin prefer Singapore, while 24 percent pick Hong Kong, the second most popular in the region, RBC and The Economist Intelligence Unit said in a joint research report yesterday.

Singapore topped Hong Kong as the most desired place in Asia for so called mobile millionaires to reside, with quality of life cited as the main attraction, a RBC Wealth Management survey showed.

Real estate led the list of preferred assets for the internationally mobile wealthy, according to the survey, which showed 23 percent of those in Singapore reporting a “high propensity” for property investment, compared with 7 percent in North America. The island’s home prices climbed to a record in the third quarter, prompting the government to restrict home loans and cap property development. Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook Inc., moved to Singapore in 2009, and Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, relocated there in 2007.

“Singapore always has this quality as a safe haven, not just for your money, but also for your family,” said Wai Ho Leong, a senior regional economist at Barclays Plc in Singapore.

For mobile millionaires who moved to Singapore, 89 percent ranked quality of life as important and 83 percent cited the country’s political stability as important, the survey showed. Infrastructure and educational opportunity were also given as reasons to live there.

Most Millionaires

Singapore posted a 14 percent increase in millionaire households to 188,000 last year, when the Asia-Pacific region countered a decline in wealth in Western Europe and the U.S., according to a Boston Consulting Group report published May 31.

The proportion of millionaire homes in the city was 17 percent, the highest in the world, followed by Qatar and Kuwait, according to Boston Consulting Group. Singapore has a population of 5.3 million, of which about 2 million are foreigners.

“High net worth individuals with global outlooks for their businesses and families are choosing Singapore to live and invest in,” Barend Janssens, the Singapore-based head of RBC’s wealth-management unit for emerging markets, said in a statement.

The city-state is grappling with the elevated inflation that comes with years of economic growth and population expansion on an island smaller than New York City, with rising demand fueling record property and car prices.

Property Boom

In the three months ended Sept. 30, the island’s private residential property price index rose 0.6 percent to a record 208.2 points, according to government data. In prime districts, apartment prices gained 0.2 percent, compared with a 1 percent increase in the suburbs.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore told lenders on Oct. 5 to restrict home-loan maturities “to curb continued upward pressure on residential property prices,” in an attempt to avert a housing bubble. The government said in September it plans to cap the number of homes that can be developed in suburban projects as it seeks to curb the increasing trend of so-called shoebox apartments.

The cost of a permit to own a small car for 10 years rose to an unprecedented S$78,523 ($64,300) on Dec. 5 from S$46,889 at the start of the year. That excludes the cost of buying a car. The government auctions limited vehicle permits to control congestion and pollution.

“Only if you’re very young and highly qualified would you want to rough it out in Hong Kong for a few years,” Leong said. “But once you have kids, the pollution gets to you, the lack of greenery gets to you, the crowdedness gets to you.”

Doing Business

Hong Kong is the best place to do business, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The city of about 7 million people secured the top position in an index based on six criteria including the degree of economic integration and labor costs. Singapore ranked ninth in the index published in March by Bloomberg Rankings.

Hong Kong acts as the gateway to China, the world’s most populous nation, with free-market policies and low corporate taxes.

“Hong Kong is a very big financial center in the region and in recent years has also benefited a lot from China opening up its markets,” said Frances Cheung, a Hong Kong-based strategist at Credit Agricole CIB. Hong Kong is “about the opportunities, especially in the financial world.”

The World Bank ranks Singapore and Hong Kong top in its gauge focused on the ease of doing business. The Washington- based Heritage Foundation has named Hong Kong the world’s freest economy for 18 successive years.

See the full article from Bloomberg here.

Panama – City of Knowledge offers no taxes for research and high tech corporations

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Panama has established City of Knowledge in order to attract research and high tech corporations. This includes internet commerce, bio and nano tech corporations. Only 15 minutes drive from down town Panama City it also offer great life style possibilities.

 

Panama City, Republic of Panama     Picture courtesy of Photoatlas

City of Knowledge

Being part of the City of Knowledge implies a commitment to innovation and sustainable development, but it also involves a broad range of benefits designed to make your operations more effective.

Here are some of the direct benefits for affiliates and users recognized by the City of Knowledge:

  1. Tax and immigration benefits through affiliation to the City of Knowledge Foundation project.
  2. Telecommunications, IT and educational technology services, including an intelligent high-tech center with the required capacity for teleconferences, distance learning, fast internet connections, and other services.
  1. A Point of Presence -POP- with direct access to the land portion of 5 International Fiber Optic cables that go across Panama (PAC, SAC, ARCOS, Pan-American and MAYA).
  2. Infrastructure and buildings in good maintenance condition, easily adaptable to various uses.
  3. Technical, administrative and consulting services. Constant electricity flow (99.9%) with redundant power supply from the Panama Canal thermal plant located 300 m (328 yards) away in the Miraflores locks.
  4. Complementary accommodation and catering service.
  5. Sports and recreation facilities.
  6. Access to the major higher learning and scientific research centers in the country.
  7. Access to the Panama Canal Basin, a living laboratory for scientific research and technological innovation on advanced tropical ecosystem management.
  8. Central location: next to the Panama Canal, 15 minutes from downtown Panama City, 5 minutes from Amador resort and 45 minutes from Colón city, located on the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal.

