By Tony DongDuan Tao (Daisy), Cao Linlin, Yang Yingjie  King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory Group

The US Senate and House of Representatives eventually voted to clear  the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on December 20, 2017, after several rounds of back and  forth between the Houses. Two days later, the US President Donald Trump  officially signed this Act into effective law, as the culmination of the US tax  reform that had galvanized worldwide attention. This legislation is the biggest  and most compressive overhaul of the US tax system since the Reagan  administration in 1986.
Continue Reading Overseas Express丨The US tax reform’s impacts

By Vanessa Docherty King & Wood Mallesons’London office.

The Criminal Finances Act (“CFA”) 2017 comes into effect on 30 September 2017.  The CFA introduces two new offences which could affect any company with links to the UK.
What are the offences?
Failure to prevent” the facilitation of UK tax evasion, in the UK; and “failure to prevent” facilitation of foreign tax evasion overseas.
Continue Reading Impact of Criminal Finances Act 2017(2nd draft)

By Bill Ye and Zhao Wenxiang King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory group

The ‘Measures on the Due Diligence of Non-resident Financial Account Information in Tax Matters’ (the “CRS ”) are now in place, six months after the release of the draft for comment (the “Draft”). In response to the upcoming individual income tax reform, we have summarized the key points of the CRS Regulations.
Continue Reading An Analysis of China’s Common Reporting Standards

By Mark McFarlane and Suzanne Gibson  King & Wood Mallesons

mcfarlane_mgibson_sSecondaries transactions have grown substantially in recent years. This growth can be attributed to the host of potential commercial and strategic advantages such transactions can have for both general partners (GPs)/managers and investors, as well as a raft of regulatory pressures, including as a result of the Volcker Rule and the BASEL III reforms.

However, with these advantages come unique legal tensions as investors look to sell their fund commitments with relative freedom and GPs/managers seek to minimise their potential liabilities arising from any sale (and in some cases, reap side benefits).
Continue Reading Key issues in funds secondaries

By Bill Ye , Jessie Yu and Mona Lan  King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatonry group

ye_billIn February, the Measures on the Due Diligence of Non-resident Financial Account Information in Tax Matters (draft for comment) (hereinafter referred to as “the Measures”) issued by the State Administration of Taxation (“SAT”) has attracted the attention of many high net worth individuals in China. This series of articles will canvas interpretation of the Measures in a systematic way and potential responses.

In the first place, it should be remembered that this is a tax matter in nature. Along with the development of an international economy and trade as well as increasing globalization, more and more taxpayers conduct cross-border transactions by using offshore financial accounts and these accounts have become important information sources for tax regulation. However, it is usually impracticable for tax authorities to collect information about such accounts.Continue Reading When Banks Meet Tax Authorities — Key Issues that Lawyers Should Know About Tax Administration in the New Finance Era (I)

By George Pinkham Parik Dasgupta Laura Brunnen Dr. Christian Cornett King & Wood Mallesons

Last week, the world woke to the news that Donald Trump had scored a stunning upset. Since then, many commentators have tried to understand what this means for the American economy, for immigration (and wall-builders), and for world peace – among