The
development of the European single market
during the 1980s and 1990s, together
with a consistently pro-business attitude
on the part of the Irish Government
has seen the emergence of Ireland as
one of the fastest-growing European
states, and the establishment of the
International Financial Services Centre
in Dublin, along with the Shannon Airport
tax-free area, has led to the development
of a substantial offshore business sector,
made more or less redundant in 2003
by Ireland's adoption of a universal
12.5% corporate tax rate.
According
to the Finance Dublin Yearbook 2008,
total employment in the three core sectors
of banking, funds and insurance stood
at more than 25,000 at end December
2007, up by 31% from 19,095 on the same
date two years earlier.
This
section of the site describes the main
business sectors in which 'offshore'
or other tax-privileged regimes are
available. The forms and structures
used by these business sectors are described
in Offshore
Legal and Tax Regimes, and the
legal basis for some of them in Law
of Offshore.
Ireland
Corporate Financial Services
N.B. It should be noted that as from
2002, however, no further entrants were
permitted to the IFSC due to the harmonised
taxation regime agreed with the EU.
The
'offshore' environment provided by the
International Financial Services Centre
(IFSC) in Dublin is attractive to multinationals
looking to locate treasury management
and other corporate financial functions
in a fiscally-flexible but sophisticated
environment, and many such operations
have based themselves there.
Application
for a certificate entitling a company
to favourable tax treatment is made
to the Industrial Development Agency
(IDA) and the certificate is issued
by the Minister of Finance. See Offshore
Legal and Tax Regimes for a
full description of the IFSC and the
application process.
Among
the stated activities which the IFSC
was set up to encourage and accommodate
are a number of corporate functions,
including the following:
- the
provision of foreign currency services
for non-residents;
- the
carrying on of financial services
for non-residents including global
money management, dealing and trading
in securities denominated in foreign
currencies;
- the
provision for non-residents of services
of or facilities for processing,
control, accountancy, communication,
clearing, settlement or information
storage in relation to financial
activities; and
- the
development or supply of software
for use in the provision of services
or facilities mentioned in the last
item.
Since
2003, companies established in the IFSC
are supervised by the Irish Financial
Services Authority. See Law
of Offshore for further details.
It is not necessary to establish a separate
subsidiary in order to carry out corporate
financial functions in the IFSC; there
are agency companies and 'shared service
centres' which provide certificated
services to overseas client corporations
for a number of the more usual corporate
functions.
The
growing reputation of Dublin as a global
financial centre was boosted in November,
2004, with the opening of a new oil
trading floor in the city by the New
York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the
world’s largest commodities exchange.
In what was seen as a direct challenge
to London’s International Petroleum
Exchange, Europe’s foremost energy trading
exchange, around 40 traders normally
based in London or New York began trading
on floor space leased from the New York
Board of Trade’s FINEX Dublin operation.
The Brent crude oil futures contract
is traded using the open outcry system
under the same terms and conditions
as its counterpart listed in New York,
except that it is listed 30 consecutive
months forward with additional long–dated
futures initially listed 36, 48, 60,
72, and 84 months prior to delivery.
“This
project is a highly significant win
for Ireland”, noted Deirdre Lyons of
IDA Ireland, a governmental body responsible
for promoting the Republic’s financial
services industry. We
hope this is the first step in encouraging
the company to list additional trades
in Dublin, including heating oil, gold
and silver, all of which are currently
traded in New York”.
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Ireland Licensing, Royalties and Franchising
Ireland is a convenient location in
which to base companies for the collection
of royalties or other payments resulting
from the exploitation of intellectual
property rights, due to the special
tax regime offered in the Shannon Airport
Area (see Offshore
Legal and Tax Regimes). The
low Shannon tax rates (10%) were originally
valid until 31/12/2005, but have been
overtaken at least for new companies
by the 12.5% corporation tax rate for
all companies, which
became operative from 1st January
2003 (see Direct
Corporate Taxation).
The
activities eligible for 'Shannon' treatment
included:
Two
licences were
needed to take advantage of the Shannon
regime: one, from the Minister for Enterprise
and Employment, covering actual operation
in the Shannon Airport Area; the other,
from the Minister for Finance, certifying
that the proposed activities qualified
for the reduced tax rate.
Acquisition
by the Irish company of the rights in
the first place can usually be carried
out without a stamp duty or transfer charge;
and there are no thin capitalisation rules,
so that capital duties will be minimal.
Ireland's
extensive network of Double
Tax Treaties will ensure that
incoming revenues are normally free of
withholding taxes. In some cases,
the tax treaty might have excluded
payments destined for companies which
don't pay 'normal' taxes; this problem
has perhaps disappeared now that the 12.5%
rate is in force, because it is the EU-accepted
'normal' rate.
