Gambling in the BVI is illegal. Part 2

Many Internet businessmen are looking for the right jurisdiction to incorporate and run online gambling business. The British Virgin Islands would not be a right jurisdiction for establishing offshore gambling business like online lotteries, casinos, etc. In Caribbean region, it would be better to look at Costa Rica or, maybe, turn round the Globe and look at the Channel Islands.

There are many questions that one should answer before setting up a complete online gambling site or casino. Most of these questions are related to an existent spot on the map even if gambling occurs through the Internet. They are about incorporation country, country issuing the gambling license, place(s) where servers are actually held, Bank account(s), Merchant account(s), etc.

Of course, a British Virgin Islands business company can be wisely used in online gambling business structure. There are a lot of BVI companies more or less directly related to online casinos as well as brick and mortar casinos all over the world. However, if we are speaking about gambling things, the British Virgin Islands wouldn’t be the first word to come in mind. More important thing to memorize is the following: if you have arrived in the British Virgin Islands, do remember that gambling is illegal there.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

Article any source

Gambling in the BVI is illegal. Part 1

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Frazer informed those who might be unaware of this that gambling and selling and purchasing of lottery tickets is an offence in the British Virgin Islands.

Frazer admits that gambling and selling of lottery tickets is often taken as a norm in the BVI, and therefore he advised on this matter to warn people committing this offence, however, if persons continue the practice, they will inevitably be arrested. So, this was to inform the public on the laws that exist.

Section 301 of the Criminal Code states the following:

- Any person who knowingly permits, or is concerned in, the use of any building or place for the purpose of gambling, betting or the holding of a lottery or sweepstake, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or both.

- Police may be authorized by day or night to enter such house or place (suspected of committing the offence of gambling) and to search the same and any persons found therein, and to seize all instruments and appliances of gambling, betting, or required for the holding of a lottery or sweepstake, and all money, securities for money and other articles reasonably supposed to have been used or intended to be used for any such purpose.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

Article any source

Large farms benefit from direct aid

880 large farms or agri-businesses each received over €500,000 in the final year of the old pre-Single Farm Payment CAP regime according to draft Commission figures. This means that just 0.02 per cent of beneficiaries received 2.5 per cent of the total EU budget for direct aids (€700m out of €28.2 billion).

Germany once again had the largest number of farms receiving payments of over €0.5 million each, 620 farmers who received €0.5 billion between them. This is a reflection of the survival of large farms in the former East Germany.

However, France has its large farms as well. France was the largest overall recipient of direct aid in 2004, €6.9 billion, and of this €1.7 million was shared out between fewer than ten of the biggest farms.

Well over half the farms received CAP aid in 2004, just over 2.5 million, received annual aid cheques of less than €1250. Of these farms, 2.1 million were situated in either Italy, Greece or Spain. There has been speculation that these very small payments could be phased out because of the transaction costs involved in calculating and paying them. However, even very small sums can be important to marginal enterprises, e.g., where the farmer is past retirement age.Any source

Canadian request reverted to the next WTO meeting

The Caribbean-Canada Trade Agreement or Caribbean Initiative known as CARIBCAN is a Canadian government program that was established by the Parliament of Canada in 1986 to promote trade and investment and provide industrial cooperation through the duty-free goods from the countries of the Commonwealth-Caribbean to the Canadian market.

It aims at enhancing the Commonwealth Caribbean’s existing trade and export earnings, improving the trade and economic development prospects of the region, promoting new investment opportunities as well as encouraging enhanced economic integration and cooperation within the region.

As far as Caribbean Initiative expires at the end of the year, Canada intends to extend it.
At a recent meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods of World Trade Organization (WTO), Canada requested a 5-year extension of the waiver for its CARIBCAN. This program enables Canada to grant duty-free treatment to imports from the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Bahamas, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The Council for Trade in Goods of WTO is going to revert to Canadian request at its next meeting.

