FWU named "best bancatakaful" at Islamic Business & Finance awards

The FWU Group was recently awarded the 2009 "Best Bancatakaful" award in recognition of its Family Takaful products: unit-linked savings plans that are compliant with shariah law. FWU produces white-label products that are distributed by banks in the GCC region and throughout the Islamic world. FWU Luxembourg plays its part in a truly international product. read more...

New professional association for the private equity community: LPEA

The Luxembourg private equity and venture capital community turned out in force for the launch of a new professional association to represent its interests. President of the LPEA (Luxembourg Private Equity & Venture Capital Association), Hans-Jürgen Schmitz of Mangrove Capital Partners, explained "It was time for Luxembourg to establish its dedicated industry association for Private Equity and Venture Capital."  read more...

Tax Report: Luxembourg ranks first within the EU

Luxembourg has confirmed its reputation as a competitive country to do business from a tax perspective. The country ranks first within the European Union for its total tax rate and the time necessary to comply with filing obligations. These data are taken from the latest report “Paying Taxes 2010-the global picture “from PricewaterhouseCoopers and The World Bank Group. The study measures the ease of paying taxes across 183 economies worldwide by assessing both the cost of taxes and the administrative burden of tax compliance.  read more...

VAT rules: all change in 2010

Ernst & Young has just published a handbook on the new VAT rules that came into effect at the beginning of January. The book is timely, since the new VAT package will affect all financial service providers in the financial centre.

Two Directives, one on the place of supply of services, the other on the VAT refund procedure, were adopted by the council of the European Union on 12 February 2008. The objectives pursued by the new rules are, on one hand, to ensure that VAT on services will accrue to the country of consumption and, on the other hand, to establish a faster and more efficient procedure for claiming VAT refunds. read more...

Clarification of tax treatment of Islamic finance transactions

The Luxembourg Tax Director has published a Circular underlining the fact that Shariah compliant financial products receive the same tax treatment as conventional financial products. The news will reassure investors who wish to manage their investments in a way that respects Islamic values. Islamic finance is one of the priorities of the Luxembourg Government in the framework of its policy for the diversification of the financial centre.  read more...