Update on the the new private funds law and amendment to the mutual funds law in force now.
Economic Substance and Automatic Exchange of Tax Information
Economic Substance: International Tax Co-Operation (Economic Substance) Law, (2020 Revision)
Filing deadline looms for Bermuda Private Trust Companies (PTC)
Bermuda’s regulatory regime for trust business has recently been enhanced. A framework for the supervision of relevant private trust companies has been introduced and this month new filing requirements for PTCs will take effect.
Jersey: a thriving hub for Energy & Natural Resources investment in Africa
Jersey’s role as a conduit for investment in energy and natural resources projects on the African continent Mauritius and the Seychelles are well renowned hubs for African inward investment and Jersey is taking an increasing role in the region alongside them.
Climate Change for Investors: Guernsey going green
Here, we look at how Guernsey is innovating to reflect current trends, specifically around green finance (and the jurisdiction's very own regulated 'Green Fund' product) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing.
This is the second in a series of Mauritius Regulatory Alerts in which we bring you an overview of the latest legal and regulatory developments in the offshore world, with a particular focus on Mauritius.
Economic Substance update Q1 2020
On 18 February 2020, the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) announced that Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) had been moved to the ‘whitelist’ following efforts over the past months to implement legislative changes that comply with the EU’s tax governance principles. On the same date, ECOFIN also announced that the Cayman Islands (along with the Seychelles and several others) had been added to the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.
In response to the requirements of the European Union (“EU”), the BVI has recently enacted the Securities and Investment Business (Amendment) Act, 2019 (the “SIBA Amendment”) and the related Private Investment Funds Regulations, 2019 (the “Regulations”) that bring closed-ended funds under regulatory supervision by the BVI Financial Services Commission (“FSC”). The new regulatory regime came into force on 31 December 2019.
Whilst employee incentive plans of varying forms have been utilised in the US, UK and other parts of the world for decades, they have not been widely acknowledged in Asia until recent years. In particular, there has been an increase in businesses, from start-ups, most notably in the FinTech industry, to larger listed entities across a diverse range of industry sectors, in adopting some form of employee incentive plans, as a way to incentivise and retain high calibre employees, encourage loyalty and to attract top quality people to join businesses.
Activist shareholders: removal of directors
Shareholder activism is a growing trend among listed companies. Sometimes, the actions of directors are contrary to the wishes of shareholders or shareholders feel that the incumbents are not performing to the level expected, and a change in board composition is necessary.