In
mid-2002 the UK government announced that
as a result of the 12.5% corporation tax
rate it would no longer automatically
exclude Irish companies from operation
of its CFC (Controlled Foreign Corporation)
rules.
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Ireland Investment
Fund Management
As an EU member with a recognised stock
exchange, a good network of double tax
treaties, and favourable tax rules,
Ireland has been successful at attracting
mutual fund and investment fund business,
even if it is not quite in the same
league as Luxembourg: as of December
30, 2009, the Irish Stock Exchange had
1,270 funds, 1,939 sub-funds and 7,960
fund classes listed. The exchange has
actively encouraged the fund market
to make up a short fall in more traditional
business.
To
list on the Irish Stock Exchange, an
EU fund must pay a listing fee
of EUR1,900
plus a similar amount in annual fees.
Non-EU funds must
pay EUR1,980 to list. Additionally,
around
EUR10,000 is charged by advisors to
help list a fund, with a further EUR1,000
charged annually in administration fees.
Ireland
has implemented the EU UCITS directive.
Other than for UCITS funds, funds of
funds are permitted within limits, and
umbrella funds are allowed for all types
of vehicle. There are no restrictions
on the domicile of funds to be listed,
but retail funds must be domiciled in
'recognised' jurisdictions, which for
the ISE means EU countries, the Channel
Islands, the Isle of Man, Hong Kong
and Bermuda; or at the discretion of
the ISE they can be admitted if they
are subject to an equivalent level of
regulation.
About
40% of the funds listed on the stock
exchange are also domiciled in Ireland,
many of them in the International Financial
Services Centre (IFSC). For a company
based in the IFSC, a certificate could
be obtained from the Minister for Finance
giving access to a 10% taxation rate;
application was
made initially to the Industrial Development
Agency. As from 2002, however, no further
entrants were
permitted to the IFSC due to the harmonised
taxation regime agreed with the EU.
See
Offshore Legal
and Tax Regimes for further
information on the IFSC and the ISE.
The
tax position of funds domiciled in Ireland
can be complex. Exemption from tax is
available for payments to non-residents
in treaty countries; but sometimes the
treaty wording disallows exempted dividend
or interest flows. Then there is the
IFSC to consider, and finally the
12.5% 'normal' rate of corporation
tax which operates fully from 1st January
2003.
Resident
Irish taxpayers have historically paid
20% tax annually on the gains from investments
in Irish-based funds. However from 1
January, 2001 a new tax regime was implemented
in the form of an 'exit tax' of 23%
on gains on encashment or maturity of
investment funds; this rate was increased
to 26% as of 2009.
The
fund
services industry grew 18% in the year
to the end of June, 2008, as it continued
to attract non-domiciled funds and money
market funds, according to data from
fund research firm Lipper. Total fund
assets domiciled in Ireland rose to
$1.24 trillion up from $1.1 trillion.
Fund
assets currently serviced in Ireland
rose to $1.93 trillion from $1.63 trillion
in the period.
Ed
Moisson, director of European fiduciary
operations at Lipper, said: "The
industry's success in servicing non-domiciled
funds, as well as money market products,
has served it well of late and should
continue to do so in current circumstances."
Of
353 fund management companies with funds
domiciled in Dublin, U.S. fund management
companies represent the largest group,
with assets of $531.6 billion domiciled
there.
It
was announced in November 2004 that
the Dublin Funds Industry Association
was in talks with the Irish Financial
Services Regulatory Authority with regard
to the creation of a regulatory regime
which would allow retail hedge funds
to be sold in Ireland.
The
groundwork for the move had already
been laid, according to Global Fund
News, as the Irish authorities
had the previous year created
regulations permitting retail investors
to access funds of hedge funds.
Dublin
Funds Industry Association executive,
Declan Casey observed at the time that:
"Alternative investments have been in
vogue in the last few years and Dublin
has gained a strong reputation in this
area but we are well aware of the many
obstacles that lie ahead. The issue
of disclosure for retail hedge funds
remains difficult. But retail hedge
funds are definitely on the agenda."
On
December 18, 2009, the Companies (Miscellaneous
Provisions) Act 2009, passed by the
upper house of the Irish parliament,
which will enable investment funds to
re-domicile to Ireland more simply and
efficiently.
The
new legislation provides a clear framework
designed to address and minimize the
challenges currently experienced when
re-domiciling a fund. The legislation
has been drafted to specifically allow
a fund structured as a corporate entity
in another domicile to re-register in
Ireland with its original corporate
identity retained, ensuring continuity
of activity and continuation of arrangements.
In
addition, the legislation simplifies
the considerations involved when re-domiciling.
