This is going to be one of those articles that I start with a disclaimer about how irresponsible you would be to take my word as gospel. I talk about complex subjects on a high level, sweeping manner. As always when discussing legal concepts across jurisdictions and even legal systems,…
A tax haven that has fallen from its previous prime and glory, Grenada today is a husk of what it once was: a free-for-all for tax evaders and money launderers. Grenada is a former French (1649 – 1763) and British (1763 – 1974) colony. The young nation started its independence…
What is AEOI? In very simple terms: jurisdiction sign the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) which dictate what information is to be shared and the MCAA (Mutual Competent Authority Agreement) which sets out the authority or authorities that will be responsible for handling the information. Ultimately, this leads to AEOI. Automatic…
Today, we return to the Americas and to one of my personal favourites: Uruguay. The instantly recognizable flag of Uruguay portrays the nine original (now 19) departments of the republic, and in the corner we find a Sol de Mayo (Sun of May), which represents the sun shining upon a…
There are a handful of organizations that we talk about a lot in this industry. In this article, I will talk a bit about what they do and how or why they matter. OECD FATF-GAFI APGML CFATF-GAFIC EAG ESAAMLG GABAC GAFILAT GIABA MENAFATF MONEYVAL Egmont Group OECD The Organisation for…
We are going to stay in the Middle East for a little bit longer to today take a look at Qatar, which has a land border with Saudi Arabia and is tucked between Bahrain and UAE (emirate of Abu Dhabi). Across the Persian Gulf is Iran. While it’s not a…
This will be a short one and on a topic that’s not in line with what I usually write about. Introduction With many international financial centers having a large Muslim population, the concept of Islamic banking has come up for many who have researched bank account opening in for example…
Because many readers will read the UAE posts individually, much of the content will be the same or very similar. Abu Dhabi is a subnational entity – an emirate – of the United Arab Emirates (or more commonly UAE). Together with Dubai, it is one of two emirates that have…
Because many readers will read the UAE posts individually, much of the content will be the same or very similar. Dubai is a subnational entity – an emirate – of the United Arab Emirates (or more commonly UAE). Together with Abu Dhabi, it is one of two emirates that have…
Ras al-Khaimah (or more commonly RAK) is a subnational entity – an emirate – of the United Arab Emirates (or more commonly UAE). The UAE is a federation of hereditary absolute monarchies called emirates, which are led by emirs. There is an overall government, led by president Sheikh Khalifa (whose…