UK has cut the nationwide mortgage rates on fixed-rate and tracker deals. Selected fixed and tracker rates are being slashed by up to 0.3 per cent. In addition, a new two-year fixed rate with a £999 fee has been introduced, available from 5.58 per cent. The five-year fixed-rate and two-year tracker deals with a reservation fee of £1,499 are now to have fees of £1,999. Nationwide has also provided advice for homeowners affected by recent floods. Insurers should be consulted before arranging more permanent or extensive repairs. (Source: moneynews.co.uk)

Now companies that have already bagged an ultra mega power project (UMPP), have to pay higher financial guarantee on new UMPP. The government has not put any cap on the number of UMPPs to be awarded to a company. The only change is that for every additional UMPP the financial guarantee requirement will be 50 per cent higher than the previous one. Moreover, the clause will be applicable to future projects only. The government has invited bids for the fourth UMPP. (Source: business-standard.com)

China unveiled draft amendments to the patent law on 25 August. Under the draft amendments, only inventions that have not been unknown to the public either in China or abroad are accepted. After going through the check held by China's Cabinet, applicants could apply for foreign patents even before obtaining Chinese patents. Violators would be fined four times their illegal gains or face a fine of up to 200,000 yuan (about 29,200 U.S. dollars) if they have no illegal gains. (Source: people.com)

Local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are encouraged to look into developing IP to safeguard their product innovations and brands. IP assets played a vital role in revenue generation and value creation in today's globalizing economy. Local SMEs should be using different types of IP rights to create the assorted protective circle around their business using IP. There is an increasing awareness about the importance of IP around the region among SMEs, as many SMEs have started implementing IP, especially in China. (Source: thestar.com)

Korea's IPO conducted a survey among 1,200 domestic firms, and asked them to report on their overseas IP litigation. Nearly two thirds of IP litigations took place in China, with 12% in Taiwan and a similar number in the US. 43% of cases concerned industrial design, with 38% dealing with trademarks. While the number of IP infringement cases of Korean products is decreasing in other countries, it is rising in China. A major increase in innovative activity in China, South Korea and the US has driven the overall growth of patent filings in 2006. (Source: LawAndTax-News.com)

A delegation from Guernsey will be visiting Hong Kong and Shanghai in October to promote the Island's expertise in fiduciary services. The delegation will highlight how Chinese institutions and high net worth individuals can benefit from using trust and corporate services provided by Guernsey, and will be showcasing Guernsey as lead sponsor and exhibitor at the STEP Asia conference in Hong Kong. Discussions with Chinese government and regulatory officials are also planned. (Source: mondaq.com)

China may introduce property trusts this year, giving developers a much needed new source of funding. The move could come as part of a government change of tack to ease tight monetary policies. Setting up real estate investment trusts (REITs) will allow developers to effectively sell finished commercial buildings to investors. It is believed property trusts will catch on in China because insurers are keen for stable investments to match their long-term liabilities. (Source: reuters.com)

The Jersey authorities lodged proposals for a draft Foundations Law to introduce the 'foundation', which will be used for wealth management and charitable purposes. The role of shareholders of a foundation will be taken instead by the guardian, who will not have any direct interest in the foundation. It will be permissible for a foundation to include all the relevant information in its charter. However, the majority of founders and foundations will wish to preserve confidentiality over certain information and will include these matters in private regulations. (Source: Tax-News.com)

Hong Kong mutual fund sales slumped in the first seven months of 2008, as tumbling global stock markets spurred investors to redeem once high-flying equity funds. The gross sales fell 40.9 percent to $15.2 billion. Net sales were $115.2 million, a 98 percent plunge from the same period in 2007. Equity funds helped lead the decline, with gross sales dropping 52 percent to $10.1 billion. Greater China and European regional equity funds suffered the biggest net redemptions in Hong Kong from January to July. (Source: reuters.com)

Looking for ways to save on wedding expenses is an increasingly common scenario for young couples, faced with hefty student loans, credit-card debt, a tough job market and ever-increasing living expenses. Many couples are choosing lower-cost locations, or planning smaller "destination" weddings. The average cost of a wedding is just under $29,000, according to the Wedding Report Inc. But the whole notion of planning a low-cost wedding can be stressful to some couples. (Source: rockymountainnews.com)

The Australian golfing great Greg Norman and his former wife Laura Andrassy have ended their divorce battles. It is one of the most high-profile celebrity divorce battles. The settlement was revealed with Andrassy walking away with a $103 million. She will also receive $30 million over the next 15 years, $4 million from the sale of a home in Florida, and $466,000 from a retirement account. Despite the settlement, they had been headed back to court to work out some outstanding financial issues, but it was not going ahead after an out-of-court settlement was reached. (Source: news.com)

Succession planning is a process where the family's wealth and business from one generation is passed on to the other by adhering to certain parameters. For those families, who want to preserve the moral values along with the wealth, opt for a more strenuous exercise other than trusts — Family Constitution, in which, only asset-related matters have legal value. Other things are only morally binding. (Source: business-standard.com)

China announced a new "green" tax that came into effect on September 1st. It prevents any more pesky calls from Geneva. Cars with engine capacities larger than 4.1 liters will now incur a 40% sales tax, up from 20%. Cars with engines between 3 and 4.1 liters will be taxed at 25%, up from 15%. The tax on cars with engines smaller than 1 liter will fall from 3% to 1%. The 8% and 10% taxes on other cars will not change. Foreign carmakers, which make most of the cars with larger engines, will suffer. (Source: Economist.com)

