A roundup of the most read stories on eprivateclient this week…
Monday
Swiss law firm Lindemann Attorneys at Law in Zurich added Dr Ariel Sergio Goekmen-Davidoff as a partner from 1 June 2020. With over 34 years experience, prior to joining Lindemann, Dr Goekmen-Davidoff was a member of the executive board in charge of private banking at Schroder & Co Bank AG Zürich as well as CEO and partner at Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG Liechtenstein.
Despite the degree of uncertainty for what life after lockdown will bring, Britons are feeling positive about their financial futures, a new study revealed. A survey of 2,002 UK adults revealed that despite the current situation, 72 percent of Brits are feeling positive about life after the pandemic, whilst the average British adult claimed to have saved £495 per month, due to the current social interaction restrictions.
MPs in the UK voted in favour of a bill introducing "no-fault" divorces in England and Wales. The bill passed its first hurdle in the Commons by 231 votes to 16 against, following a debate and was been welcomed by the private client sector in the UK. Under current rules, an individual has to allege adultery, unreasonable behaviour or desertion has taken place in order to start divorce proceedings immediately. The new rules will mean that one spouse will only have to state that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) stated that media reports suggesting that there were large flows of deposits from Hong Kong to Singapore were incorrect. While foreign currency deposits in Singapore have grown substantially since the beginning of this year, the order of magnitude is much less than cited in some media reports, the MAS said. Instead, it said that the “growth in foreign currency deposits has come from diverse sources and for varied reasons.”
James Campbell, a partner at Ogier in Jersey, spoke to eprivateclient about some fiduciary and practical issues relevant to trustees in the private wealth area in Jersey during this unprecedented period of social distancing, travel restrictions and turbulent markets. Mr Campbell said that there was no doubt that in this COVID-19 environment that trusts and the value of trust funds will be impacted but that the pandemic would not change a trustee's core fiduciary duties…
Hip hop megastar Kanye West was pipped into second place in the latest Forbes’ celebrity earnings list by his sister-in-law Kylie Jenner who earned a whopping $590 million in the last year compated to the $170 million Mr West made in 2019. The rankings saw the world’s highest-paid celebrities earn a combined $6.1 billion before taxes and fees, a $200 million drop from 2019. The decline was the first since 2016.
Following on from the news revealed on eprivateclient last week that former Top 35 Under 35 Alice Killingbeck had joined KPMG to head up its new family office & private client legal offering, the Big Four advisory firm also hired 2019 Top 35 Under 35, Harriet Kwarteng as part of this new team. Ms Kwarteng, a senior manager, also joined from PwC and will work with Ms Killingbeck advising family offices and individuals on their private wealth, corporate structures and succession planning.
Dubai’s Emirates NDB bank held a virtual ceremony where it gave away watches and luxury cars as rewards for customers who have increased their savings balances. The bank’s ‘Save.Win.Drive’ campaign was aimed at incentivising clients to increase their cash reserves, and ran between September 2019 and February 2020. An entry to the draw was gained each time a customer increased their balance by AED 10,000 (£2,150) in an on-call account or AED 20,000 for a fixed deposit. The bank gave away three Mercedes-Maybach S650s – worth about £160,000 each – along with Omega Speedmaster watches as a second-tier prize.
The States of Guernsey approved proposals to amend the legal framework relating to beneficial ownership. Offshore law firm Mourant said that the amendments now provide "much needed clarity" in certain areas, and 'plug' any gaps, which have been identified in the current beneficial ownership regime since the law was enacted.
Proposed extensions for homebuyers to qualify for stamp duty surcharge reclaims need to be expanded, tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg said. The firm’s call for further reform came after the UK government announced that it would change the law to allow homebuyers to reclaim the stamp duty surcharge where they sell their old home outside the three-year window in ‘exceptional circumstances’.