Both Canada and the BVI and other countries wait for the extension of the agreement as far as it enables the countries improve and develop their economies.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

Article any source

'Yo liars' claim as Doha blame game gets under way

Rookie US Trade Representative Susan Schawb has effectively accused the EU of lying as the blame game for the collapse of the Doha Round gets under way. The US has been taking a lot of the heat and no doubt the search for someone to blame makes the participants in the failed talks feel better but it does little for the future growth of the world economy or fairer trade.

Ms Schwab said that the US had so far 'refrained from responding to the finger-pointing by some' but she said the EU's claim that the US had doomed the talks by failing to show flexibility in negotiations was 'false and misleading' and made with the intention of 'attempting to divert blame for the stalemate.'

Attention is now focusing on the US farm bill due to expire next year which has provided considerable aid to large-scale farmers. Three-quarters of the subsidies have gone to growers of rice, corn, wheat, soyabeans and cotton. One idea that is being floated around Congress is to extend for one year both the current spending arrangements under the farm bill and fast-track authority.

The EU is certainly not blameless in all this as its stance was weakened by the rebellion of agrarian states led by France, leading to a relatively weak, if cleverly presented, tariff cutting offer. Emerging countries like India have also been running scared of the electoral damage that can be done by their poorer farmers.

As Susan Sechler, US director for trade and development at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (a think tank) commented, 'It used to be that first you got a deal at the WTO and then used it to discipline domestic agricultural spending. That doesn't work any more, partly because developing countries in the WTO won't accept a post-dated cheque.'

At the heart of all this is the changing economic structure of power in the world. Relations between the EU and the US have become increasingly tense over a range of issues, not just economic ones. But even if they wanted to function as a duopoly resolving their own disputes at the expense of others, they couldn't do so because too much influence has passed to the emerging countries. That is why the G7/8 is largely an irrelevance and we need a G4 of the US, EU, China and Japan, with some involvement from medium-sized powers like Brazil.Any source

EMI SETTLES PAYOLA DISPUTE WITH NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL

New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer office had investigated and found that EMI (which includes Virgin Records and Capitol Records), had illegally provided financial benefits to obtain airplay by giving radio station employees concert tickets, hotel and airfare and other benefits. EMI had allegedly used independent promoters to make the payments which benefited such artists as the Rolling Stones, Coldplay and Norah Jones.

As part of the settlement, EMI agreed to end its practice of paying radio stations or their employees for airplay. It also agreed to stop using independent promoters for this purpose. Moreover, the company agreed to hire a compliance officer to monitor the company’s promotion practices, and agreed to pay $3.75 million to New York State not-for-profit entities to fund music education and appreciation programs.

The Attorney General’s investigation of payola in the music industry resulted in earlier settlements with Sony BMG, Warner and Universal.
The settlement agreement is available on the Internet http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2006/jun/EMI%20Settlement.pdf.

FIDO TO PREMIERE AT TORONTO

Congratulations to our clients Blake Corbett and Mary Anne Waterhouse whose film “Fido” will premiere at this fall’s Toronto International Film Festival. The feature will be the opening film of Canada First! Section. This zombie dog movie is about a six-foot tall zombie named Fido who eats the next-door neighbor. It is a boy-and-his-dog movie for grown ups, "FIDO" will rip your heart out. The film will be distributed by Lion’s Gate.Any source

Doha Round suspended

Given that the G8 summit failed to make any substantive progress on the Doha Round, it is no surprise that its attempts to kick start the Round have failed. Negotiators were going to given up their holidays to meet a new August target date, but Pascal Lamy has just announced that the round has been suspended. He commented that some countries clearly preferred a 'Doha Light'. Certainly there are many in the United States who think that the country's interests can best be served by bilateral deals.

The suspension followed a failure to make progress in Group of Six meetings on Sunday. Four of the six G6 participants blamed the US for the collapse of the talks. EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson commented, 'If the US continues to demand dollar-for-dollar compensation for reducing domestic support, no one in the developing world will ever buy that, and the EU will not either.'

