The Financial Services Authority is expected to force banks and other lenders to carry out rigorous checks on people's incomes before granting a mortgage, such as examining their spending habits and existing loans. The watchdog is also expected to ban self-certification mortgages, where borrowers do not have to prove their income. But the FSA has rowed back from imposing caps on loan-to-value or loan-to-income ratios and a ban on 100% mortgages, opting instead to crack down on risky lending. (Source: guardian.co.uk)

Tenants in Qatar have been given more protection. The amendments did not give landlords the right to raise rents. The landlord can evict the tenant only if he needs the property for personal use or if it is to be used by spouse, children or parents or by any of his legal dependents, provided an appropriate housing facility does not exist as an option. In all those cases, the owner of the property should serve a notice to the tenant at least six months in advance to take back the rented property. (Source: ArabianBusiness.com)

China recently established a special fund to subsidize foreign patent applications, offering a maximum of 100,000 yuan per patent application. To qualify for the subsidy, foreign patent application projects must either help exert China's industrial advantage and be internationally competitive; be expected to explore the international market or expand its international market share; or have patented products with an expected large capacity in the international market and good market prospects. (Source: People's Daily Online)

IP Philippines has presented to the Supreme Court the proposed draft of the special rules for IPR litigation. The proposed rules include prohibiting a number of pleadings, requiring verified complaints and answers, submission of affidavits in question-and-answer form, narrowing conditions for certain acts, shortening waiting periods, and requiring continuous trial. The rules allow IP courts to order the destruction of the seized counterfeit goods upon motion and evidence presented. The draft also allows parties to go into mediation while authorizing judges to conduct judicial dispute resolution. (Source: Business Mirror)

Investment trusts will face a £650 million bill to convert to new EU investment rules. Investors will face an extra 64 basis points charge if the costs are passed on directly. Investment trusts will not be able to survive in their current form under the new Alternative Investment Fund Managers EU directive. They will be forced to liquidate, with investors most likely to be transferred to an Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (Ucits) structure. The EU directive will affect all non-Ucits funds in EU states. (Source: citywire.co.uk)

REITs investors in Korea have reaped an average of 8.34 percent in profit margins for their investments since 2002. The average earning rate of the 24 real estate funds currently being operated in Korea is 3.18 percent. REITs pool capital to invest in real estate holdings for renting or selling. Local REITs companies usually invest in official buildings and mega-sized commercial properties. Of the total, seven REIT operations that have sold properties had returned an average of 21.6 percent of profits to their investors. (Source: The Korea Herald)

China has raised the limit on purchases of local shares by foreign investors by 25 per cent to $US1 billion. The quota for share purchases by so-called qualified foreign institutional investors used to be $US800 million. China's two main stock markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen still restrict foreign participation. Overseas companies are barred from listing on them, and foreign investors can only buy limited quantities of yuan-denominated "A shares" through designated "qualified foreign institutional investors". (Source: Stuff.co.nz)

In its proposal for the State Budget 2010, the Luxembourg Government has included an exemption from subscription tax for microfinance investment funds. It will encourage the development of this fund type in Luxembourg. In order to drive industry efforts, the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry has recently set-up a dedicated Microfinance Working Group. Forty five per cent of worldwide microfinance investment vehicles assets are based in Luxembourg. (Source: Hedgeweek)

Hedge funds operating in Singapore are expected to set themselves up for licensing in compliance with the central bank's move towards greater industry transparency. Hedge funds are currently not required to obtain a licence on the condition that they manage funds of no more than 30 'qualified' investors. The current structure reportedly makes it relatively easy for hedge-fund managers to bypass licensing requirements. At present, it's estimated that Singapore's hedge fund industry manages around $34.9 billion, not including those managed by the large international firms. (Source: WealthBriefingAsia)

E-Fund and China Merchants are first to launch new QDII funds. These are the first foreign-exchange quotas allowed for QDII funds in 17 months. E-Fund received approval to invest up to $1 billion overseas, and China Merchants was granted $500 million. The first batch of QDII funds had been launched during the peak of the 2007 bull run in global equities. But as markets have recovered worldwide, fund houses have been itching to launch new products, to take advantage of low valuations. About 20 firms have won the right to launch QDII products. (Source: Asian Investor)

Harbour Litigation Funding, a provider of funding for commercial lawsuits, is backing a high-profile case brought by Ms Young. Ms Young is using the courts to find out more about the loss of her husband's fortune, valued at more than £400m just three years ago. The business of financing lawsuits for profit in the UK has typically involved commercial disputes, stumping up financing in return for a share of any compensation awarded. The retreat by private banks from the divorce market could create an opening for niche funders in some cases involving couples splitting up. (Source: Financial Times)

The European Commission formally proposed a new regulation to simplify the legal process in cross-border succession cases. The new regulation supplies an agreed mechanism for determining which state's succession law will apply in each case. The regulation specifies the deceased's "habitual place of residence" as the single criterion for determining both the jurisdiction and the law governing a cross-border succession. Expatriates will be able to choose to have the law of their own country apply instead. (Source: STEP)

