Australia To Review Tax Laws On Islamic Finance

By: Ainsley Brown When an industry approaches being worth close to a trillion dollars it can no longer be considered a passing fancy or fad – Islamic banking and finance (IBF) is real and is as much a part of the global financial system as “conventional” finance. It is this realization that has prompted Australia to conduct a review of

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India Needs To Improve Its Corporate Governance

By: Ainsley Brown India has needs to improve its corporate governance regime; so says, the Hong Kong based advocacy group, Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA). The ACGA’s report comes in the wake of the Satyam Computer Services scandal where the companies head admitted to defrauding the company for many years. The scandal helped expose so of the obvious as well

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Credit Suisse Brazilian Insider Trading Case Settled

By: Ainsley Brown Credit Suisse has agreed to settle allegations of insider trading in Brazil for R$19.2 million. The fine is the second largest, after the Banco Safra case of 2007, levied on a company by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil – Commissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM). The offer to settle is substantially more than Credit Suisse’s original

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“Secrets“ about the US credit card business

By: Rechtsanwalt (Attorney) Carsten Lexa, LL.M. I´m not sure whether the following are really “secrets”. Very likely they are not. But they are definitely not commonly known – even to US-Americans, who use, on average, about 8 credit cards per person. Especially the Germans always wonder about the problems the US-Americans have with credit cards and how it is possible

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The not so ethical investments

By Charles Wanguhu Financial institutions offering Ethical investment in practice exclude companies with interests in armaments, oppressive regimes, nuclear power, tobacco, vivisection, gambling, alcohol and pornography. Environmental (and ethical) investments also aim to invest in companies with positive effects on the environment. Characteristics of such companies include but are not limited to: socially responsible, environmentally conscious companies, and equal opportunity

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Litigation…..A New Investment Vehicle?

By: Ainsley Brown It is unquestionable that litigation is big business for lawyers, especially in complex commercial matters. The billable hours that can be racked up can be astonishing – and unlike popular belief is not largely due to an over inflation in the billing procedures of lawyers, though no doubt this can be an issue for some at times

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Vulture, Tigers And Lions: New African Development Bank Legal Support Facility Set Ambitious Goals.

By: Ainsley Brown The African Development Bank (AfDB) has engineered a legal support wing charged with the responsibility of evening out the imbalance in legal expertise that many African nations face when negotiating complex commercial transactions. It will also serve as a necessary firewall for these nations by providing top notch legal advocacy when facing litigation, especially from vulture funds.

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Obama Administration Toxic Asset Plan: I Just Don’t Get It.

By: Ainsley Brown I must say that I consider myself a relatively intelligent person – though admittedly not an economic guy – I believe myself able to grasp practically any concept once explained. And the Obama toxic asset plan, I just don’t get it. Please do not read this as either a general criticism of the President or the specific

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