...domestic and international trading transactions are conducted (Business Dictionary, n.d.). London, New York, and Tokyo are the world's premier financial centres. It may be distinguish two types of financial centres: those such as London or New York, which are ‘international financial centres’ and which are excluded from the definition of extraterritorial centres. These latest are called ‘Offshore financial centres’, where the activity takes place outside the residence of the natural person. Despite its name, the off-shore centres are not necessary islands, although several insular jurisdictions have been established as such. First of all, an off-shore centre is a small, law-taxes jurisdiction specializing in providing corporate and commercial services to non-resident offshore companies, by offering: i) Liberal legislation regarding financial transaction ii) Very low taxes rates Therefore, off shore companies are those legal entities incorporated and registered in an offshore financial centre. In addition, there are more traits that are decisive in order to distinguish an offshore financial centre (OFC from now). For instance, in these jurisdictions, the financial sector is such a relevant and disproportionate share of the internal economy. And, most of the transactions that take place in their institutions are realised by clients residing in different jurisdictions (as we...
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...CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.0 Overview In recent years, researchers have identified that the offshore outsourcing of services is starting to become a thriving business area, serves as a tool for maintaining and increasing the competitiveness and also an important asset of international growth strategies of many service firms. Bryborn & Jantell (2005) states that every now and then there is a boom of interest in cutting operating costs and every time there is a different ways of how it is done. In the 1990’s, the trends used to cut costs were re-engineering of business processes. However, in the early 2000’s, after the economical downturn, there was a similar trend to reorganize business processes and the trend was called offshore outsourcing. The major driving force for offshore outsourcing are customers who wants more of everything for less money. In MIDAS Bulletin Oct-Dec 2004 publication mentioned that, “ Malaysia is among the top three contenders for offshoring business in the world according to the 2004 Offshore Location Attractiveness Index compiled by the global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, sources were quoted. Malaysia is ranked 3rd behind India (1st) and China (2nd) but ahead of Singapore (5th), Philippines (6th) and Thailand (13th). In its report, A.T. Kearney considers Malaysia a “ natural choice” for offshore services in view of its low costs, particularly for infrastructure, the most attractive business environment among emerging...
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...Goodbye Bank Secrecy, Goodbye Switzerland From start of 2012 to May 2013, the number of foreign owned Swiss banks has fallen from 145 to 129(though it remains the biggest centre for global offshore wealth with $ 2.2 trillion i.e. 26% of the market, which was 27% in 2012). Example:- Lloyds Banking Group, Commerzbank, etc Reasons• Recent shake up in Europe’s economy • In 2012, one-third of banks had fund outflows • One bank in 6 recorded losses Hence many banks are reviewing their geographical footprint, specially in the offshore markets. Moreover, a combination of government actions from the US & EU and the increased regulatory pressure is likely to trigger more such changes, because it will only make it a more costly affair to do business. Smaller players will be forced to close or to merge with larger banks. Switzerland will have to develop new products and services to attract foreign clients, now that banking secrecy argument has been solved in the recent. Air-Asia to focus on India’s under-utilised airports Budget airline carrier Air-Asia (which will launch later this year) is looking forward to:• Add 10 aircrafts annually • Focus operations on country's under-utilised airports as a part of expansion plan • To focus on South India first before expanding operations in the rest of the country The success will depend a lot on the cost structure & the marketing, says CEO Air-Asia. They are hopeful of achieving scale through lower-priced tickets & cutting costs by offering...