For its part the US has become increasingly frustrated by what it sees as the gutting of its proposals to cut farm tariffs which generated opposition from the EU, Japan and Switzerland. Susan Schwab, US trade representative, complained that some participants were more interested in loopholes than in market access.

The Uruguay Round was, of course, suspended in 1990 after the supposedly final talks in Brussels collapsed and was eventually revived. However, the political climate is not favourable. Mid-term elections are looming in the United States which seem to have affected President Bush's thinking. If the Democrats take either the House or the Senate, a renewal of authority to negotiate trade deals is even less likely.

The collapse of the talks is good news for heavily subsidised large-scale farmers in the US and the EU. Trade negotiations have been the most successful driver of CAP reform. Politicians in poor countries will get political points for protecting poor farmers against competitive imports. But it's bad news for agricultural exporting countries such as Australia and Brazil. And despite the celebratory noises emanating from some NGOs who argue that no deal is better than a bad deal this is not good news for farmers in least developed countries, for example cotton producers in West Africa who have been hit hard by US subsidies.

What of the WTO itself? The suspension of the Round does not mean the end of the Disputes Settlement Mechanism. Former EU commissioner and WTO head Sir Peter Sutherland commented, 'The WTO is so crucial, it will survive, but it will be damaged. The collapse of the talks leave global multilateralism in a parlous state.'

The WTO is regarded by many of its members as the last multilateral organisation by whose decisions the US agrees to be bound. In truth this is another victory for US unilateralism and any bilateral deals that are forged in the future will benefit the US more than the other participant. As Michael Cox of LSE warned in the March issue of European Political Science, the bridge across the Atlantic can no longer bear any heavy traffic and there is a widening gulf on issues and values between the EU and the United States. As an Atlanticist, this is something I regret, but it is difficult to see what remedies there are to hand.Any source

Australia is pursuing tax evaders again

Australian authorities continue their fight against tax evaders. The new results of this fighting have just been published. It is worth mentioning that most often Australian Tax Office faces the necessity to fight against using credit cards issued by offshore banks that help to deliver the earned money to Australia where it gets spent.

Currently, the Australian Tax Office is suspicious of approximately 3600 offshore credit card holders after having examined 110 000 transactions. Reviewing transactions from another
1800 cardholders is referred by the global taskforce. 24 "non-compliant" cases have already been completed, and 4 million USD raised.

Bank account and cards are generally opened in different offshore banks of the world, but one Australian citizen who was interrogated had been using a card issued by a British Virgin Islands bank, and he drew authorities' attention by spending 14 000 USD in 28 days. This man was saying that the card had been given to him be by his British employer to cover "incidental expenses".

Frankly speaking, this amount is nothing when compared to one New Zealander who was prepared to spend 20 millions from his offshore bank account by means of no-name card and has never lodged an Australian tax return.

Many people consider Australia to be a paradise to live and retire, but they should not forget about paying taxes. On March 1, 2006 we discussed tax information exchange between the BVI and Australia that makes Australian pursuing tax evaders easier as the Caribbean countries is among Australia's most favorite tax havens.

Also, the Australian Tax Office is monitoring local promoters of schemes that in order to shift income offshore use fake business transactions.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

Article any source

Rising grain prices may push up cost of bread

Record summer temperatures, low global grain stocks and the expected growth in biofuels, have seen wheat prices rise to ten year highs and may lead to big increases in the cost of bread and pasta. Corn [maize] and barley prices are also likely to raise which may affect the cost of beer and breakfast cereals. For the fifth year in six global production is expected to fall short of demand. Hedge funds have been active in wheat futures, with a sharp increase in the number of contracts bought in the US, UK and elsewhere in Europe.

