Recent News

Revolut will offer its European clients the ability to trade government and corporate bonds by early next year. The company is trying to make the multi-trillion dollar industry more accessible to retailers in the region. Source:https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/revolut-to-make-bond-trading-accessible-for-european-clients-20231120?mod=homepage The market is estimated to be over €120 trillion. The market was difficult for retail investors to access, especially outside their own home markets. Revolut plans to lower the minimum investment level for customers to €100. "We continue to make the investment space more accessible for everyone," said Rolandas Juteika, CEO of Revolut Securities Europe. The expansion into fixed income share trading comes just months after Revolut offered trading in select European shares, including fractional trading, extended trading hours for US shares and introduced a new Trading Pro subscription...

Commerzbank AG became the first bank to receive a license to store cryptocurrency in Germany. The purchase of a cryptocurrency license from Germany's financial markets regulator BaFin is notable given the regulatory caution in the industry. Commerzbank plans to use the license to create a secure depository platform for digital assets. The bank sees this achievement as a significant step, emphasizing its commitment to the integration of advanced technologies and innovations. In an official press release, representatives of Commerzbank AG emphasized that the license is the main element of customer support in the field of digital...

Last week, the European Union published a valuable document containing a list of senior public functions in EU member states and institutions. This publication is an important resource for identifying PEPs in the EU. It describes public positions in detail. This is key to PEP work, as understanding who the public person is helps in monitoring transactions and activities that may pose increased risks of money laundering, sanctions evasion and other financial crimes. Key aspects: detailed lists of public positions in EU member states, information on public positions in EU institutions, explanations of what constitutes a “Public Person” in various...

In October, the Italian Parliament passed Law No. 136. The provisions of the law affect the rules for applying the tax on windfall income. The document came into force on October 10. According to Article 26(1) of the Law, taxable persons are Italian banks and Italian branches of foreign banking institutions licensed to carry out banking activities in the Republic, as defined in Article 1 of the Consolidated Banking and Credit Law. Other financial intermediaries (such as asset management companies or brokerage firms) will not be liable for taxes on excess profits. Windfall tax will not be deducted from Italian direct taxes, including corporate income tax (IRES) and regional corporate tax (IRAP). The upper limit is 0.26% of total assets. As an alternative to paying the windfall tax, banks may choose to defer an amount equal to or greater than 2.5 times the windfall tax to the retained earnings reserve instead of paying the tax in...

Starting in 2027, 48 countries have agreed to introduce a new tax transparency standard to eliminate tax evasion associated with cryptocurrency. The agreement integrates the OECD's CARF crypto asset reporting system into the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), an information standard for the automatic exchange of financial account data between tax authorities. Countries intend to transpose CARF into domestic legislation and activate sharing agreements in time for data sharing to begin, in accordance with national legislative procedures. The list of jurisdictions committed to implementing CARF in accordance with the joint statement includes: Armenia, Australia, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Bulgaria, United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Canada , Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, USA, Finland, France, Croatia, Switzerland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Chile, Japan, South Africa, South Korea , Estonia; Crown dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man; and the overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Cayman...

N26 is Europe's leading digital bank with a German banking license. N26 mobile banking based on the latest technologies. It makes money management easier, safer and more convenient for customers. Recently, N26 announced the end of the testing phase in Brazil, as well as the closure of the market. N26's strategy is aimed at focusing on key European markets and further strengthening its position as Europe's leading digital bank. Early versions of the Brazilian product N26 have been tested among select customers in Brazil via a waiting list since November 2021, but have not been released to the general public. N26 must close all accounts in Brazil within the next two months. Employees based in Brazil will be given the opportunity to apply for open positions in N26's European offices to accelerate the development of N26's European business in the...

Carousel fraud is illegal VAT transactions. Related companies use intra-EU cross-border trade to illegally make VAT refund claims to the government. Now the Luxembourg government has decided to submit a bill to parliament amending the law of February 12, 1979. The purpose of the bill is to expand the range of transactions covered by the reverse charge mechanism. Therefore, from 1 January 2024, taxable persons purchasing the following goods will be subject to VAT in Luxembourg. The list includes supplies of mobile phones, tablet computers, laptops, game consoles, integrated circuits, raw metals or semi-finished products defined in Appendix F by their nomenclature code. Tax is payable by the taxpayer making supplies of the goods mentioned above if the remuneration within the meaning of Article 29 of the VAT Code corresponding to those supplies, invoiced in accordance with Article 63, does not exceed €10,000 excluding...

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...