Tax, trust and legal

1. International Amnesties

   There can be few people who have not, in extremis, reached into the recesses of a sofa or rifled through their wardrobe in search of forgotten cash.

2. Liechtenstein Removed From OECD Tax Watch List

   Liechtenstein was removed from an international watch list of tax havens Wednesday, a move expected to ease pressure on the country's financial sector which has been criticized for its lax tax rules.

3. Switzerland – post banking secrecy

   The Swiss government has bowed to international pressure and eased its bank secrecy rules, a move that some sceptics believe will make the country less competitive. But a low-tax environment and a high standard of living means that the Alpine nation continues to attract both wealthy individuals and companies.

4. UK managers urge Government action on offshore domiciles

   The UK’s asset management industry has urged the UK Government to target the fund domiciles of Dublin and Luxembourg, in an effort to win tax revenues worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

5. In Tax Case, 4 Days Save Robertson $27 Million

   What a difference four days can make.

6. Tax amnesty proves a hit among Italians

   A recently launched Italian tax amnesty is doing better than expected and could surpass the 100 billion euros ($149 billion) target of repatriated capital, with domestic asset managers likely benefiting from the flood of new funds, several people involved in the issue said.

7. UK tax authorities cast net wider for offshore money

   The UK tax authorities are upping their efforts to extract money from the wealthy. They are focusing increasingly on closing tax avoidance schemes as they continue to gather information on the country’s wealthiest individuals.

8. End of the tax haven vacation

   From Aruba to the British Virgin Islands, offshore centres have long been favoured by those wishing to hide their assets. However, in the throes of the financial crisis, world leaders looked for others to share the blame and demanded such centres give up many of the features that attracted assets there in the first place.

9. Private banks positive on global recovery

   A consensus has developed among chief investment officers and strategists at private banks that the global economy is in a recovery phase, according to a survey conducted by Financial News. However, most agreed the upturn was likely to be weak and bogged down by deep structural problems in developed economies.

10. Property boutique aims for first low-tax fund launch

    Clavis Walden, a real estate boutique started earlier this year, will be the first to launch a new type of tax-efficient property fund that could draw substantial assets away from the UK’s biggest property funds.