2009 Corruption Perceptions Index

Transparency International’s 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) shows 180 countries ranked according to their perceived level of public sector corruption.  The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) table shows a country’s ranking and score, the number of surveys used to…

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Russia: Judicial Trends in Thin Capitalization

For the purpose of protecting domestic interests, most states limit taxpayers’ ability to recognize interest on loans or credits as expenses reducing corporate profit tax payments, particularly where such interest is paid to a related entity outside the…

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Australia: Tighter Restrictions on Foreign Takeovers

  The Australian government approved legislation to tighten rules preventing foreign investors from using complex takeover arragements to bypass relevant laws to gain control of an Australian company.  The changes, approved yesterday, mean financial instruments such as convertible…

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Russia: The Validity of Shareholders’ Agreements within the Russian Federation

In the summer of 2009, the Russian legislative authorities amended the federal legislation in order to recognize the validity of agreements among shareholders of Russian joint-stock companies.  The Amendments recognize shareholders agreements as a special contractual type and…

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Australia: Directors, Entrepreneurship, Insolvencies and the Law

The Rudd government appears to be changing its tune, when the Minister for Corporate Law, Chris Bowen, released a set of proposals to reform insolvency law to give company directors more protection from distressed companies and enhance the…

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Venezuela: Chavez Continues March, Relies on Nationalization

Following the inextricable match towards the socialist utopia, and the destruction of the Venezuelan economy, President Hugo Chavez announced the seizure of French-Colombian supermarket chain Exito, on the grounds that it had broken the law by raising prices…

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Brazil: How Independent Should the Central Bank Be?

A standoff between Argentina’s government and central bank has sharpened debate in neighboring Brazil over the need for Congress to pass a bill making the country’s central bank formally independent. While most developed nations struggle to ascertain the…

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Chile: The “Entrepreneurial President”

Sebastián Piñera, Chile’s president-elect, has promised to apply the entrepreneurial skill that made him a billionaire to reinvigorating the national economy. Mr. Piñera maintains that by cutting red tape, enhancing investment incentives and administering the public sector more…

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Malaysia: Broader Based Consumption Tax Proposed

Malaysia is poised to move from a general sales and services tax to a more broad based comprehensive Goods and Services Tax (“GST”).   The benefits of this sort of move is well documented in other countries, including…

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