Private Wealth Services News


This is the 9th edition of the Private Wealth Services European Tax Newsletter. As in previous editions, we’ll discuss new developments and upcoming amendments for taxes in connection with wealth management business in a number of jurisdictions.

Following a season of political and economical turbulence, the climate within the Euro-zone is to stabilise. Further to the efforts to rescue Greece last month, we see a slightly positive evolution of the market. However, in line with what was discussed in our December edition , there is still a push by governments towards further regulation and the growth of tax revenues.

This is a very exciting time and hope you will enjoy reading this newsletter and find it to be informative and useful.

 Private Wealth Services - European Tax Newsletter
  • Private Wealth Services - European Tax Newsletter
    (December 2011)
    The 8th edition of the Private Wealth Services European Tax Newsletter is dedicated to various changes and upcoming amendments in a number of tax jurisdictions, which will have an impact on the tax situations for the wealth management business.
    As we seem to be at another critical point of the financial crisis in the European Union, coined by the crisis of the Euro and a financial downturn in several countries, new regulation to better control the markets, ensure stability and transparency was to be expected. This comes along with the governments increased efforts to cut spending and increase tax revenues.
    December 2011

  • Private Wealth Services - European Tax Newsletter (October 2011)
    Please note that the Private banking European Tax Newsletter has been renamed to Private Wealth Services European Tax Newsletter in order to better reflect the content and the subjects adressed.
    The 7th edition of the Private Wealth Services European Tax Newsletter is dedicated to various changes and upcoming amendments in a number of tax jurisdictions, which will have an impact on the tax situations for wealth management business. We do not usually see so many legislative changes passed throughout the summer months. This year, however, we had to face a number of legislative developments, mostly related to the increased fiscal pressure.
    October 2011

Changes and news impacting Private Banking business are the dominant themes of this 6th edition of the Private Banking European Tax Newsletter.

For several months, changes to local tax legislations have led to an increase in the tax pressure in some countries. Parts of the tax amendments that are reported in this Newsletter still pursue that goal and are expected to contribute to reduce budget deficits. For example, the French finance bill includes several tax increases, like the introduction of an exit tax and the abolition of the tax "shield" system.

However, some countries have taken or intend to take tax measures to improve their tax climate and to attract foreign investors.

The European Union efforts for more harmonisation among European countries have resulted in positive changes in some EU jurisdictions like in Poland where discrimination against foreign - among others Luxembourg - investment funds have been reduced.

We hope you will enjoy reading this Newsletter and we wish you a very nice summer.

Please find below the fifth edition of our Private Banking European Tax Newsletter.

The beginning of a new calendar year is an opportunity to provide you with a summary of changes to local tax legislation. You will see that most articles in the newsletter focus on these legislative developments.

As many European countries currently suffer budget deficits, we see an unprecedented fiscal pressure on governments. This has resulted in an increase in tax rates in some jurisdictions, as you will notice while reading some of the articles.

We also provide you with news on administrative cooperation, exchange of information and the fight against tax evasion. However, we do not only observe increased tax rates and more severe sanctions imposed by tax authorities. Some countries report good news on more favourable tax regimes applicable as from 2011, e.g. Luxembourg, Italy.

We hope you will enjoy reading this Newsletter.

This year-end edition is dedicated to upcoming tax reforms in various European countries, which will be effective as from 2011. As in our previous editions, the trend towards more transparency and the fight against tax evasion is still high on the agenda. Yet we also see some negotiations aiming at a settlement of non declared income via a withholding tax at source but without relieving the banking secrecy. The outcome of these bilateral negotiations will probably only become concrete during the next months, but will be highly dependent on the EU Commission’s overall strategy.

We also see that based on recent developments in various European countries, such as Belgium, the Luxembourg investment vehicles are raising an increased interest from foreign investors.

As regards the Luxembourg private banking sector, the expected consolidation phase has not really started. The 2011 Luxembourg
M & A transactions are likely to relate to small and medium size wealth managers and banks.

We hope you will enjoy reading this Newsletter.

This third edition of our Private Banking European Tax Newsletter is dedicated to upcoming changes in various national tax jurisdictions, which will influence the tax situation and investment decisions of private clients.

We are also very pleased to provide you with some insight from Lebanon, which we believe could play the role of a gateway to the Middle East region. Lebanon is recognised as a centre of expertise for Private Banking and maintains strong links with European markets.

Tax transparency and the fight against tax evasion are still high on the agenda. Latest news on client reporting requirements and some national tax fraud investigations are provided in this regard.

We hope you will enjoy reading this Newsletter.