offshore-finances.com

Offshore finance centers in the Caribbean are claiming that the ‘goal posts have been moved’ in relation to their attempts to clean up the system, reports the BBC.

Premier O’Neal, of the British Virgin Islands, told the BBC that his country has signed agreements with a number of countries to share information, including the UK, Australia, the US and China. He added that countries in the G20 were "shifting the goal posts".

In recent years offshore finance centers in the Caribbean have come under scrutiny after high-profile campaigns by some G20 nations.

The UK government vowed to clamp down on ‘tax havens’ and announced harsher fines for offshore tax evaders in 2009. Some claim that the taxes imposed on high earning individuals are driving company directors abroad. The latest figures, composed by the writer of the Sunday Times rich list, suggest that they are leaving the country at a rate of ten per week.

Pascal Saint-Amans, from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) told the BBC that it intends to create a global forum to discuss offshore finance on a ‘level playing field’.

Earlier in 2009, the Bahamas minister of state for finance made a pledge to run the country’s offshore business centres to the highest standards and ensure its removal from any blacklists.

Written by Chris Moore.

The strong international jobs market in Australia is attracting high numbers of immigrants who have suffered from the recession, according to a new report.

Figures released this week show that there has been an increase of 25 per cent in the number of working visas issued to Irish expats by the Australian government. In total 2,501 visas were issued in 2009, compared with 1,989 in 2008.

The figures also show that increasing numbers of Irish nationals are migrating to Canada with 400 extra visas being issued this year.

Ireland is one of the European countries which has been hit hardest by the global economic crisis. International property prices in the country plummeted and the unemployment rate stands at 12.5 per cent, according to the Central Statistics Office.

In comparison the most recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show unemployment is at 5.7 per cent in the country, and has been decreasing in recent months.

Australia has an extremely competitive immigration system and operates a number of lists to determine the skills migrants need. These include the Critical Skills List (CSL), Migration Occupations in Demand list and the Longer Skills Occupation List.

The Irish Times reports that many building trades were taken off the CSL this year, which could effect international recruitment in the sector.

Written by Andy Price.

Business leaders still believe that international recruitment gives them a competitive edge in the wake of the global economic crisis.

A new survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit and Western Union found that 76 per cent of business leaders believed foreign workers had a positive affect on the economy, while more than half said that the recession had not changed the number of workers which they were hiring from abroad.

The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey found that employers in 25 out of 35 countries which took part were expecting to hire staff in the first quarter of 2010.

Hikmet Ersek, Western Union chief operating officer-designate, said: "While economic insecurity is putting politicians under pressure to protect jobs for locals, it is clear that business leaders still see an open economy with economic migration as essential to drive the recovery."

However he added that few corporate leaders would air these views in a public forum.

Specific skills were named as one of the top reasons for hiring foreign workers. Almost 80 per cent looked to the international recruitment market to fill specific staffing needs and an overwhelming majority believed foreign workers added to the overall skill set and competitiveness of their firm.

Written by Charles Mackay.

The international property market in Abu Dhabi remained stable in December following two of the most active months of the year.

Statistics from the latest Landmark Advisory suggested that both buyers and sellers were waiting for a sign from the property development community that it would be meeting its delivery targets. This is despite October and November being two of the most active sales months of 2009.

Abu Dhabi recently gave its neighbour Dubai a $10 billion (£6,294,419,764) bail out in a bid to aid the state from crashing property prices and a substantial debt burden

There were also suggestions that sellers were lowering their expectations in some areas, as asking prices in Al Bandar dropped nine per cent. Over all the state registered an increase in asking prices of five to six per cent.

Ms Jesse Downs, director of research and advisory services at the Landmark Advisory, said: "Prices are only likely to increase for developments that are close to completion during 2010. As these developments get closer to completion, transaction volumes are expected to increase, which could gradually lead to marginal price increases."

She added that demand may have been "restricted" because delivery dates on developments have been pushed back.

Written by Tom Britten.

Compugen Ltd. (CGEN) announced on Wednesday that it has raised $20 million through a share sale. The Israel-based company sold approximately 4.1 million ordinary shares at an average price of $4.91 each in the open market during the period November 13, 2009 to December 29, 2009. 

Compugen is engaged in drug and diagnostic product candidate discovery and their commercialization through early-stage licensing and co-development agreements. The company’s business is focused on developing … [visit site to read more]

We recently initiated coverage on DENTSPLY International Inc. (XRAY) with a Neutral recommendation. We rate the stock Neutral with a target price of $37 based on a P/E of 18.3x our 2010 EPS estimate of $2.02. 

DENTSPLY reported third quarter fiscal 2009 earnings per share of 44 cents, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate but slightly lower than the year-ago figure of 46 cents. The company’s sales were roughly flat year over year at $531.0 million. Excluding the precious metal … [visit site to read more]

The telecommunications network specialist Ciena Corporation (CIEN) announced that it has received regulatory approval under the Investment Canada Act for the proposed acquisition of Nortel Network Corp.’s optical networking and carrier ethernet business for a total consideration of $769 million. Ciena said that the regulatory approval validates that the deal is beneficial for Canada. 

Ciena will pay $530 million in cash and $239 million in convertible notes for Nortel’s Metro optical … [visit site to read more]

U.S. pay czar Kenneth Feinberg said on Wednesday that Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) are being discriminated, with respect to pay restrictions, from other companies receiving significant financial support from the government as they countenance a unique set of problems. 

The pay czar, who decides compensation-packages for the highest-paid employees at all the firms that received bailout money and have not repaid yet, considers the situation of Fannie … [visit site to read more]

 A spat between the Fox division of News Corp. (NWSA) and Time Warner Cable (TWC) threatens to cause a midnight blackout of Fox programming, as Fox seeks $1/month/subscriber and Time Warner is willing to pay 20 cents.

 Piper Jaffray (PJC) maintains an “overweight” rating on Target (TGT) shares, with a $57 price target.

 Gencor (GENC) reported a fourth quarter loss of 12 cents versus one penny a year ago on revenue of $10.4 million, down from $21.5 million last … [visit site to read more]

Well, here we are with only hours left before the year is over. Virtually every investment is up other than the US dollar.

Not much has changed since my last gold market trends report. But I have provided some interesting charts that show us what is possible in the coming weeks for the dollar, gold and natural gas.

US Dollar Trend Analysis – Resistance Levels

The dollar has shown some strength in the past month. It was a no brainer trade for 2009. You were either long gold or short the … [visit site to read more]