Islamic banking in Luxembourg and the conflict of law The financial center of Luxembourg, in its quest for diversification away from former niche banking made impossible through automatic reporting, has turned among others to Islamic Finance. Products formerly unknown are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Parliament recently authorized the…

FedEx pleads not guilty to online pharmacy charges As reported by CNBC: "The shipping company is accused of delivering controlled substances and prescription drugs from illegal Internet pharmacies despite multiple warnings from government authorities, according to a 15-count indictment filed earlier this month. Instead of closing the pharmacies' accounts, FedEx…

US Corruption investigation looks for part of $1 billion bribes in Luxembourg The Wall Street Journal reported today about the US Department of Justice's effort to seize $1 billion in bribes allegedly stemming from global telecom companies seeking licenses in Uzbekistan. The investigation has been underway at least since last…

US-Luxembourg FATCA treaty signing ceremony Embassy report: On Friday (note: March 28) Ambassador Mandell and Finance Minister Gramegna signed The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, an agreement which introduces reporting requirements for foreign banks with respect to certain accounts held by U.S. taxpayers. This reporting will help increase…

In an article today, the Wall Street Journal carries a lengthy report about BNP Paribas' problems with the US Justice Department and regulators. It is an elaboration on former news, where the bank faces allegations of doing business with sanctioned entities, such as Iran or Cuba. In the time frame…

Quotes from the South China Morning Post: "The bonds, the first to be listed in the euro zone by a Chinese firm, will be issued by BOC’s Luxembourg branch and carry a maturity of three years. Luxembourg is the third city outside China where the state-backed bank has chosen to…

The Wall Street Journal reports: "The Paris-based lender said Thursday it set aside $1.1 billion for possible violation of laws, in particular those of the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, related to transactions dating from 2002 to 2009." A violation of the only OFAC list costs an arm…

US Treasury fines Luxembourg Firm for Skirting Iran Sanctions Clearstream Banking S.A. settled with the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over the allegations to have violated US Iran sanctions regulations. According to the Miami Herald: "Clearstream provided the Government of Iran with substantial and unauthorized access to the…

Make that $326,000,000 After 22 years (!) the liquidation process was closed. Wrongfully? A Luxembourg court will tell. Remarkably, against the odds and expert advice, a large percentage of the nominal moneys were retrieved. If successful, these additional funds might get recuperated. About 250,000 clients in 70 (+) countries were…

A tax break that helps companies to make profit from loss Written by Oman Observer This article by Tom Bergin is presently making its round across the universe, probably through some syndication agreement. Of all places, this is a link to the "Oman Daily Observer". The main focus is on…