Both the US and Northern Europe have experienced record temperatures, which some see as evidence of the reality of global warming. Some wheat farmers in the UK are harvesting a month early for the first time since the 1979 heatwave. In Northern Italy, the hot, dry weather is estimated to have caused €100 of damage to crops with yields forecast to fall by 9 per cent.

Ethanol plants using wheat as an ingredient will open in Europe in the next two years. Christopher Brodie, a partner at hedge fund Krom River, commented, 'Once the ethanol plants open, we will link the price of petrol to the price of bread, because the price of wheat will be settled by who pays more, the oil industry or the food industry.'

Shroud wavers among the farming community will no doubt see these developments as supportive of their food security arguments for continuing subsidies. Alternatively, one could see it as market forces of supply and demand generating a better rate of compensation for farmers, ultimately leading, if the trends are sustained, to a rise in supply.Any source

In the land of fresh rice ears of many autumns

I recently returned from my first visit to Japan, a country about which I have read extensively over the years. It was therefore no surprise to see paddy fields located in the middle of the urban sprawl of the Osaka area, one of them being tended by a presumably part-time farmer. Japan, I was told, has something like 2.2 times the population of the UK but half the useable land area. In the area where I spent most of my time, Fukuoka prefecture, there was more emphasis on value added niche crops like strawberries.

In the 8th century Nihon shoki [Chronicle of Japan] there is a famous passage that refers to Japan as 'the land of fresh rice ears of fifteen hundred autumns.' This is seen as example of the deep roots of agriculture among the Japanese. A former PhD student, now teaching in Japan, had negotiated with a farmer to obtain a supply of brown rice in return for helping with the planting.

Rice production in Japan and the Republic of Korea remains highly protected. Although the high tariff barriers will have to be reduced, I have some sympathy with demands to maintain them on cultural grounds. Japan is a unique blend of tradition and modernity and certainly the most distinctive place I have ever visited (and that includes remote ethnic minority areas of China).

There is an inconsistency in calling for the maintenance of some protection in Japan and pressing for its elimination in France. In both cases the attachment to a particular form of agriculture might seem to be sentimental, even though both countries have distinctive and much admired food cultures. I would maintain that the French way of life is less tied up with a particular pattern of agriculture than is often believed, particularly given that many French farms are large scale. But perhaps I feel an affinity with another island kingdom that I do not feel with France, a country I have never visited.Any source

UK farmers slow to respond to reform

A survey of farmers carried out by HSBC Bank shows that most farmers are aware of the need to adapt their businesses as production support declines, but few have a clear vision of how to achieve this.

The survey found that 64 per cent of farmers have done the calculations to find the level of their likely Single Farm Payment over the next three to five years. However, 87 per cent of the sample intended to either maintain their set aside at the same rate as last year or ro reduce it, indicating that the cropped area for the 2007 harvest is likely to remain at a similar level to that of recent years. Surprisingly, only 52 per cent of the farmers questioned know the cost of producing a tonne of wheat on their units which is the key of basic information that one would think that any business needed to make commercial decisions.

Few farmers are planning ahaead to replace the state support or reduce their costs in line with its withdrawal. Stuart Ellwood, head of agriculture at HSBC, is surprised that the rate of change is not faster and is urging producers to move away from the traditional cropping patterns dictated by CAP payments to growing for other food and feed markets, and alternative land uses such as biofuels, pharmaceuticals and textiles.Any source

AfriOre Reports Financial Results

A British Virgin Islands-based company specializing in the acquiring resource properties and exploration and development of platinum and gold projects in Africa received bullish estimates for its Akanani Platinum Project discussed in the blog on June 13, 2006.

A BVI-based AfriOre Limited (AFO.TO) reported a loss of of 1 002 131 USD for the 3-month period that ended on May 31, 2006. To compare, it reported a loss of 355 025 USD for the 3-month period that ended on May 31, 2005.

The loss for the 3-month period can be explained by an increase in exploration expenditure and the foreign exchange losses that occurred because of the weakening of the South African Rand during the above-mentioned period. However, the increase in expenditure at Akanani brought positive results from the intensive exploration program on the Akanani Platinum Project.

