The current EU legislation for investment funds (the UCITS Directive) has been the basis for an integrated market facilitating the cross-border offer of collective investment funds. But more can be done as new challenges lie ahead: enhancement of the EU-framework for collective investments could be a significant contribution to European economic reform in the run-up to 2010.
Private equity is the name loosely given to an industry which draws capital into specific funds, managed by management groups, which may be quoted or unquoted. Hitherto, quoted funds or management groups have been rare, but there have been several in the UK, and some US groups have recently sought to list. Private equity groups take stakes, often involving control or full ownership, in companies across a wide array of industries.
This consultation is about the proposal in the 2006 Review of Links with Large Business for a new approach to transfer pricing enquiries. Effective transfer pricing rules are an essential part of UK tax policy, protecting the tax base and ensuring fairness between companies and between countries.
Budget 2007 announced a major set of reforms to modernise the domestic corporation tax base, marking a further milestone in the Government's objective to maintain a competitive tax system for business. Alongside domestic reform, the Government also committed to consult on reforming the taxation of foreign profits.
CESR is publishing today a questionnaire regarding the rating of structured finance instruments. The purpose of this questionnaire is to enable CESR to gather information from interested parties on the functioning of this specific segment of the rating business.
