“Commercial Awareness Is Global.”
By: Ainsley Brown It is unquestionable that litigation is big business for lawyers, especially in complex commercial matters. The billable hours that can be racked up can be astonishing – and unlike popular belief is not largely due to an over inflation in the billing procedures of lawyers, though no doubt this can be an issue for some at times
By: Ainsley Brown The African Development Bank (AfDB) has engineered a legal support wing charged with the responsibility of evening out the imbalance in legal expertise that many African nations face when negotiating complex commercial transactions. It will also serve as a necessary firewall for these nations by providing top notch legal advocacy when facing litigation, especially from vulture funds.
By: Ainsley Brown UBS, the world´s largest wealth manager, has found itself embroiled in a diplomatic row between Washington and Bern. At issue is the interpretation of the current US-Swiss double taxation treaty and at stake is the newly inked, yet to be ratified, revised US-Swiss double taxation treaty. Does the future of the revised US-Swiss double taxation treaty depend
By: Ainsley Brown The world economic down turn has had many knock on effects, many of which unexpected. It seems that bad times has the uncanny effect of making the once unthinkable, unsayable and undoable all very much possible. The Swiss banking model can be best characterized with one word: Secrecy. This don’t ask don’t tell attitude is more than
By: Ainsley Brown As the popular Jamie Fox song goes: Blame It On The Alcohol. Well no says the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the UK financial sector watchdog, as it handed down a ban on a trader for “a lack of honesty and integrity.” Apparently the FSA frowns on making $10 million dollar trades and concealing it from superiors and
By: Ainsley Brown The House of Lords, with its Judicial Council of the Privy Council hat on, as Jamaica´s court of final appeal, handed down a judgment that is set to have repercussions well beyond the interests of the parties involved. In fact the consequences of his judgment go beyond just banking or investing but engages commercial dispute resolution, specifically
By: Ainsley Brown Switzerland´s second largest bank, Credit Suisse, in a sign of generosity – oh sorry, let me re-phrase that – in a sign of commercial awareness and good customer relations, has decided to compensate clients who suffered losses as a result of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. It is the first investment bank to put forward such a
By: Ainsley Brown The US securities regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has extended its long arm yet again. This time it was as a part of an operation to locate and then freeze the personal and company assets of Sir Allen Stanford and his Stanford International Bank (SIB). Mr. Stanford – oh sorry I should say Sir Allen
By: Ainsley Brown I must say that I consider myself a relatively intelligent person – though admittedly not an economic guy – I believe myself able to grasp practically any concept once explained. And the Obama toxic asset plan, I just don’t get it. Please do not read this as either a general criticism of the President or the specific
By: Ainsley Brown The between tax evasion and legitimate tax planning is a fine one indeed. This line is now set to get even thinner. How? Before I get into the specifics of this a little background is in order. The issues of cross-border taxation are as old as commerce itself, as are the issues of tax evasion and tax