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Gaming business in Sweden

Published: 18.06.2018 | blog

Tags:

#Legislation #Taxes

The Government of Sweden has decided to review its policy on gaming by adopting a bill on the legal regulation of gaming, the entry into force of which is planned for January 1, 2019. The bill was supported by over 90% of the present members of Swedish Parliament. The only political force that voted against was the Left Party (ex-Communists). Nevertheless, it did not affect the final result. The result of the adoption of this bill was the transition of Sweden to a regulated market of gaming both online and offline. The new rules provide for changes in tax rates, increased requirements for operators and introduction of a licensing system in the country. The history of the development of gaming business in Sweden is very interesting. The control over gaming has been carried out and is carried out by the only state company Svenska Spel. The state owns all the rights to open and regulate the gaming business, private companies in Sweden are forbidden to make gaming business. The company Svenska Spel regulates the market of lotteries, poker, bingo, as well as the market of land casinos, which belong to its subsidiary company Casino Cosmopol AB. Initially, it was planned to open six...

Analysis of exchange of tax information and investment in exchange for citizenship, taking into account the first results of the discussion organized by the OECD

Published: 24.05.2018 | blog

Tags:

#Asset Management #Citizenship #Confidentiality #De-offshorization #Double taxation #Financial statements #Investments #Legislation #Offshore accounts #Offshore schemes #Offshores #Residence Permit #Tax planning #Tax reporting #Taxation OECD

Back in the first quarter of 2018, namely on February 19, 2018, a draft of advisory document was published on the official website of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which called on all interested parties to join the discussion on the OECD strategy for combating the loopholes on using the Common Reporting Standard (CRS, Single standard of tax information exchange) in the “citizenship by the investment” (CBI - granting citizenship in exchange for investments) and “residence by the investment” (RBI - granting a residence permit in exchange for investments). To date, more than 70 jurisdictions in the world offer these schemes. On April 17, 2018, a 96-page document was published on the OECD website (PUBLIC INPUT RECEIVED ON MISUSE OF RESIDENCE BY INVESTMENT SCHEMES TO CIRCUMVENT THE COMMON REPORTING STANDARD), which, in fact, summarized the first results of the discussion and the contents of the official letters to the organization. More than 20 structures were the speakers, including: AFME office in London (Association of Financial Markets in Europe, it brings together the largest agents in the capital markets in the region); Italian...

The Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive Has Been Adopted

Published: 17.05.2018 | blog

Tags:

#Confidentiality #Corporate law #Law and the corporate m&a #Legislation

After the approval of the agreed text by the Parliament on April 19, 2018, the European Council adopted a Directive on 14 May, 2018, regulating the European rules aimed at preventing money laundering and terrorism funding. These rules are the fifth in a series and the latest update of the European Anti-Money Laundering Directive, for which they have received the name 5AMLD. 5AMLD is aimed at improving the security in Europe by stopping the financing of criminal activities without preventing the normal functioning of payment systems. It is partly a response to the terrorist attacks in Europe in 2016 and introduces such major changes into the directive 2015/849: verification of the client for virtual currencies; public access to information about the real owners of companies; strengthening of transaction checks with the participation of third countries with a high level of risk; cooperation between financial intelligence units; reduction of the threshold for identification of owners of prepaid cards from 250 to 150 Euro; extension of the Directive to all tax advisers, agents, dealers, as well as suppliers of electronic wallets and cryptocurrency service...

The EU Financial Market after Changes in Legislation: Will It Become More Transparent and Stable?

Published: 28.04.2018 | blog

Tags:

#Funds #Legislation

The newspaper “Journal du Dimanche” previously published information about the intentions of the French President Francois Hollande to hold a meeting with the leaders of Germany, Spain and Italy on March 6 in Versailles, dedicated to the future of the European Union. This mini-summit, among other things, should have to demonstrate the unity of the leaders of the four major European powers of the euro zone in the face of the many threats and crises that the EU is currently facing. The agenda also included the study of the issues “related to ensuring the strengthening of the development of the European Union”. On March 6, the government supported the changes to the Law on the Financial Instruments Market, the Law on Alternative Investment Funds and their Managers, as well as the Audit Services Act. What is the ultimate goal of these changes? They should make the EU financial market more transparent and stable, reduce systematic risks, protect depositors, and ensure the effectiveness of financial markets and reduce the costs of their participants. The changes in the laws have been designed to adopt the Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on the markets of...

Reforming VAT Rules for Online Sales in the EU

Published: 02.03.2018 | blog

Tags:

#Legislation #VAT

On December 5, 2017, the European Council adopted amendments to the legislation regulating VAT rules for online sales of goods and services in Europe, developed by the European Commission a year ago. These legislative changes were adopted within the framework of the strategy of “single digital market” and aimed at simplification of the payment of VAT on purchases of goods and services on the Internet by the European consumers. The changes assume: simplification of the current Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS) mode for cross-border telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services transition to taxation at the place of destination (location of the recipient) and simplified reporting through MOSS for remote sales of goods introduction of an obligation to pay VAT for electronic interfaces (for example, platforms) that facilitates the delivery of low-value goods imported or sold in the EU by the suppliers from outside the EU Since the new legislation consists of a two-tiered package of measures, it comes into force in two phases: in 2019 and 2021. From 2019, the changes will touch the MOSS system. There is an exception that allows micro-enterprises of the EU to pay for the...

