Recent News

The Turkish authorities have made significant changes to the rules for obtaining citizenship through the purchase of real estate. We are talking about tightening conditions for foreign investors. In accordance with the new rules, it is no longer possible to obtain a “golden passport” through the acquisition of land plots without development. The changes were approved by Resolution No. 7938, which was signed by the President. It is worth noting that the minimum cost of investment in real estate to obtain citizenship has not changed - 400 thousand US dollars. It is possible that it will become higher in 2024. But the most important change is, of course, investments in areas with already constructed...

Cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com has received an electronic money creation (EMI) license from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). An EMI license allows companies to issue and manage electronic money and expands the range of financial services. Thanks to the license, the company plans to issue electronic money adapted for the UK market in accordance with the standards set by the FCA for consumer protection. The crypto exchange, founded in 2016, previously received a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license in Dubai. The company now serves more than 80 million customers, allowing them to buy and sell cryptocurrency through the exchange, as well as purchase cryptocurrency products and services using...

Dubai Unified License is a unique commercial identifier provided to all businesses in Dubai to achieve a streamlined approach to various business processes. The DUL initiative, issued to existing new businesses in Dubai operating with either a mainland license or a free zone license, introduces a single digital ledger. Created in collaboration with the Dubai Free Zones Council, the registry brings together all of Dubai's economic institutions and free zones into a single platform for managing, collating and sharing data, serving as a trusted single source of digital information. DUL is designed to simplify the process of setting up and operating businesses in Dubai, reducing the time it takes companies to set up and manage their operations, and improve efficiency. The founders of DUL believe that it will be able to attract more foreign investors and create a hassle-free business environment in...

Already in mid-December, at a meeting in Strasbourg, the fate of Montenegro regarding inclusion in the FATF “gray list” will be discussed. If the country makes the list, it will join Syria, Yemen, Mali, Nigeria and Burkina Faso. This entails increased supervision by the FATF. Montenegro may become the second EU country on the “grey list”. Recently, the Government of Montenegro approved innovations in the field of preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. The Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe must make a decision and it may influence the FATF's conclusion. The inclusion of Montenegro in the "grey list" may lead to a decrease in the credit rating, a slowdown in the implementation of foreign investments and a decrease in confidence in the...

We are talking about Charter No. 7887, which makes changes to the requirements for the authorized capital of LLCs and JSCs. Thus, from January 1, 2024, the minimum authorized capital will increase 5 times. What will be the minimum amounts? For a joint-stock company the sum will be $8,700, for a limited liability company - $1,730, for non-public joint-stock companies - $17,400. This decision was made to improve the efficiency of business development in Turkey and stimulate the financial sustainability of companies. But still, it can have both positive and negative...

The EU is negotiating new anti-money laundering laws. Potentially, we can talk about a ban on large cash payments and citizenship by investment. The new rules must be laid down in the Directive. It will affect all EU members. The peculiarity of the Directive is that it is easy to comply with and more effective in combating cross-border flows. It is also planned to prohibit the use of cash for large transactions, such as the purchase of real estate. One of the main topics of discussion was obtaining citizenship by investment, since “golden visas” can be a breeding ground for money...

Back in February 2021, Saudi Arabia announced plans to stop awarding government contracts to companies whose regional headquarters are not located in the Kingdom as of January 1, 2024, barring some exceptions. Source:https://www.khaleejtimes.com/hi/business/saudi-arabia-offers-30-year-tax-break-for-companies-moving-regional-hqs-to-riyadh The Saudi program aims to attract international companies to establish regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia. Thus, it plans to make the Kingdom the first choice for companies in the Middle East and North Africa region, with benefits and unique support conditions. This is a joint initiative between the Ministry of Investment and the Royal Commission of Riyadh. Saudi Arabia's Minister of Investment, Khaled Al-Falih, said the program has attracted 200 foreign companies so far. And state news agency SPA announced that the package of tax incentives for regional headquarters includes a 0% corporate income tax rate and a 0% withholding tax rate on income from the approved activities of these companies for 30...

The country's government has adopted a rule designed to oblige every taxpayer to report in a declaration on the location and property of offshore companies. This is designed to improve honesty in income reporting and to toughen the fight against tax evasion. The bill was proposed by the Portuguese Tax and Customs Administration. It was approved during the adoption of amendments to the 2024 budget. Thus, taxpayers will be required to show all income sources when filing an IRS Model 3 return. It is mandatory to provide information on personal income taxes that exceed €500 and also on all other assets. The service believes that they do not receive enough information about the property and financial condition of the taxpayer, and the bill will help correct this. Reports are submitted from April 1 to June...

Swift has already connected domestic payment systems across Europe to provide full transparency and end-to-end tracking of instant cross-border transfers destined for the EU. The European Payments Board's One-Leg-Out Instant Credit Transfer (OCT Inst) scheme was launched this week. It enables you to process payments to and from Europe 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The launch of the system follows a successful proof of concept earlier this year, during which Swift partnered with European payment system Iberpay, Spanish banks BBVA, CaixaBank and Santander, commercial banks from Australia (ANZ and National Australia Bank), Brazil (Itaú Unibanco) and the Great of Britain (Lloyds Banking Group). Dozens of international payments have been successfully delivered to Spanish accounts within seconds. Financial institutions see OCT Inst as an opportunity to take advantage of domestic instant payment systems on a global scale. "Interoperability is at the heart of everything we do at Swift to deliver our strategy of frictionless instant payments for all, and will be key to achieving the G20's cross-border payments goals," said Marianne Demarchi, CEO of Swift Europe. - EPC's OCT...