Japan and Macao have signed a customs cooperation agreement, which seeks to streamline and align customs procedures and stem the flow of pirated goods between Japan and Macao. The arrangement signifies their mutual commitment to elevate the relationship to a new platform. In January of this year, the Customs Administration of Japan and the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department signed a similar Customs Co-operative Arrangement. (Source: Tax-News.com)

Isle of Man's First Tax Agreements with Ireland comprise: A tax information exchange agreement – known as a 'TIEA' – based on the OECD's model of request on a case-by-case basis; and an agreement providing for relief from double taxation with respect to certain income of individuals and establishing a mutual procedure covering the adjustments of profits in relation to associated enterprises. These agreements draw to a close a period that its citizens and businesses might abuse Isle of Man financial services to evade taxes at home. (Source: mondaq.com)

Eager to entice hedge fund managers away from London and New York and to capitalize on the growing hedge fund industry, Switzerland has outlined new tax proposals designed to improve its competitiveness, promote itself as a premier location and attract thousands of jobs as a result. The tax for these managers and other private equity companies reduced from 40-50% to 15-20%. The changes need only be approved by the heads of Switzerland's cantonal (state) tax departments. (Source: LawAndTax-News.com)

China's securities regulator plans to raise the amount of dividends companies must pay shareholders to win approval for secondary fundraising. Chinese companies would have to pay out at least 30 percent, from 20 percent, of their annual average profit over the previous three years to win approval to sell additional shares. The dividend could be either in cash or stock. Listed firms were also told to reveal cash dividend policies and previous cash dividend data to investors in annual reports. Otherwise, they must provide an explanation. (Source: Xinhua.net)

Venture capital firms in Europe invested in 167 young companies in the second quarter, 42 percent fewer than in the period last year. Venture dollars invested declined 35 percent, to $1.3 billion, mirroring a trend seen in financing for American start-ups. The information technology and health care sectors had the biggest drop, while investments in energy companies reached new highs. The difficulty of cashing out of start-ups through the sale of the company or a public stock offering is making venture capitalists more reluctant to invest. (Source: nytimes.com)

China is to broaden the investment channel of insurance funds, allowing them to invest in real estate industry, if a draft revision to the Insurance Law is adopted. Investment channel of insurance funds would be widened to marketable securities such as bonds, stocks, funds and real estate industry. The current law only allows insurance funds to invest in government bonds and financial bonds. The revision also highlights tighter supervision of insurance fund using, in a bid to prevent investment risks. (Source: people.com)

Recent years have seen a dramatic resurgence in investment in gold and precious metals, partly due to a surge in demand from an increasingly prosperous Asia as well as due to forces such as a weaker dollar and fears about rising inflation. The business recently issued results for the year ended 31 March 2008, showing a net profit of £290,000, reversing a net loss for the previous 12 months of £70,000. However, some markets in precious metals have lost some of their luster in recent months – gold prices have since dropped. (Source: wealthbriefing.com)

The Dubai International Financial Centre has unveiled new regulations to encourage family businesses to establish single family offices there. The new regulations are designed to meet needs of family-run institutions and create a platform for wealthy families to set up holding companies at DIFC to manage private family wealth and family structures anywhere in the world. The regulations offer distinct benefits to SFOs as they exclude them from many of the regulatory constraints placed on conventional organizations.(Source: wealthbriefing.com)

Taiwan has reported a surprise rebound in export growth, driven by stronger demand from the US and China. Sales to the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong – together forming the largest destination for Taiwan's exports – grew by 13.9pc from July, and exports to the US increased by 11.6pc. However, analysts say the reversal may be temporary. The up-tick in exports to the US is mostly due to the back-to-school effect. The pick-up in shipments to China should be viewed as the mainland's return to normal after the Olympics. (Source: ft.com)

The NDRC has accepted the petition of a Chinese lawyer Dong Zhengwei calling for an antitrust investigation into Microsoft's business practices. Microsoft has become the first target of a China's brand new anti-monopoly law. Dong alleged that Microsoft has used its 70 percent market share to manipulate software prices in China. He proposed a US$1 billion fine. Microsoft has faced a series of anti-trust investigations in the EU during the past decade and has been fined for about US$613 million in 2004. (Source: Caijing.com)

Tax dodgers are transferring money from Liechtenstein to Panama, Singapore and other secretive offshore centers. Panama has "iron-clad financial privacy laws" and is described as "an ideal 21st century offshore haven in a world where few remain". But Panama has constraints for Europeans, less accessible than other favored havens. Singapore, the world's fastest-growing private banking centre, expected to gain from Liechtenstein's troubles. Tax experts say evaders can reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of detection by transferring money from one haven to another. (Source: ft.com)

China became the first country to cut its interest rates as markets across the world reacted to the crisis on Wall Street. The People's Bank of China cut rates by more than a quarter of a percentage point to 7.2pc. It also cut the reserve requirement ratio for all but its five largest banks by one percent to 16.5pc. It is the first time in six years. The central bank had some wriggle room to cut rates after inflation fell back to a 14-month low of 4.9pc in August. The move also came as the Chinese economy showed signs of slowing down. (Source: telegraph.co.uk)

【Chief Editors: Lillian & Cynthia 】

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