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...Tax Havens pull up socks in ‘transparency’ era The great ‘subprime’ crisis has had its share of fallouts over past 24 months; yet there is a silver lining emerging from under the dark clouds which has the world order gearing up for a brand new era of financial discipline and enhanced regulation. Ironically, one of the positives borne out of the recent economic upheaval has been staggering focus on ensuring robust transparency standards in tax matters. Before delving further into how tax transparency and information exchange are critical for sorting financial disorder across economies, let me try and explain the concept of ‘money laundering’ and how the absence of strict standards in tax discipline have abated this menace. This also helps putting in perspective the role that the international tax policy, in tandem with other non-tax measures, plays in combating tax evasion, whether with or without aid of money laundering. What’s the color of money!! Money laundering is loosely used to describe ‘washing’ of unaccounted or illicitly sourced money through a cobweb of complex financial transactions, usually involving more than one jurisdiction. The objective of the process deployed to ‘clean’ the money is to hide either the ownership or the destination of such funds. A typical ‘laundering’ scheme could see three stages: a) Placement stage – at this stage, the objective of stakeholders is to move the illicit funds away from source location; sources of such funds can be...
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...Case Study Why the telecoms industry is doing business in RMB Telecoms equipment and handset manufacturers like Telco – the representative but fictional example in this case study – recognise that they can only stand out in a tough sector by competing on an international scale. This increasingly means doing business in high-growth emerging markets like China and leveraging RMB to gain that vital competitive advantage. Background Telco, with its Head office based in London, began life as a manufacturer of wire-line equipment for the Western European aerospace sector. Following the privatisation of national telecoms operators from the late 1980s, it refocused its business to supply carriers in Europe and the US. Telco has been an HSBC client for more than ten years, after finding that domestic banks could not match its international expansion strategy. HSBC’s global network supported its exports growth across new markets by supporting all Telco’s export invoices. Rolling waves of telecoms deregulation saw Telco and other suppliers enter the mobile handset market in the 1990s, attracted by the significant growth opportunities. The intense competition and tightening margins in equipment supply – not least the demand from emerging markets – saw Telco make its first trip to China on a sourcing mission for basic components. Building a business In China At the company’s request, HSBC relationship managers helped guide Telco’s entry into China by working with professional advisors...
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...Sign In ✉ Mail ⚙ Help . . .. . . . . . . .. . . Mon, Feb 9, 2015, 11:18AM EST - US Markets close in 4 hrs and 42 mins . . . . Recent. . . Quotes you view appear here for quick access. .. . . ... Finance Home My Portfolio My Quotes News Market Data Yahoo Originals Business & Finance Personal Finance CNBC Contributors . . . .. Recommended Games More games » . . Compare Brokers .. . Leaked List Shows HSBC's Swiss Arm Helped Putin Allies, Drug Lords and Fugitives Hide . Bloomberg By David Kocieniewski 1 hour ago . ˠ ➕ ✕ . . .... . .. .. (Bloomberg) -- The private-banking unit of HSBC Holdings Plc made significant profits for years handling secret accounts whose holders included drug cartels, arms dealers, tax evaders and fugitive diamond merchants, according to a report released Sunday by an international news organization. HSBC is among a handful of banks to face criminal prosecution in recent years for its role in a Swiss banking system that allowed depositors to conceal their identities, and in many cases dodge taxes or launder ill-gotten cash. The report, prepared by the Washington-based International Consortium...
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...negligible and margins and profits hit record lows, a modest improvement was seen in 2010. It seemed at first that this recovery would continue in 2011. But, after a good start, the industry suffered from a difficult second half: markets fell and profits stagnated at low levels. The situation has not yet improved in 2012; another good start was wiped out in the second quarter. Given the continued growth in global wealth, this implies that private banks are failing to capture their fair share of the market. The longer-term structural changes caused by the crisis are creating a much more demanding environment for private banks. Slower wealth generation in developed markets means that the growth momentum on- and offshore is shifting to clients in developing markets. Offshore growth has stabilized thanks to ultra high-net-worth (UHNW) and emerging markets clients. To maintain their position, let alone embark on a quest for growth, banks will need to adapt...
