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The first package of austerity measures was voted by the House of Representatives on August 26 2011. The measures intend to assist Cyprus in reducing expenditure while increasing revenue and at the same time maintaining Cyprus's reputation as a stable and competitive financial centre. The changes entail amendments to various laws, including amendments to the immovable property tax whereas a second and most likely a third package of further financial changes is expected in subsequent months.

Type of Deal Value Acquirer Target Adviser to acquirer (tax) Adviser to target (tax) Acquisition Undisclosed Corporation Service Company (CSC) MLM Information Services Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom - Moshe Kushman Willkie Farr & Gallagher Investment Undisclosed Tencent Holdings Limited Kaixin001 Conyers Dill & Pearman; Han Kun Law Offices Davis Polk & Wardwell - John Paton, Adam Perry Type of Deal Value Issuer/Borrower Lead managers/arrangers Adviser to issuer/borrower (tax) Adviser to lead managers (tax) SEC-registered offering $2 billion Royal Bank of Canada RBC Capital Markets; Goldman, Sachs & Co Sullivan & Cromwell; Norton Rose Davis Polk & Wardwell - Michael Farber, Arie Rubenstein Public notes offering $1.85 billion IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) Barclays Capital; BNP Paribas; Citigroup; JP Morgan Davis Polk & Wardwell - Michael Mollerus, Ethan Goldman Notes offering $1.15 billion Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile (CODELCO) HSBC Securities; Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Carey y Cia Ltda Philippi, Yrarrazaval, Pulido & Brunner Abogados; Davis Polk & Wardwell - Michael Mollerus, Kerry Price SEC-registered follow-on public offering $1 billion Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc JP Morgan; Morgan Stanley; Citigroup; BofA Merrill Lynch; Itau BBA; Credit Suisse Davis Polk & Wardwell - Rachel Kleinberg, Yuliya Epifantseva Millbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy; Walkers SEC-registered notes offering $600 million CSX Corporation Citigroup Global Markets; Morgan Stanley & Co Davis Polk & Wardwell - Po Sit, Jason Chlipala Shearman & Sterling

The effects of the economic recession felt in a particularly strong way in certain EU member states have resulted in migration of many foreign companies to Bulgaria. Being one of the countries in the EU with the lowest (10%) corporate tax rate, Bulgaria offers stable economic environment, as well as simple and cost-effective procedure for accommodating businessmen searching for tax optimisation of their investments.

The French government has announced that companies with revenue over €250 million ($344 million) will be hit with an additional corporate tax equal to 5% of their assessed tax, for the fiscal years 2011 and 2012.

Type of Agreement Country Country Date Signed Tax information exchange agreement India Jersey November 4 2011

Closer scrutiny of the settlement of tax disputes with large taxpayers is on the way in the UK after Dave Hartnett, the permanent secretary for tax at HM Revenue & Customs, made proposals yesterday for how the authorities should deal with such arrangements in the future.

Mark Mendola has been named as PwC’s US tax leader, and as a vice chairman of the firm. He succeeds J Richard Stamm, who is named vice chairman, tax, for the PwC network.

Many jurisdictions have systems in place to tax multiple companies together as if they were a singular taxable unit. But how do approaches to group taxation vary in different parts of the world?

The global trends section of the programme presented by the IBA Taxes Committee in Dubai last week explored emerging trends in investment structures for India, Russia, Cyprus, Singapore and China, and examined the similarities and differences that can be found in these high-growth jurisdictions.

Recent guidance has been released, in the form of Circular No. 19/2011/TT-NHNN, specifying the process by which Vietnamese entities may issue international bonds, and the foreign exchange requirements arising from such issues. Corporate income tax and foreign contractor tax issues may arise as a result of international bonds issuances and more robust rules in this area may allow for new planning opportunities.