OECD: Ominous Signs for International Investment

By Michael Gestrin, OECD After two years of steady gains, international M&A activity plunged by $107 billion, or 45%, in the first quarter of 2012. This is the second lowest level of international M&A since the start of the global

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G20 Summit: Merkel still wants both Austerity and Growth in the Eurozone… but still no clue as to who will pick up the tab

Angela Merkel brushed off criticism of her focus on austerity, as the leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies focused their attention on the crisis in the Eurozone. In Los Cabos the EU largely postponed the discussion on the specifics

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MIGA (World Bank): During the Storm – Shift from North to South FDI

By Manabu Nose and Moritz Zander[1] At MIGA (the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency) we see the principal near-term risks for emerging market foreign direct investment (FDI) on the supply-side of financing. Despite a rise of emerging market risk perceptions, demand

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Baker & McKenzie Continues to Expand its Global Reach

Baker & McKenzie seems determined to remain true to its founding principles of 60 years ago to be a truly global firm; it has just announced that it has opened a new office in Johannesburg with immediate effect with partners,

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Stuart Gulliver keeps HSBC on Track for Focused Global Growth

HSBC is one of a hand full of truly global banks with both corporate and personal customers. As globalisation continues HSBC is extremely well positioned to take advantage of the shift of economic power to Asia, with its strong position

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African Union Summit Now to Take Place in Ethiopia

The African Union summit has been moved to the Ethiopian capital after Malawi refused to host the gathering. Malawi has blocked the attendance of Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The July

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Ugandan Oil PLC is Off the Starting Blocks

It looks like Uganda and some of the oil companies involved are finally about to reap the rewards that will help transform the Ugandan Economy and some of the companies involved. Investors have been given the go-ahead to tap into

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KCB CEO Has Been Buying Into the Success He Is Driving

The chief executive of KCB Group has bought KCB shares in a demonstration of his confidence in the company he leads. KCB’s annual report shows chief executive Martin Oduor-Otieno bought shares last year. Mr Oduor-Otieno has been the CEO of

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Foreign Direct Investments in RSA

By Nataly Marchbank (Senior Manager, International) and Hasinah Essop (Senior Consultant, International Tax) – PricewaterhouseCoopers South Africa There are many jurisdictions internationally which are popular with multinational groups for the purposes of establishing holding and headquarter companies, for instance Luxembourg, the Netherlands,

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Namibia’s Changing Tax Landscape – From Simple to Complex

The collection of revenue for the Namibian fiscus has been under scrutiny for some time.  Questions have been posed as to whether Namibia should change from a territorial (source) based tax system to a residency based system to increase the

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