PHILIPPINES:UNCOOPERATIVE TAX HAVENS??

LONDON – The Philippines was among four nations blacklisted as uncooperative tax havens yesterday after Group of 20 leaders declared the age of banking secrecy was over and said they would no longer tolerate shady havens draining away badly needed tax revenue.

At the request of the G20 summit of rich and developing nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) named the Philippines, Uruguay, Costa Rica and the Malaysian territory of Labuan as the worst offenders, saying they had refused to adopt new rules on financial openness.

Leaders had agreed to name and shame the countries that refuse to exchange tax information, which could result in tough sanctions – including the withdrawal of financing by the World Bank or International Monetary Fund.

“The time of banking secrecy has passed,” French President Nicholas Sarkozy said following the summit. “Everyone around the table wants an end to tax havens. Everyone knows we need sanctions.”

The announcement reflects mounting concern that banking secrecy in tax havens has helped to worsen the economic crisis by disguising the true value of some global assets. Anti-poverty activists say such places provide corrupt officials places to stash illicit funds, often depriving poor nations of needed resources.

The OECD has divided countries into three categories: those who comply with rules on sharing tax information, those who say they will but have yet to act and nations which have not yet agreed to change banking secrecy practices.

Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which both have strong banking secrecy traditions, said last month they would adopt international rules on tax cooperation and were ready to comply with G20 demands.

Liechtenstein, Switzerland’s tiny Alpine neighbor, said it has already met with British officials to prepare for the new standards. Monaco said earlier that it would be more transparent with foreign tax authorities.

In return they were spared the fate of being blacklisted but were left in a gray area of countries that still have to implement their commitment to accept new information-exchange standards.

China supported the blacklisting, but would not agree to have two territories, Hong Kong and Macau, classified as uncooperative tax havens.

Potential sanctions for transgressors include extra audits of those who use tax havens and curbs on tax deductions claimed by businesses using the territories.

In their communiqué, leaders said they may consider further penalties in their bilateral relations with tax haven territories.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Brown and President Barack Obama played a key role in pushing for a crackdown on tax havens.

At least 35 offshore tax havens, from Britain’s Channel Islands to the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean, are under increasing pressure to provide more information to international authorities to prevent people from evading taxes or hiding income by shifting money to such places.

Stephen Timms, financial secretary to the British Treasury, said a culture of banking secrecy had worsened global economic problems.

“That lack of transparency – that opaqueness – has contributed to the severity of the problems we are seeing in the world economy at the moment,” he said.

Sorry is not enough...the damage was done..

Is that Enough?

The Hong Kong-based magazine columnist who labeled the Philippines as a “nation of servants” has issued a public apology for the racial slur, reports said today.

According to reports, HK Magazine columnist Chip Tsao made the apology last night over a local TV station in Hong Kong.

The apology came a few days after Tsao branded the Philippines “a nation of servants” in his column titled “The War at Home.” He also reportedly told his Filipina servant that he will terminate her employment in the event the Philippines takes over the highly disputed Spratly islands.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) yesterday barred Chao from entering the Philippines, adding that “he could only be allowed entry to the country following a public apology for his insults.”

Headline

Filipino uses Internet not for Business bu for Games and Social Networking



Internet usage in the Philippines is on the increase but rarely for doing business online -- most people are using the web for social networking or to play games, according to a survey Thursday

It is the first time such a survey has been conducted in the Philippines, where only around 20 million people -- 22 percent of the country's 90 million population -- have access to the Internet.

The survey by Yahoo! and consumer information group Nielsen found that most of those going online are between 10 and 29 and are educated and techno-savvy.

It showed that 53 percent of Internet users play online games, and only 24 percent read the news online.

In stark contrast, "online transactions or commerce remain low," with only three percent conducting banking activities or making purchases online.

Nielsen executive director Jay Bautista said internet users are forecast to increase by at least 10 percent this year.

However, he said the global economic downturn, which has softened economies around the world, would likely "flatten or bring down ad spending" just as it did during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

The survey was carried out from October to November last year and covered some 1,200 people across the Southeast Asian archipelago.