Consolidated Interim Financial Statements for the 3-month periods and Management’s Discussion and Analysis have been filed on SEDAR.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

Article any source

Blame game on Doha Round

Unless there is some sudden and unanticipated breakthrough, the Doha Round trade talks look increasingly likely to fail over agricultural trade. It has to be remembered that under US trade law the schedules must be handed to the US Congress at least 180 days before Trade Promotion Authority expires on 1 June. It is unlikely to be renewed and it would be impossible to get any deal through the inward looking Congress without it.

So the blame game is now on with many fingers pointing at Uncle Sam. One view is that the US remained particularly intransigent, refusing to give ground on domestic farm support until it was assured significant market access to emerging economies. The US was pressing for a 90% cut in tariff rates compared with the 75% sought by the G-20. Moreover, Oxfam argued that the US's offer on farm support would actually allow it to increase farm payments compared to present levels.

US negotiators argued that developing nations would only reap real benefits from trade if there was significant market liberalisation. This neo-liberal vision did not appeal to the developing countries who argued that substantial opening of markets should be not be forced on their fragile economies.

The US is perhaps on stronger ground when it criticises the stance of emerging countries, arguing that richer developing countries such as Brazil, India and China should stop hiding behind poor nations in the trade talks and start to open up their own markets. This overlooks the fact that Brazil, where the agriculture minister has recently resigned, has a big problem with the army of landless labourers belonging to the radical MST movement. The large peasant populations in India and China (where there have been a number of disturbances surrounding the seizure of farm land for development) could easily be radicalised or could flood into the cities looking for work.

US ag policy is in a mess

The fact remains that US ag poicy is in a mess. As the authoritative Agra Europe has commented, 'What stands out a mile on the farm support issue is that successive US Administrations have got themselves into an unholy mess on agricultural support from which the current Administration will have to extricate itself both to be able to move on Doha and, eventually, to conciliate its own taxpayers.'

At the root of the problem is electoral politics in the US. As Graham Wilson has shown, the farm vote can still be decisive in tight contests for the Senate in interior states. But, above all, the cost of getting re-elected, not least in the House, means that even urban Congress members are willing to take donations from farm lobbies.

The FAIR act of 1994 appeared to open up a whole new era in US farm policies, including the introduction of totally decoupled income payments to replace production subsidies. However, once commodity prices started to fall in the late 1990s, the farm lobby successfully pressured for more handouts, initially on an 'emergency' basis and later consolidated in the 2002 Farm Bill which was a backward step. In particular, the introduction of counter cyclical payments was particularly damaging from a world market perspective as they maintain US production at high levels even when market prices are falling.

The US also hands out $1.5 billion in government-financed crop insurance. This is treated as non-product specific under the 'de minimis' rule. However, the EU and others argue that almost all US crop insurance is product specific.

The EU does appear to be prepared to give ground on senistive products, lowering them from 8% to about 5% of all tariff lines, although that would still be far too high as far as almost all other participants in the trade talks are concerned.Any source

CIC Energy Corp. Financial Loss

A BVI-based CIC Energy Corp. reported a loss of 1 677 658 USD for the 6-month period that ended on May 31, 2006.

The loss for the 6-month period can be explained by non-capitalized exploration expenditures, administration costs, costs related to the consolidation of Coal Investment Corp. and Ophir Ventures Inc. in March 2006, and listing the common shares of CIC on the TSX.

Consolidated Interim Financial Statements for the 3 and 6-month periods and Management’s Discussion and Analysis have been filed on SEDAR and can be found at http://www.sedar.com/search/search_form_pc_en.htm

CIC is a British Virgin Islands corporation governed by the laws of the BVI. It was established to engage in the exploration, development and operation of greenfield coal property in the Mmamabula Coalfields in Southern Africa.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

Article any source

Crills Joining Walkers

The blog BVI offshore law practitioner Stephen Pollard joined Walkers informed that Stephen Pollard joined Walkers' London office to work on the funds and corporate issues of the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.

