Recent News

On January 1, amendments to the Corporate Transparency Act will come into force in the United States. The law should strengthen the liability of lawyers, accountants and other corporate service providers who assist individuals in laundering funds. In 2014, an investigator posing as a representative of a corrupt foreign government met with 16 Manhattan lawyers to help move millions in suspicious money to the United States. All but one of them essentially provided a roadmap for money laundering through shell corporations. There were no regulations that explicitly required lawyers or other corporate service providers to comply with KYC. The new legislation changes this situation. Under the Corporate Transparency Act, consultants providing legal entity formation services in the United States must report themselves to the government as “corporate applicants.” This means that corporate service providers will be forever linked in the federal database with the founders of such organizations. Violation of the requirements of the law in some cases may result in liability in the form of imprisonment for up to two...

Revolut said it will no longer provide cryptocurrency services to UK corporate business clients in 2024. The statement said that this measure is being introduced in connection with new requirements established by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This break in serving Revolut Business UK customers will enable the company to more easily adapt to the updated FCA rules. “This measure aims to improve the customer experience and provide additional protection for new and existing Revolut Business investors. We will have to adjust our current business cryptocurrency offering to ensure compliance with any new FCA requirements in the future,” the company said. The restrictions do not apply to private investors, who will continue to be able to store or sell crypto...

One of the tasks of the future division will be to reduce tax benefits in Portugal. Source:https://www.publico.pt/2023/12/07/economia/noticia/governo-lanca-unidade-tecnica-monitorizar-beneficios-fiscais-2072897 The structure is called the Technical Unit for Tax and Customs Assessment (U-TAX), whose mission is to “ensure the assessment of tax policies and in particular tax incentives,” the Council of Ministers said in a statement. Portugal has more than 500 tax breaks, the value of which, calculated as the tax expenditure incurred by the government from lost revenue, is around 17,300 million euros, according to the government's latest tax expenditure report for 2022. One of the tasks the new division will be responsible for will be evaluating incentives to reduce costs associated with tax...

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...