A tax exemption will be offered for revenues from Islamic bonds in South Korea, starting in 2010. The change is expected to improve corporate finances by broadening the sources of investment, as well as reducing dependence on the US and Europe for financing. Withholding tax will be exempted for both Ijara Sukuk and Murabaha Sukuk, together with transfer, acquisition and registration tax exemptions for Ijara Sukuk, and value-added tax exemption for Murabaha Sukuk. (Source: Tax-News.com)

China exempts business tax on individuals' income from trading financial products such as stocks, bonds, and foreign exchange products. The exemption took effect from the beginning of this year. China listed incomes from trading of financial products as taxable income with a tax rate of 5 percent being levied on it. In practice, individuals pay only a 0.1-percent stamp duty on incomes from stock trading at present. Real estate endowment to relatives is also exempt from business tax. (Source: Shanghai Daily)

Spain will boost value-added tax and slash income tax rebates in order to cut its budget deficit and guarantee the confidence of financial markets. According to the 2010 budget bill, value-added tax would rise to 18 percent from 16 percent as part of an 11 billion euro package of tax increases. The government will also axe a 400 euro tax rebate and increase the tax on capital gains of over 6,000 euros to 21 percent from 18 percent. The planned rise in VAT will not come into effect until July next year. (Source: Reuters)

Brazil imposes tax on foreign investors' purchases of stocks and bonds. The new levy of 2 per cent is intended to put a lid on the soaring value of the Brazilian currency, which has been driven up by inflows of capital from foreign investors. The real has risen by more than a third against the dollar this year, creating anxiety among Brazilian exporters. It will not tax FDI. The recent collapse in the dollar has been causing pain in all emerging markets and among exporters of dollar-priced commodities. (Source: The Times)

The Guyanan Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Terrorism Act was finally enacted. Under the Act, a person who knowingly or has reasonable grounds to believe that certain property is the proceeds of a crime and conceals or disguises the illicit origin of that property will be guilty of money laundering. Financial institutions shall not establish or keep anonymous accounts or accounts with fictitious names. They will also be required to establish and verify the identity of existing customers. (Source: Offshore Investment)

South Africa eased exchange controls, a move that may limit a surge in the rand and make exports more competitive. A rule requiring companies to convert foreign exchange into rand within 180 days was scrapped, as was a 250,000 rand limit on advance payments for imports. Companies will have to get permission to invest more than 500 million rand abroad. A requirement that non-residents invest at least three times as much in South Africa as they raise in local financing was also scrapped. The change doesn't apply to the acquisition of residential property by non-residents or portfolio investments. (Bloomberg)

The largest banks have suffered a collapse in their share of fund sales to the wealthy following a lift in business levels since the slump bottomed in March. Data showed banks had a 60% market share in 2005. This compares with 42% in the latest 2009 six-month period. As well as lack of trust, clients failed to buy as much from banks because of a slump in structured products sales. Some banks are less proactive in pushing funds because they secure handsome spreads on cash left on deposit. (Source: Wealth Bulletin)

China will take more measures to encourage private investment in the next stage of its 4-trillion-yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package. China will allocate 3 billion yuan of government investment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The stimulus investment will support more livelihood projects, and promote innovation and environment protection. It will also strengthen supervision over investment programs to avoid fund abuse and overcapacity. (Xinhua)

The number of new official investigations into imposing so-called "trade remedies" rising sharply in the third quarter of 2009. But World Bank suggests that new remedies proposed between the first quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 covered just 0.4 per cent of the value of imports to the US and the EU. Even the investigations started by China and India, two of the heaviest users of trade remedies, would affect at most 0.6 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively of their imports. (Source: Financial Times)

Hong Kong released a circular aimed at tempering the territory's hot high-end property market by increasing the minimum down payment on luxury homes from 30 percent to 40 percent effective immediately. According to the circular, for residential properties valued at HK$20 million or more, the loan to value ratio will be capped at 60 percent while properties valued below HK$20 million will maintain its 70 percent loan to value ratio with the maximum loan amount capped at HK$12 million. Hong Kong real estate prices have been on an upswing because of the territory's low interest rates and a flood of investment coming from mainland China. (Source: China Briefing)

Some unfair credit card terms are to be outlawed under proposals being put forward by the government. It wants to stop card firms raising interest rates on existing debts and to prevent them raising someone's spending limit without authority. Monthly repayments must be used to pay off the most expensive debts first, and the size of minimum repayments will be raised to ensure faster debt repayment. The government also pledged to ban the issuance of unsolicited credit card cheques. (Source: BBC)

Chinese antitrust authorities showed further willingness to use new powers to probe global deals by imposing tough conditions in clearing two high-profile M&As. Mofcom ruled that the GM-Delphi deal would restrict competition in China. Mofcom also ruled that the proposed Pfizer-Wyeth combination would restrict competition in the local market for animal health products, in particular swine vaccines. The rulings highlighted Mofcom's desire to intervene in such "foreign-to-foreign" deals. (Source: Financial Times)

Jersey companies have been approved for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The move is a significant development for Jersey's finance industry, which is seeking to increase business flows from the Asia Pacific region. The approval enables Jersey's finance industry to compete on an equal footing with other competitor jurisdictions. Jersey has achieved this recognition ahead of some of its closest competitors including Guernsey and the Isle of Man. (Source: Alternate Asset Adviser)

【Chief Editors: Cynthia & Lillian 】

Advertisement