Now, Crills Advocates - a Jersey-based company providing institutional offshore and domestic legal services joins this global offshore law firm to provide offshore legal services in Jersey and offer Jersey legal and administrative services in jurisdictions all over the world including the British Virgin Islands, Dubai, London and Hong Kong. Crills Advocates will now work under the Walkers name.


Walkers' expansion into Jersey is essential as Jersey is a key jurisdiction for numerous structured finance products and investment funds.

The company is recognized as "Offshore Law Firm of the Year" by The Lawyer. The Lawyer awarded the company as "Offshore Law Firm of the Year" because Walkers is successful in the offshore market, has offices in the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, London, Dubai, Hong Kong, and is influential there. The joined efforts of two companies will provide new opportunities for companies' customers. The combination of Walkers’ established global client base and Crills’ expertise will let Walkers offer legal and administration services to support investment strategies of customers in the BVI, Cayman and Jersey.

Walkers' work in the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands is extremely successful, but extending company presence in other regions is also very important for customers.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

Article any source

RSM (British Virgin Islands) Limited establishment

As RSM Cayman Islands are expanding its Corporate Advisory Services practice to the BVI, the new company, RSM (British Virgin Islands) Limited, has been established.

A partner of RSM Cayman Islands, Christopher Stride will lead RSM (British Virgin Islands) Limited. He was the one to establish RSM Cayman Islands in 2002 and will be the one to continue to take part in the Cayman Islands practice. Recently, Christopher Stride has been approved by local regulators as an Insolvency Practitioner in the British Virgin Islands.

In August of 2004, the Insolvency Act 2003 was enacted by the British Virgin Islands to deal with insolvent companies and to supervise insolvency practitioners. As a result, in last 3 years, many quite big law and accounting companies were registered in the BVI. Many corporate vehicles were set up in the BVI, so, the BVI jurisdiction became favourable for expanding the services offered in the Cayman Islands. The company's growth reflects the need for qualified and independent practitioners in the insolvency and forensic accounting sphere.

A team of professionals to work in the BVI and to use complementary resources from Cayman Islands office in order to support our clients has already been selected.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

Article any source

China Security & Surveillance Technology Inc. gets $12.9 Million Private Placement

China Security & Surveillance Technology Inc. is a British Virgin Islands corporation that deals with the surveillance industry in China, specializes in homeland security products and surveillance systems and has branch offices in 20 cities throughout China.

Last week, China Security & Surveillance Technology Inc. announced its entering into a Securities Purchase Agreement with institutional investors for the private placement of 2,275,794 units (each unit includes one share of company's common stock and a warrant to purchase one-fifth of one share of company's common stock) with accredited institutional investors. The units are sold under the Securities Purchase Agreement for $4.50 per unit.

Net proceeds to the BVI-based China Security & Surveillance Technology Inc. from the sale of all of the units was going to be $10,241,093. But then, China Security & Surveillance Technology Inc. accepted additional $1.8 million subscription raising more than $12 million. The BVI company expects to close the transaction by the end of this week.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

Article any source

BVI - 50 years ago

July 1 was a big event for the British Virgin Islands as July 1 is its 50th anniversary date - on July 1, 1956 the Virgin Islands officially became an autonomous Territory.

So, back in 1956 it was decided that the BVI be established as an autonomous Territory – as a result, the BVI of today is a separate political entity with its strong and rapidly developing economy.

The BVI is still going along the road of self-government and economic development and therefore it is vitally important for it to be aware of its history. Not only the history of the first islanders is important for the BVI, but the history of its last 50 years is essential as well.

