Businesses that have operations with the EU are now being required to take a more proactive approach to environmental risk management in order to comply with the requirements of the EU’s Environmental Liability Directive (ELD). Companies are now required to prevent significant environmental damage from occurring wherever possible, and they will be held liable for…
Although some may consider transfer pricing a “black box,” the shared adage among most finance professionals is that transfer pricing is comprised of both art and science. The science of transfer pricing is grounded in financial data and the relevant tax laws while the art of transfer pricing is based upon an intuitive sense of…
By the summer of 2008, the risks associated with the credit crunch were becoming apparent in the market. Years of ‘easy’ money coming out of the US and funded by China meant that the market place was flooded with credit. Assets had become over-inflated, trades had become crowded and investors were highly leveraged. Too many…
For a number of years, Cyprus has been considered a popular location for foreign investment. Its status as a former British colony and its stable tax system has proved to be an attractive opportunity for overseas investors, but there’s much more to this island than investment opportunities. An array of important factors contribute to the…
US President Barack Obama has expressed confidence a climate deal can be clinched as dozens of world leaders gather on Wednesday to try to break a deadlock at UN climate talks. “The president believes that we can get an operational agreement that makes sense in Copenhagen,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told a briefing in…
Meteorologists see global warming as a threat. Tax practitioners in Germany see it as beneficial, certainly in the light of its effects on the tax climate. Traditionally, Germany has been ranked as a country with high direct, but relatively low indirect, taxation. That changed, however, in 2008 with a cut in the corporation tax rate…
Plans from Wells Fargo & Co and Citigroup to repay taxpayer funds will put the US government on track to reduce its bailout investments in banks by more than 75 percent, while earning a healthy profit for the US, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday. “With the recent announcements on repayments, we are now…
Malaysia’s government will offer “credible” cuts in its emissions of carbon dioxide at the Copenhagen climate change summit in a bid to halt global warming, Prime Minister Najib Razak told Reuters on Sunday. Najib will be among more than 110 world leaders who will meet in Copenhagen next week to attend a summit to try…
Many people scrimp and save to put money in a “college fund” for their children. With tuition running as much as $40,000 per year at some private universities, it has become essential to save a significant portion of your monthly earnings to appropriate later for college.But let’s assume that you have saved nothing and only…
Studies have shown that only 60% of Americans have sufficient systems in place to derive enough income to retire – and even then, not very well. People spend decades scrimping and saving, and have very little to show for it. Let’s be honest, at 2% return levels — which is what safe investments are paying…