European VAT on Provision of Electronic, Telecommunications Services, as well as Television and Radio Broadcasting Services

Published: 19.02.2018 | blog

Tags:

#Legislation #VAT

The format and methods of delivery of many goods refer them to the category of services, especially if they are transmitted over the Internet, such as e-books, music downloads, streaming of content. The regime of VAT for this particular subcategory of services provided electronically has undergone significant changes lately. In this blog, we will consider the requirements of the current European legislation, and we will try to cover the coming changes in this area in the next ones. In accordance with the European legislation, came into effect from January 1, 2015, telecommunications, television and radio broadcasting, as well as electronic services, are subject to VAT at the location of the client, whether it is a business or a consumer, located in or outside the EU . However, in order to ensure the correct taxation of these services, the supplier needs to determine the status of his client (whether he is a VAT payer), as well as his location. The easiest and most reliable way to define whether a customer is a business or a consumer is to ask him for a VAT number. Suppliers can check the VAT numbers of their customers using the website of the VAT Information Exchange System...

European Regulatory Authorities Publish ICO Hazard Notifications

Published: 29.11.2017 | blog

Tags:

#Bitcoin #Investments #Legislation

ICO (Initial coin offering) is a form of attracting investments in the form of selling a fixed number of new units of cryptocurrency, received with a single or accelerated emission. In the middle of November, the European financial regulators, including ESMA (the European Securities and Markets Authority), the Belgian FSMA (the Financial Services and Markets Authority) and the Dutch AFM (the Authority for the Financial Markets), issued warnings about risks for the investors and rules applicable to the companies participating in the ICO. The market of so-called cryptocurrencies has heated up. The approximate total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies has increased from $ 18 billion in early 2017 to staggering $ 200 billion by the time of writing this article. Needless to say, some people were worried about this hype, and not only the European financial regulators. ICO is the key concept of cryptocurrency as a type of “crowdsale” (“crowd” and “sale”) where the project developers offer a new type of cryptocurrency (also called “token” or “coin”) using the distributed ledger technology. Cryptocurrency can acquire various characteristics based on the...

New EU Directive to Resolve Double Taxation Disputes Has Been Adopted

Published: 09.11.2017 | blog

Tags:

#Double taxation #Legislation #Tax disputes #Tax planning Transfer pricing

The existing European mechanisms for arbitration resolution of tax disputes on double taxation, prescribed in tax agreements and in accordance with the EU Arbitration Convention, do not always result in effective resolution of tax disputes. The recent monitoring carried out by the Council of the European Union revealed certain shortcomings, especially in relation to accessibility of dispute resolution mechanisms, as well as the length and effective conclusion of the procedure. According to the European Commission, the estimated figure of tax disputes on double taxation in the EU is about 900, with approximately 10.5 billion euros at stake. In this regard, on October 10 this year, the EU Council approved the Directive to resolve tax disputes (hereinafter - the Directive). The directive is aimed at changing the current situation, when the scope for mandatory arbitration in dispute resolution is limited to the issues of transfer pricing adjustments and the profit distribution of related persons. Thus, legal persons and natural persons will be able to resolve all disputes related to the interpretation and application of agreements that provide for the elimination of double taxation...

Legal Regulation of Blockchain

Published: 07.11.2017 | blog

Tags:

#Bitcoin #Blockchain #Legislation #United Kingdom #USA

Legal regulation of blockchain. Latest changes and prospects for the development of legislation Blockchain Technology is a developing technology on which basis new applications in the field of finance appear daily. Regulators of some countries have already reported their intentions to study the use of blockchain technology, which is also called distributed ledger technology (DLT). The new technology is potentially attractive to the regulators because of the increased level of transaction security and risk reduction of manipulation, but, at the same time, it creates complex legal problems that regulators are trying to understand and resolve. In this article, we will try to make a brief analysis of the approach of regulatory authorities to blockchain technology. Regulation in the USA The regulators in the USA are seriously monitoring the development of blockchain and other DLT (as well as cryptocurrency, in circulation on the basis of such registers). Some express concern about their impact on financial stability and market integrity. At the same time, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is actively exploring the potential possibilities of the use of blockchain and...

Gambling Reform in Malta

Published: 27.10.2017 | blog

Tags:

#Bitcoin #Investments #Legislation #Malta #Online gambling

After conducting a series of consultations with the public and interested persons, technical studies and assessments of the financial and economic consequences, the Government of Malta intends to carry out a full reform of the current legislative framework regulating gaming activities. The proposed reform implies the abolition of all current legislation regulating gaming, and the introduction of a single law - the Gaming Act. The law will enable the competent minister to publish the rules and also give authority to the relevant regulatory body (Malta Gaming Authority - hereinafter “MGA”) to publish the Directives and other regulations if necessary, thereby ensuring timely and flexible interventions, especially with regard to technical specifications and processes. Within the framework of optimizing the supervision and modernization of the existing gaming infrastructure, the main state priority in the gambling sphere will be the flexibility of the regulator in the decision-making process and the reduction of the unnecessary regulatory burden, as well as the simultaneous strengthening of supervision in the spheres of the highest risk. One of the main changes in the course...

Lawyer's Blogs by tag #Legislation