The celebration of the BVI 50th anniversary organized by the government of the British Virgin Islands as well as the Ministry and Department of Education and Culture was open to the public as an opportunity for the Islanders to affirm their identity and feel a sense of national pride for themselves and their Territory. The ceremony began with Governor David Pearey and Chief Minister Dr Orlando Smith inspecting the guards. The public was entertained by several musical groups, including the BVI High School Jazz Band.

After its establishment as a separate entity in 1956, the group of islands did not join the 1958-1962 West Indies Federation of British Virgin Islands in order to preserve its economic ties with the US Virgin Islands. In the 1950's and 60's, Laurence Rockefeller made application to the BVI government to build a resort at Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda which was opened in 1964. This was the 1st vacation resort established in the British Virgin Islands. In 1967, a new constitution was adopted and a ministerial system of government has been headed by a Chief Minister until now and is still under British control.

In the beginning of the 1980's an offshore financial services sector began to develop. During the 1980-1991, the population of the BVI almost doubled because expanding economic activity attracted many people from neighbouring countries and the Caribbean region. The economic development led to radical demographic and social change in the BVI.

Nowadays, the BVI is a growing tourist centre attarcting many tourists from all over the world. Besides tourism, the BVI continues to have a very low unemployment, a well-developing economy and political and social stability.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

Article any source

Fidelity Overseas Group

Fidelity Overseas group is in offshore business for more than 10 years. There are 2 other Fidelity Overseas group companies licensed to provide offshore company formation and management services. One is located in Gibraltar, another in the Seychelles.

Fidelity Corporate Services Gibraltar is the oldest company in the group. It is licensed by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission to provide offshore company formation and management services. It includes provision of the registered address, agent and resident secretary, provision of company management and administration services for Gibraltar non-resident companies.

Fidelity Corporate Services Seychelles is licensed by the Seychelles International Business Authority (SIBA) as an International Corporate Service Provider with license number 004. Seychelles International Business Company or IBC is the basic offshore product in the Seychelles. It is quite similar to British Virgin Islands IBC with several differences (for example, bearer share regime is more democratic, much like BVI IBC Act before 2004). Another product - Special License companies (CSL) introduced by Seychelles Companies (Special Licenses) Act 2003 starts to gain quite substantial popularity due to it’s low tax nature (different from zero-tax for Seychelles IBC or British Virgin Islands BC) which allows to utilize them in business transactions with counterparts located in high-tax countries with serious fiscal countermeasures against the traditional zero-tax companies.

Fidelity Corporate Service BVI is the newest corporate services provider in the group adding BVI offshore services and BVI business companies to the list and making group a serious choice for people looking for global solutions in conjunction with local expertise.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

Article any source

Doha Round in crisis

'Crisis' is an overworked word in relation to trade talks, but the Doha Round now appears to be in serious trouble after a failure to make any progress on agriculture in Geneva at the end of last week. The talks petered out on Saturday, having reached no conclusion on modalities,the next step towards an actual agreement.

The Group of Six (the US, EU, Japan, Brazil and Australia) have asked WTO director-general Pascal Lamy if he can mediate between them and he will report back in two weeks, but is unlikely to produce his own text which would serve as the equivalent of the Dunkel draft in the Uruguay Round.

The EU was prepared to give some ground on tariffs, moving its position closer to that of the G-20 group of emerging countries. They were privately indicating that they would prepared to cut tariffs by an average 51 per cent compared with their original offer of 39 per cent. This is very close to the 54 per cent cut asked for by G-20 which the EU calculates as actually nearer 52 per cent.

Much of their G-20's fire is now concentrated on what they see as the intransigence of the United States with a new rift appearing between Brazil and the States. For the United States, new trade supremo Susan Schwab said that the problem was the three S's, not the two in her name, but the 'sensitive' and 'special' products which would enjoy lower tariff cuts and the 'special safeguard mechanism' that allows poor countries to block sudden surges in imports.

