Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/842553
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 28 JUNE 2017 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Bermuda raps EU for 'tax blacklist questionnaire' Bermuda has said it would ag- gressively defend its reputation, noting ongoing work within the European Union to single out territories for placement on a "tax haven blacklist". Bermuda's Minister of Finance, Bob Richards, said the territory had received an email from the EU's Code of Conduct Group with a questionnaire, to formulate which territories should be included on a proposed blacklist of tax havens by the end of 2017. The territory said the questionnaire seeks information on the way Bermuda conducts its business internationally. The deadline for Bermuda's response is July 7, 2017, and failure to respond would lead to the island being deemed "non- compliant", the government said. Richards said the questionnaire had been designed to lead to a pre-determined conclusion that Bermuda is a tax haven that is harmful to the global economy, and the EU in particular, and therefore should be placed on an economic blacklist. He said the EU questionnaire is another example of the scapegoating of the island by high-tax, developed countries, who are "aided and abetted by certain members of the press to further domestic political objectives." Richards also pointed out that an earlier attempt by the EU to blacklist Bermuda in 2015 failed after the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Financial Action Task Force, which combats money laundering, concluded that Bermuda was not "harmful" in its conduct, or in the application of its laws in the global economy. Richards said the first priority for Bermuda's government is to answer the questionnaire clearly and logically by the due date. If there are biases in the questions, these will be pointed out and alternatives will be proposed that demonstrate Bermuda's commitment to cooperation, transparency, and reporting, he said. "We will show and prove, once again, that our business model is beneficial to the world economy. Unfortunately, we will not be able to rely on support from our traditional friends in the United Kingdom, as Brexit has reduced their influence in Brussels considerably," he noted. "Bermuda has spent a great deal of time and money adjusting our laws, regulations and business practices to stay ahead of, or on the leading edge of, the curve as it relates to international taxation and information sharing. We have been early adopters of all the initiatives coming out of agencies that set international standards. Yet there are those out there that choose, for their own reasons, to ignore our record." "Bermuda does not hide beneficial ownership from tax, regulatory, or law enforcement entities; Bermuda does not create structures designed to obscure where income is earned; Bermuda is not the jurisdiction of choice for hundreds of thousands of multinationals seeking to create shell corporations – other jurisdictions are. But scapegoating Bermuda plays well in some European countries for political reasons. It also assumes that Bermuda is weak and defenceless." "The government will therefore aggressively defend Bermuda. We will do so with the support of our private sector partners and our overseas-based friends with whom we work." In 2015, the OECD and Financial Action Task Force concluded that Bermuda was not "harmful" in its conduct Russian billionaire buys Holland & Barrett for €1.6bn Holland & Barrett, the UK's biggest health food retailer, is being bought by a Russian bil- lionaire for €1.6bn. Mikhail Fridman, who has Russian and Israeli citizenship, in 1988 co- founded the Alfa-Group, a mul- tinational conglomerate L1 Retail, a fund controlled by Fridman, is buying the chain from US private equity firm Carlyle. Carlyle acquired Nuneaton- based Holland & Barrett as part of its €3.38bn purchase in 2010 of US firm Nature's Bounty, now NBTY. The chain, which has more than 1,300 stores worldwide, is expected to change hands in September. Holland and Barrett opened its first store in Malta in 2009; it now has stores in Sliema, St Julian's, Valletta, Attard and Fgura. Holland & Barrett was founded by William Holland and Alfred Barrett in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, in 1870. They initially sold groceries and clothing, but later split the two into separate businesses. The grocery business was sold to Alfred Button & Sons in the 1920s, but the original name was retained. The company eventually started focusing on health foods and changed hands several times. It now employs more than 4,000 people. The purchase is the first by L1 Retail, which was set up in late 2016. It aims to invest €2.8bn in a small number of retail businesses that it believes can be market leaders by "moving with and leading long-term trends". L1 also has funds focused on energy, technology and health. Peter Aldis, Holland & Barrett chief executive, is to stay on. He said: "We are delighted to now be in partnership with the L1 Retail team and its advisory board of internationally- renowned retailers." Holland & Barrett has been sold to Mikhail Fridman, the Russian bil- lionaire behind Letter One