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...Indian Black Money Abroad In Secret Banks and Tax Havens Second Report Of The Task Force on the steps to be taken by India Members Shri Gurumurthy, Chartered Accountant, Chennai Shri Ajit Doval, former Director Intelligence Bureau, Delhi Prof R.Vaidyanathan, Professor of Finance Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore Shri Mahesh Jethmalani, Senior Advocate, Mumbai Submitted to BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 1 I. The First Interim Report The first Interim Report of the Task Force appointed by the Bharatiya Janata Party was released to the public on 17-04-2009. Afterward different world governments, particularly those in the West, have increasingly begun targeting tax havens and intensely began pursuing black money. The US, and France particularly began a huge campaign against the evil of black money. The estimates black money lodged in tax havens by global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund reached as high as $18 trillion. The instability in the global financial order itself was traced to the evil money. So the issue has now acquired a totally different dimension. In the first Interim Report, the Task Force had suggested broad national and global strategy for dealing with the menace of black money out of the country. The substance of the recommendations of the Task Force in the First Interim Report is summarized here: Global Strategy: • Creating a powerful public opinion and broad national consensus on the issue. Those who do not...
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...Monetary Insruments? Money laundering refers to a financial transaction scheme that aims to conceal the identity, source, and destination of illicitly-obtained money. The money laundering process can be broken down into three stages. First, the illegal activity that garners the money places it in the launderer’s hands. Second, the launderer passes the money through a complex scheme of transactions to obscure who initially received the money from the criminal enterprise. Third, the scheme returns the money to the launderer in an obscure and indirect way. Tax evasion and false accounting practices constitute common types of money laundering. Often, criminals achieve these objectives through the use of shell companies,holding companies, and offshore accounts. A shell company is an incorporated company that possesses no significant assets and does not perform any significant operations. To launder money, the shell company purports to perform some service that would reasonably require its customers to often pay with cash. Cash transactions increase the anonymity of customers and therefore decrease the...
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...The lesson we can derive from this case is that outsourcing is not just a wage difference between two places but skills and attitudes. Finally, there are a large number of US companies buying professional services from Asian countries. Clearly, skilled workers will be found and hired wherever they are. Countries, such as, India, Pakistan and China are good labor pools (Prahalad 2005.) It follows that multinational and global companies will find skilled labor overseas and start operations or buy services in foreign lands. Qua hay The influence of outsourcing should be recognized. Whirlpool, for instance, has a global network, supplies washing machines from Germany, and microwave ovens designed in Sweden that are and made in China while other appliances come from Brazil. Global companies develop first-rate centers of production and design in various countries. Countries that are abundant in human capital with a supplier base have a chance to become first-rate centers. Within this framework, designed to promote a global network, financing depends on corporate profits and funds owned by prospective partners. Du Pont, for instance, raises funds through joint ventures but retains corporate control by retaining at least 51% of the share. The importance of outsourcing and globalization is that some market imperfections are removed. When imperfections are removed, prices converge. This means that factor price differentials in...
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...Choose one global crime as a case study and critically evaluate the effectiveness of the transnational policing of this crime. This essay focuses on money laundering and argues the effectiveness of the transnational policing of this crime; money laundering is one of the world’s most prevailing organised crimes. This essay firstly defines policing from contrasting viewpoints of different philosophers as well as identifying modes of the police. I will explore the modes of policing and various definitions of policing; this essay considers definitions and approaches to policing through a transnational concept with influences from prominent figures within the ideology of transnational policing. The conventional process of money laundering is clarified together with implications of the how this global crime effects other crimes as well as society as a whole. Aided with two case studies I give examples of how money laundering takes place; taking into hindsight the effectiveness of the policing of money laundering. This essay also addresses the connection between money laundering and the risk society theory whilst also taking into consideration the contrasting views of domestic police modes and transnational police modes. Through addressing ways in which money laundering is combated through global organisations such as Interpol, I critically address significant notions of the policing of money laundering. Policing is typically understood as a method of crime control; however the...
