SOUTH AFRICA: NEW REPORTING OBLIGATIONS FOR TRUSTEES In 2021, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published its Mutual Evaluation Report on South Africa, summarizing the effectiveness of South Africa’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures. The main shortcomings related to the difficulties in obtaining accurate, updated, and adequate beneficial ownership information about companies and trusts...Read More

FOREIGN OWNERS IN CANADA MUST REGISTER TO PAY A NEW TAX ON “UNDERUSED” PROPERTY Most foreign individuals, companies and other entities that own residential properties in Canada must now file a return even if no tax is due. This is one of the requirements of the new “Underused Housing Tax Act” (“UHT”) effective for the calendar...Read More

PUBLIC ACCESS TO BO REGISTERS – A LOOK BEYOND AND AHEAD In 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a preliminary judgment ruling that public access to information on beneficial ownership of companies incorporated in EU member states constitutes a “serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life...Read More

SOUTH AFRICA: A B.O. OWNERSHIP REGISTER TO COME INTO FORCE IN APRIL 2023 These are really busy days for South Africa on both the international and domestic tax and regulatory fronts. At a plenary meeting of the AML standard-setting body on 24 February 2023, the “Financial Action Task Force” (FAFT) has added the African country...Read More

ECOFIN PUTS RUSSIA AND BVI ON BLACKLIST The blacklist of tax havens continues to grow. At its meeting on 14 February, the Economic and Financial Council of the European Union (also known as Ecofin) added Russia, the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica and the Marshall Islands to the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes....Read More