Recent News

European payment infrastructure company Mangopay has received an e-money license from the UK Financial Conduct Authority. With the new licence, Mangopay can issue electronic money, facilitate digital payments and provide payment solutions to new and existing UK customers. Payment system already has a very strong presence in Europe. The FCA license is critical to growth in the UK as the company expands its business. In March of this year, the company acquired Irish Paytech WhenThen to accelerate its expansion in Europe. And in April 2022, Mangopay acquired Advent...

A bill aimed at preventing abuse by shell companies for tax evasion was introduced in December 2021. We are talking about the EU Directive ATAD3 (the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive). The final adoption of this regulation was planned for July 2023. However, a number of EU member states oppose its current version. They could not reach a consensus regarding the criteria for presence or substance, the tax consequences of recognizing an organization as a shell, the obligations of companies to provide information reporting, and the list of information for exchange between EU states. During 2023, the text of the ATAD was periodically discussed in the EU Council. The European Parliament's proposed amendments to ATAD3 would extend the scope of the Directive to more...

Alert is intended for financial institutions that need to monitor export control risks. Among the risks, in particular, the following stand out: Purchases under a letter of credit that are transferred to the issuing bank rather than to the actual end user. Transactions involving entities with little or no online presence, including websites and emails. Customer does not provide or refuses to provide detailed information to banks, shippers or third parties, including information about end users, intended end use or company ownership. Transactions involving customers with telephone numbers whose codes do not correspond to the destination country. The Alert also reminds that all financial institutions that are required to file a SAR may also file a SAR regardless of the amount (if any) and regardless of whether the transaction has been completed or...

​Klarna is gearing up for an IPO ahead of its long-awaited initial public offering. The company started the process of restructuring the legal entity to create a holding company. This, she said, is "an important first step on the way to a possible IPO." The listing may take place in the first half of next year. However, Klarna may abandon the listing in London and turn to New York. The company's IPO could be worth between $15 billion and $30 billion, more than double the valuation it received in its last funding round in 2022, but well below the company's $46 billion valuation in 2021. The downgrade comes amid tough times for trailblazer BNPL, which has cut a tenth of its workforce and lost value amid a revaluation in the technology market. Since then, the company has shown signs of recovery, reporting net income for the third quarter this week. Particularly strong growth was observed in the USA, where the gross value of goods increased by 46% compared to the previous year. In addition, giant BNPL entered into a collective agreement with its Swedish workers to avoid a strike. The unions Unionen and Swedish Engineering have warned that their...

Solomon Islands offers a number of benefits to its citizens. Now it is possible for foreign investors to obtain a jurisdiction passport in a simplified manner. It is worth clarifying that we are not talking about a full-fledged program for obtaining citizenship by investment. In October 2023, parliamentarians approved changes and additions to the law “On Citizenship”. The new rules make it easier to obtain local citizenship for foreigners who maintain close ties with the host country and provide it with financial support through incentives for the employment of citizens and residents, the purchase of real estate or business investment. In addition to investment, applicants will have to maintain close ties with the host country for at least 5/10...

At its meeting in October, the European Central Bank (ECB) left interest rates unchanged. Last month it decided to raise the deposit rate to a record 4%. The most intense cycle of interest rate hikes since 1999 was paused at this level amid growing fears of a recession in the eurozone economy. The rate on main refinancing operations, which provides the bulk of the liquidity of the banking system, remained at 4.5%, and the marginal rate on loans providing overnight credit to banks remained at 4.75%. In its statement, the ECB confirmed that keeping borrowing costs at this level for quite some time would make a “significant contribution” to returning inflation to its 2%...

In September, Latvia adopted a Law that introduces the obligation to submit public reporting by country (CbC). Thus, the country's domestic legislation will comply with the current European Union Directive 2021/2101. The law determines the procedure for preparing, submitting and publishing reports of international groups of companies. The subjects of the law are commercial companies and business entities registered in the Republic of Latvia, if they meet the established criteria and conditions. The report must include the name of the reporting parent, the reporting year, the currency used to prepare the report, information about all subsidiaries of the multinational corporation's parent included in the consolidated financial statements for the reporting years and established or registered in the European Union or tax jurisdictions, who do not cooperate in the field of...

The report was published by Tax Observatory. On average, companies registered in Ireland pay corporation tax at a rate of 7%. This is much lower than the declared effective income tax rate of 12.5%. That is why the country was called a tax haven. 58% of corporate tax revenue is paid by companies that use Ireland for tax optimization. Irish households had more than $120 billion in stocks, bonds, mutual funds and bank deposits stashed away in offshore tax havens, a study found. This represents approximately a fifth of Ireland's GDP in...

The country's government introduced a new draft law in October that could change the current special tax regime for recently moved people - the so-called Lavoratori Impatriati. Now, in accordance with this regime, both Italians who returned to the country and foreigners who moved here for permanent residence can pay taxes for five years (or ten if they have children) only on part of their income (from 10% to 30% depending on region) if they have previously spent two years outside Italy. Under the new proposal, taxes would be levied on 50% of income in any region of the country. And the preferential regime will apply to those who spent three years outside Italy, and the period during which one cannot leave Italy, so that taxes are not recalculated at the standard rate, has been increased from two years to five. Having children will no longer help extend the grace period - it will be no more than five years in any case. In addition, if you have an income of more than €600,000, the preferential treatment will not apply. The bill is actively criticized within the country, mainly because the preferential treatment was originally aimed at attracting qualified Italians who left...