The fact is that ministers or other representatives, whether they are from India or the United States, get few domestic points for pushing for trade liberalisation which can disadvantage politically influential groups in their societies. India's trade minister Kamal Nath turned up late for a green room discussion on Friday evening. His excuse was the Argentina v. Germany match in the World Cup which had not delayed the Argentine delegation. Nath's problem is that he and his prime minister are under pressure from Sonia Gandhi to protect poor farmers. The agri-business interests, principally based in the US, that pushed for liberalisation in the 1990s are more divided or less effective a decade later.

It might be possible for the G-8 and national political leaders to intervene, but these 'deus ex machina' interventions have had little lasting impact in the past. Moreover, leaders from most G-8 countries at the moment are either coming towards the end of their tenures (France, Japan, the UK and the US) or lead governments that are coalitions or have fragile political majorities (Canada, Italy, Germany), while Russia can hardly sort out the problems even if it was that much interested in them.

Does it matter? For two reasons it does. First, an agreement in the Round would bring some advances for developing countries, although far short of what they could hope for. Second, a failure of the Round would remove the key exogenous pressure that has led the EU in particular to at least start down the road of dismantling the CAP in its present form.Any source

New BVI offshore company incorporation firm

A new offshore incorporation firm - Fidelity Corporate Services has started to provide the offshore services in the BVI. It is licensed under the BVI Banks and Trust Companies Act 1990 as trust company and has paid up capital of USD 250,000. Fidelity is authorized to provide offshore company formation and management services and namely:

• registered agent services;
• registered address;
• directorship and company management services;
• shareholder’s services (reasonable alternative to bearer shares in the BVI);
• secretarial services;
• custody of documents;
• corporate searches and filings;
• drafting of corporate documentation;
• mail forwarding and virtual office;
• bank account introductions and management etc.

Registered office of the new BVI offshore service provider like of other BVI registered agents is located on Tortola Island and particularly at DiCastro Building at Drakes Highway, Floor 4.

It is pleasant to see that the new BVI offshore company formation firm provides very competitive and quite detailed fee schedule without hiding substantial fees. Many offshore service providers try to play with customers by indicating low registration fee (like government fee USD 350 plus some extra USD 200) and then customer should find all applicable fees themselves (registered agent and address, Apostille legalization, delivery and so on) – this is like putting together the Lego for the first time. Fidelity provides professional straight-forward approach with detailed BVI offshore services fee schedule as well as package price for typical BVI business company where the most popular features required for offshore bank account opening are included.

More detailed information on Fidelity Corporate Services BVI you can find on their newly opened website http://www.offshorebvi.com.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

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BVI-based Wonder Auto Limited goes public with 12 Million USD private financing

On June 23, 2006, MGCC Investment Strategies, Inc. announced the closing of a share exchange transaction with the stockholders of Wonder Auto Limited, a British Virgin Islands corporation.

Just before the consummation of the share exchange transaction, a private placement of capital stock of Wonder Auto was closed and it received $12 million in gross offering proceeds. One of the stockholders of Wonder Auto sold shares of company's common stock that resulted in gross proceeds of $8 million.

A BVI company Wonder Auto – a leading manufacturer of automotive electrical parts – is located in China. The company curently employs more than 290 people. Its products are manufactured in Jinzhou City factory. This China located BVI company produces broad product lines of alternators and starters and sells them through both vehicle OEMs and distributors, and its customers include such autoindustry giants as Beijing Hyundai Motor Company, Dongfeng Yueda Kia Motors Co., Ltd and Shenyang Aerospace Mitsubishi Motors Engine Manufacturing Co. Ltd. In 2005, consolidated net sales of Wonder Auto were about $48.1 million and consolidated net income was about $6.4 million. The BVI company expects to get gross revenues of about $66.0 million in fiscal 2006 and $92.5 million in fiscal 2007.

After the share exchange transaction, Wonder Auto's stockholders were issued 8,627,858 shares (which is about 88% of MGCC's outstanding common stock) in exchange for their shares of the BVI company.

Brian Obvi,
Offshore Analyst

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