Search results for

Ernst & Young used five law firms around the world in the sale of its global management consulting group to Cap Gemini. The sale still has to be approved by Ernst & Young partners, requiring a qualified majority of all partners and at least 75% of the management consulting group's partners to give their consent. The results should be known in April.

Global Crossing, the Bermuda telecommunications company, is to acquire IPC Communications and IXnet, both of whom provide networks for the financial community.

European finance ministers have agreed to discuss proposals for an air fuel tax on commercial aircraft. An ECOFIN (European Economic and Financial Affairs) council meeting on March 14 listened to European Commission (EC) plans for the tax, which would levy anything from 10-245 euros per 1000 litres of aviation fuel.

The UK does not have a single thin capitalization code, but recent additions to the tax rules significantly change the regime. David Hughes of Allen & Overy, London evaluates the three techniques used by the UK to combat thin capitalization

The Swedish government has proposed that the parliament accepts certain changes to the tax treaty between Sweden and the People's Republic of China.

Advance ruling

Despite widely expected changes, the financial secretary, Donald Tsang Yam-Kuen, made no significant changes to Hong Kong's tax regime. Only three measures were announced: a reduction in the stamp duty on stock transactions (from 0.25% to 0.225%), an extension of the diesel duty concessionary rate, and an extension of exemptions for electronic vehicles.

Proposals in the UK budget look like transforming the UK from one of the friendliest tax regimes for overseas investment to one of the least favourable of all major investor countries. By Bill Dodwell, Arthur Andersen, London

Hubertus AG was a Swiss corporation with no activity in France. However, it owned 90% of the shares in a French SCI – a real estate partnership – which had realized a capital gain on the sale of a property on the French Riviera.

On February 28, Canada's finance minister, Paul Martin, presented his year 2000 federal budget message. A balanced budget was put forward that also proposed the first personal tax rate cuts in 12 years. Capital gains taxation was relaxed by reducing the taxable income inclusion rate from the current three-quarters, to two-thirds inclusion. The attractiveness of employee stock options was enhanced through deferring taxation of qualifying options until share disposition, as opposed to the historical taxation on option exercise.