Author Archive: Jeremy Parkinson

Environmental liability

Environmental liability

Businesses that have operations with the EU are now being required to take a more proactive approach to environmental risk management in order to comply with the requirements of the EU’s Environmental Liability Directive (ELD). Companies are now required to prevent significant environmental damage from occurring wherever possible, and they will be held liable for […]
Towards a milder tax climate

Towards a milder tax climate

Meteorologists see global warming as a threat. Tax practitioners in Germany see it as beneficial, certainly in the light of its effects on the tax climate. Traditionally, Germany has been ranked as a country with high direct, but relatively low indirect, taxation. That changed, however, in 2008 with a cut in the corporation tax rate […]
Sustaining success

Sustaining success

For a number of years, Cyprus has been considered a popular location for foreign investment. Its status as a former British colony and its stable tax system has proved to be an attractive opportunity for overseas investors, but there’s much more to this island than investment opportunities. An array of important factors contribute to the […]
Obama sees climate deal as summit deadline nears

Obama sees climate deal as summit deadline nears

US President Barack Obama has expressed confidence a climate deal can be clinched as dozens of world leaders gather on Wednesday to try to break a deadlock at UN climate talks. “The president believes that we can get an operational agreement that makes sense in Copenhagen,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told a briefing in […]
US’ Geithner: TARP to earn healthy profit for US

US’ Geithner: TARP to earn healthy profit for US

Plans from Wells Fargo & Co and Citigroup to repay taxpayer funds will put the US government on track to reduce its bailout investments in banks by more than 75 percent, while earning a healthy profit for the US, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday. “With the recent announcements on repayments, we are now […]
Malaysia PM to offer CO2 reductions in Copenhagen

Malaysia PM to offer CO2 reductions in Copenhagen

Malaysia’s government will offer “credible” cuts in its emissions of carbon dioxide at the Copenhagen climate change summit in a bid to halt global warming, Prime Minister Najib Razak told Reuters on Sunday. Najib will be among more than 110 world leaders who will meet in Copenhagen next week to attend a summit to try […]
UK’s Darling says PBR will reassure markets

UK’s Darling says PBR will reassure markets

The Labour government’s plan to halve the budget deficit over four years will soothe market concerns about Britain’s debt burden, finance minister Alistair Darling told reporters in an interview on Thursday. Government bond futures fell sharply, however, a day after Darling delivered a pre-budget report that shied away from detailing exactly how he plans to […]
IMF to visit Dubai in coming weeks – Fund official

IMF to visit Dubai in coming weeks – Fund official

An International Monetary Fund team will visit Dubai in coming weeks to look closer at the economic impact of the Dubai World debt crisis and actions needed to resolve it, a senior IMF official said on Monday. In an interview with reporters, IMF Director for the Middle East and Central Asia Masood Ahmed said the […]
Bolivia’s Morales needs cash, know-how for bold plans

Bolivia’s Morales needs cash, know-how for bold plans

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales wants to launch state-run paper and cement ventures and develop lithium, petrochemical and iron projects in his second term but a lack of foreign investment and know-how could hamper his ambitious plans. Leftist Morales won 63 percent of the vote in an election on Sunday to run the energy-rich but economically […]
OPEC set for no change, oil price holds the key

OPEC set for no change, oil price holds the key

OPEC is expected to hold output steady when it meets in Luanda at the end of this month, rounding off a year of stable production policy and of robust oil prices. Oil inventories are brimming and any recovery in demand is expected to be slow, but international benchmark U.S. crude futures have more than doubled […]