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So a guy in the U.S. goes onto 60 Minutes last weekend, to help promote his book on High Frequency Trading (HFT) and all hell breaks out. In Trinidad, The Chief Risk Officer of a local bank allegedly uses insider info to profit from an IPO. On the surface, these events seem disconnected but in […]
High Frequency Trading and Ethics Read More »
Monday night I attended the launch of the Singaporean branch of the International Business Structuring Association. I decided to join as the opportunity to learn and network seems very attractive. In the networking session after the formal presentation, I was chatting with 2 guys who strongly recommended that I watch Rogue Trader. Fortunately I managed
So the much anticipated budget has come and gone. For me, the only bit that stood out was pension reform. A politically astute move – but we expect nothing less from the present Chancellor. The real billion pound question however, is whether this makes economic sense? Perusing the Money Marketing site, they reported that Insurers’ share
In the thick of U.S. / Singaporean tax season, Accountants like myself can be forgiven for not paying attention to the daily news. The only story that I cannot seem to ignore is the situation in Ukraine. On the surface, I can understand the concern about the potentially disastrous economic consequences – 1. The EU
Stand off in the Ukraine Read More »
Eritrea? Where is that? Eritrea is a small, former Italian colony in North East Africa that emerged from its long war of independence in 1993 only to plunge once again into military conflict, first with Yemen and then, more devastatingly, with its old adversary, Ethiopia. Today, a fragile peace prevails and Eritrea faces the gigantic
The United States and Eritrea Read More »
I don’t think I can count the number of times an American expat has explained their situation and then asked the question – “what’s the chance of theIRS finding out?” Everyone wants to know the chance of getting audited. There’s a great article in Forbes dated March 3rd. called “Scariest Tax Form? Skip It, And
The Scariest U.S. Tax Form EVER!!!! Read More »
FBAR stands for Foreign Bank Account Report. It must be filed by “U.S. persons” if the person has an interest in, or signatory authority over a foreign financial account, and the aggregate value of those accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. An FBAR is authorized pursuant to Title 31 of the
Don’t Forget those FBARs (aka FinCEN 114) Read More »
Stumbled across an interesting chart in the McKinsey Quarterly. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from North America are now among the world’s low-cost gas producers, thanks to recent advances in recovering shale gas. They now compete mostly with projects in Africa, Australia, and Russia. The article didn’t mention Trinidad (given it’s a relatively small player
Looming Threat to LNG Exporters like Trinidad Read More »
In 2012 Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin gave up his US citizenship (known as Expatriation) and now resides here in Singapore. Since then, more attention has been paid to the Federal Register of Americans who give up their citizenship. In 2013, about 3,000 Americans handed back their U.S. passports or green cards to end their citizenship
Americans are giving up their Passports and Green Cards Read More »
Interesting reading on Singapore from the Swissinfo website. I guess the Swiss are looking for company and are seeking to pull Singapore into their spotlight. http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/Tax_evasion_controversy_shifts_east.html?cid=37871674 Having taken over the mantle of the world’s fastest growing wealth management magnet from Switzerland, Singapore should now take centre stage in bringing the industry out of the shadows,