Pointing to the European Union’s (EU) decision to include aviation in its emissions trading scheme (ETS), IATA Director General and CEO Tony Tyler told the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Air Transport Symposium in Montreal that a globally-coordinated approach is needed to manage the aviation industry’s contribution to man-made CO2 emissions rather than a regional approach which “distorts markets

About 1,780 expatriates gave up their nationality at U.S. embassies last year, up from 235 in 2008, according to Andy Sundberg, secretary of Geneva’s Overseas American Academy, citing figures from the government’s Federal Register. The embassy in Bern, the Swiss capital, redeployed staff to clear a backlog as Americans queued to relinquish their passports.

The U.S., the only nation in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that taxes citizens wherever they reside, is searching for tax cheats in offshore centers, including Switzerland, as the government tries to curb the budget deficit.

According to the Irish Funds Industry Association (IFIA), representatives from the Irish Revenue are in contact with the US Treasury, with discussions ongoing.

FATCA, enacted in March 2010, is intended to ensure that the US tax authorities obtain information on financial accounts, above certain limits, held by US taxpayers at foreign financial institutions (FFIs). Failure by an FFI to disclose information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would result in a requirement to withhold 30% tax on US-source income. It is thought that Ireland wants any agreed approach to FATCA to be based on domestic tax reporting legislation and an automatic exchange of information under existing bilateral tax treaties.

Allianz, Europe’s biggest insurer, expects higher profit this year, helped by the “high single-digit price increase” it secured for German motor insurance in 2011. Zurich Insurance, Switzerland’s biggest insurer, reported that general insurance rates rose by more than 3 percent last year.

The record $105 billion of natural disaster claims that depressed earnings last year may give insurers and reinsurers that help them shoulder risks for clients the leverage to push through property and casualty price increases.

The Global Forum has also issued three supplementary reports, in respect of Barbados, Bermuda and Qatar, which assess whether these jurisdictions have acted upon the Forum’s recommendations to improve agreements and legislation. All three jurisdictions’ compliance with the international standards have since progressed significantly, the OECD reported, and Phase 2 reviews in respect of Bermuda and Qatar will take place in the second half of 2012, with Barbados’s Phase 2 review scheduled for the first half of 2013.

In his annual budget statement Wednesday, George Osborne said he was cutting the top rate from 50 percent to 45 percent by April next year on incomes over 150,000 pounds ($239,000) a year. He argued that the original higher rate did not yield as much as expected, partly because the rich were able to avoid the tax. Osborne sought to deflect criticism that the coalition government was being soft on the wealthy by announcing a big hike in the level at which Britons start paying tax, to 9,205 pounds ($14,500).

Discussions on the effects of FATCA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) have focused on banks, but custodians, investment vehicles and insurance companies will also be required to meet the requirements of the IRS, the US tax authority, or be liable for a levy on interest, dividends and gross proceeds from US assets, Mary Burke Baker and Roger Wise told delegates to a ‘Why do I still need to worry about FATCA?’ briefing.

The amendment would allow the Treasury Department to take a range of measures against foreign governments and financial institutions that significantly impede U.S. tax enforcement.  The amendment was offered by Senators Carl Levin, D-Mich., Kent Conrad, D-N.H., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. The provisions had been part of legislation that Levin has been pushing for since 2007, most recently as part of his CUT Loopholes Act

The US Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board said on Friday that they will jointly look at ways to align the key aspects of their models as part of separate reviews into their standards.

The IASB will consider aligning its standards as part of a “limited-scope” review of IFRS 9, while the FASB will consider changes as part of its ongoing re-deliberation of its own financial instruments standard, which was issued in May 2010.

While the President did not elaborate on the proposed tax measures, they are expected to form part of the 2013 federal budget blueprint, which is due to be sent to Congress during the first week in February.

The third offshore program comes as the IRS continues working on a wide range of international tax issues, particularly in the area of compliance, and will remain open for an indefinite period until otherwise announced.

Opinion is divided on whether such amnesty schemes achieve higher rates of tax compliance among those with offshore financial arrangements.

According to a report in “The Financial Times” today [Jan. 3] exposures in Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Vietnam have all seen big premium rises during the key January 1 policy renewal negotiations on reinsurance contracts that escaped losses from natural catastrophes in 2011.

BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank both had their long-term issuer default rating downgraded by one notch to A plus, while Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs were downgraded from A plus to A.

Barclays and Credit Suisse were downgraded by two notches to A, Fitch announced on Thursday evening.

The WEF’s study ranks 60 of the world’s leading financial systems and capital markets, analysing the drivers of financial system development that support economic growth. The seven pillars assessed are: institutional environment, business environment, financial stability, banking financial services, non-banking financial services, financial markets and financial access.

To achieve the ambitious objectives, the heads of state called for a renewed contract between eurozone member states.

In the letter, the Franco-German heads of state underscored the need for measures to be urgently implemented to overcome the crisis and to substantially strengthen the architecture of the economic and monetary union.