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...Journal of International Business Studies (2009) 40, 901–925 & 2009 Academy of International Business All rights reserved 0047-2506 www.jibs.net Why are companies offshoring innovation? The emerging global race for talent Arie Y Lewin1, Silvia Massini2 and Carine Peeters3 The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, USA; 2Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; 3 Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Brussels, Belgium Correspondence: AY Lewin, The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, 1 Towerview Drive, Box 90120, Durham, NC 27708, USA. Tel: þ 1 919 660 7654; Fax: þ 1 919 660 7769 1 Abstract This paper empirically studies determinants of decision by companies to offshore innovation activities. It uses survey data from the international Offshoring Research Network project to estimate the impact of managerial intentionality, past experience, and environmental factors on the probability of offshoring innovation projects. The results show that the emerging shortage of highly skilled science and engineering talent in the US and, more generally, the need to access qualified personnel are important explanatory factors for offshoring innovation decisions. Moreover, contrary to drivers of many other functions, labor arbitrage is less important than other forms of cost savings. The paper concludes with a discussion of the changing dynamics underlying offshoring of innovation activities, suggesting that companies are...
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...Offshoring Impact on U.S. Software Engineers for Leadership and Organizational Behavior Thesis: In my workplace, we have been outsourcing some technical work to Mexico. It has been interesting the feedback we are getting from our programmers. Although we’re outsourcing only when the work exceeds our capacity, they’re rightly concern about their jobs; they are concern about offshoring. I would like to write a feasibility analysis of offshoring work for my class project. I would like to be specific to “offshoring impact to software engineers”. April 17, 2011 Contents Offshoring Impact on U.S. Software Engineers 1 Contents 2 1 Introduction 3 1.1 Definitions 3 1.2 Summary 3 2 Data Section 4 2.1 Offshoring from a political perspective 4 2.2 Offshoring from a business perspective 7 2.3 Offshoring from software engineers perspective 9 3 Conclusion 11 3.1 Summary of Findings 11 3.2 Recommendations 11 4 Appendices 13 4.1 2008 Projected Base Salary Increases 13 5 Bibliography 14 1 Introduction 1.1 Definitions According to United States Department of Labor, software engineers (job 15-1031) develop, create, and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. Analyze user needs and develop software solutions. Design software or customize software for client use with the aim of optimizing operational efficiency. May analyze and design databases within an application area, working individually or coordinating database...
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...employees work in the UK. * Main business * Global retailing * The business of GRCB contains the business of the UK retailing bank, commercial bank of Barclays Bank, credit card and international retailing of Barclays Bank.The business of credit card of Barclays Bank provides credit cards and the business of consuming loans,which could help retailers deal with the payment service and issue the credit card to corporate clients and UK government. * Banking management * The IBIM including the business of capital,global investment and wealth management. Barclays Investment is a global investment bank which provide solutions for clients of corporates, institutions and government in order to satisfy their needs of finance and risk management. Presides,Barclays...
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...outstanding tax havens in the Central America region. The offshore jurisdiction of Panama has a large client base with investors from all over the world. Panama has a booming financial services sector which provides superior services such as the incorporation of International Business Companies, offshore banking, the formation of Panama Foundations and Trusts, Panama insurance the registration of boats and vessels among other services. Tax haven Panama is a pure tax haven which offers a tax free environment to clients. Panama developed as an offshore tax haven by putting very strict legislation in place to regulate its offshore and financial sectors. The passing of modern and progressive legislature has made the Republic of Panama a very secure and stable offshore tax haven. Panama as a tax haven imposes no taxes on offshore business companies who engage in no business operations in the jurisdiction. One of the characteristics of Panama offshore legislation which puts the jurisdiction way above the competition is that offshore business companies are allowed to carry out is business operations both within and out of the offshore jurisdiction. Most offshore jurisdictions available in the world today prohibit International Business Companies (IBCs) from doing business in the country of incorporation. Panama offshore corporations who do no business in the jurisdiction will pay no corporate and income taxes or local taxes. Panama offshore companies pay no withholding tax, capital gains tax...
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