Here are the incentives for those participating in the project under Executive Order # 6 of February 10, 1998, which states the basis for the Panamanian State’s support to the City of Knowledge Foundation.

Tax Benefits

  1. Exemption from all taxes, levies, fees or import duties on machines, equipment, furniture, vehicles, appliances or materials necessary for the operation of companies accepted into the City of Knowledge Technopark.
  2. Exemption from Service and Personal Tangible Asset Transfer Tax (ITBMS) on machinery, equipment, vehicles, appliances and materials purchased or necessary for the operation of companies accepted into the City of Knowledge Technopark.
  3. Exemption from any taxes, fees, duties or levies on overseas money remittance when such money remittance or transfer is done for the purposes of companies accepted into the City of Knowledge Technopark.
  4. Innovating companies producing, assembling or processing high-tech goods or rendering similar services for sale in the local or international market at the International Technopark of Panama (ITP) will have the following benefits:
    1. Their activities, operations, transactions, procedures and transfers of personal and real property, purchase and import of equipment and construction material, raw materials, machinery, tools, accessories and supplies will be a hundred percent free of direct taxes, levies, fees, duties and national taxes. This includes income tax exemption for companies.
    2. Their capital will be free from direct national taxes, including patent or license tax.

Immigration Benefits

The State will grant special visas to foreign staff entering the country to contribute to the development of the City of Knowledge project. For further information, see the Immigration and Naturalization Bureau website.

Labor Benefits

Companies affiliated to the City of Knowledge are authorized to hire any international staff necessary for their operation.

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Malta gives tax breaks to attract expat pensioners

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Malta launches new schemes to attract expat pensioners and promote a new generous tax incentive scheme to encourage European individuals to transfer their pensions to, and take up residence in Malta.

Under the scheme, which is exclusively available to European Union, European Economic Area, or Swiss nationals, income tax will be fixed at 15%, with a minimum tax liability of EUR7,500 per annum, plus EUR500 for each dependant.

To be eligible for the scheme, applicants would need to fulfil a number of conditions, including:

Purchasing a property worth at least EUR275,000 in Malta, or EUR250,000 in Gozo, or renting a property for EUR9,600 per annum in Malta, or EUR8,750 in Gozo.

Applicants must spend a minimum of 90 days in Malta per annum, averaged over a five-year period. In addition, they must not reside in any other single jurisdiction for more than 183 days in a year.

Marsascala, Malta   picture above courtesy Best of European Union, is a town located at the Marsascala Bay on the southeastern part of the island of Malta. It is a popular travel destination.

The individual’s entire pension would have to be remitted and taxed in Malta, and 75% of the income chargeable to tax in Malta would have to arise from pension or similar income, including lifetime annuities, personal pension plans, occupational pension.

Global Tax Rates Comparison

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Hong Kong and Switzerland are attractive with relatively low effective tax rates. Many international corporations have relocated to these two countries the last decades.

The worst ones are Greece, Belgium and Italy. We expect both people and corporations to continue to flee these countries the coming years.

Click on the image to get a larger picture.

Source: Economist

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Secretive Andorra opens up to foreign investments

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Andorra is an old tax haven in Europe and is well known for its bank secrecy. Andorra plan to liberalize foreign investments and foster more economic openness. This comes as part of Andorra’s policy in the past few years to open its economy.

Back in 2008, Andorra had enacted a law to reduce protectionism in the Principality, and allow 100% foreign ownership in Andorran companies. However, in its recently published implementing regulation, the Andorran government observes this has not been enough and argues that it is necessary to liberalize further.

Under the new law, foreign individuals wanting to exercise a profession in Andorra will no longer be required to have been resident in Andorra for at least 20 years, provided there is a reciprocal agreement between Andorra and the relevant foreign country.

However, a system of authorizations from the administration still applies. Prior authorizations are required for foreigners to own property in Andorra, unless they are individuals resident in Andorra. All investments in at least 10% of the capital or voting rights of an Andorran firm also require prior authorization. Quantitative restrictions on ownership of real estate by foreigners (previously no more than two flats per individual) will be abolished. Portfolio investments do not require authorization, but they must be reported to the registry of foreign investments in the event they are in substance akin to direct investments.

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