These include the ability to re-domicile
a fund at a single meeting of shareholders
in the jurisdiction from which the fund
is seeking to move; and a single filing
of registration documentation with the
Companies Registration Office in Ireland
to include a statutory declaration from
a director of the company. The simplified
process should therefore reduce the
burden and cost of re-domiciling by
eliminating unnecessary shareholder
meetings, notary declarations, certificates
and reports.
Responding
to the immediate need for a simple and
efficient legislative process and to
shorten the timeframe for the enactment
of primary legislation, the legislative
provisions were included in the Companies
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009,
as amendments to the Bill.
Welcoming
the new legislation, the Tánaiste
and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and
Employment, Mary Coughlan, said: “The
investment funds industry in Ireland
has gained international recognition
and prospered by fostering an environment
of openness, transparency and regulation.
As investment funds seek to re-establish
themselves in regulated European jurisdictions,
it is highly appropriate that we enable
them to do so by ensuring our legislative
framework is as efficient as possible."
Irish
Minister for Trade and Commerce, Billy
Kelleher on January 4, announced the
enactment of the Companies (Miscellaneous
Provisions) Act 2009. According to the
Trade Minister, most of the provisions
in the Act entered into force with immediate
effect.
The
2010 Irish Finance Bill included a package
of measures is being introduced to improve
the attractiveness of Ireland as a base
for internationally-traded services,
particularly financial services. These
include: exemption from completion of
non-resident declarations for foreign
investors in Irish domiciled funds that
are not marketed within Ireland; more
clarity with regard to the tax treatment
that would apply to foreign funds that
are managed from Ireland under the recently
adopted UCITS IV (Undertakings for Collective
Investments in Transferable Securities)
Directive provides for the establishment
and operation of a UCITS ‘Management
Company Passport; extension of stamp
duty to accommodate mergers of investment
undertakings.
The
financial services industry located
primarily within the IFSC (International
Financial Services Centre) will benefit
from changes to modernize the tax rules
governing the investment of funds,"
commented Chartered Accountants Ireland
(CAI) in February 2010.
The
CAI also lauded the introduction of
further Islamic Financing Arrangements:
“Islamic
financing arrangements which are compliant
with the principles of Shari'a law don’t
feature the making or receiving of interest
payments. This means that there are
different structures put in place to
provide investment, financing and insurance
services. Where possible, the Irish
Revenue have applied tax to Islamic
Financing arrangements as if they operated
along the lines of equivalent Western
models. The new rules in the Finance
Bill will formalize these tax treatments.
They should enhance Ireland’s
ability to attract Islamic Financial
Services providers to the IFSC, while
at the same time facilitating the provision
of services to our Muslim population.”
In
March 2010, asset management firm GAM
and former Bank of England Monetary
Policy Committee member Sushil Wadhani
announced that they have joined forces
to launch a new hedge fund for retail
investors, to be domiciled in Ireland.
The GAM Star Keynes Quantitative Strategies
Fund was due to be launched in early
April 2010, and the fund will have a
UCITS III structure. The aim is for
the fund to make a net return of around
12%-15% per year.
See
Offshore Legal
and Tax Regimes and Double
Tax Treaties for further information;
but professional advice is needed before
considering the setting-up of funds,
or investment into them.
Funds
listed in Ireland are supervised by
the Central Bank of Ireland under a
number of statutes. See Law
of Offshore for further details.
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Ireland
Banking
The Central Bank of Ireland regulates
the banking industry under the Central
Bank Acts 1942 to 1997, although as
from 2003, the Irish Financial Services
Regulatory Authority took over bank regulation
from the Central Bank. The change was
more apparent than real, since the new
Regulator brings together many of the
responsibilities previously held by the
Central Bank (which continues to form
a part of the Authority), the Department
of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the
Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs
and the Registrar of Friendly Societies.
See Law of Offshore
for a more detailed treatment of Irish
banking legislation as it affects offshore
banking operations.
Banks need licences from the Central Bank,
unless they are already authorised in
an EU member state under the Second Banking
Directive 89/646/EEC, in which case they
have to comply with certain administrative
and information requirements. A non-EU
bank will need to have an Irish subsidiary
in order to apply for a license.
Banks
traditionally qualified under the legislation
setting up the International Financial
Services Centre (IFSC) in Dublin, and
many took advantage of the low tax rate
(10%) offered by the IFSC. Certificates
giving entitlement to the low tax rate
were issued by the Ministry for Finance,
and initial application was made to the
Industrial Development Authority. New
applications in 1999 (the last year for
them) were limited under the Irish Government's
agreement with the EU and the 10% tax
rate applied only until the end of 2002.
From the beginning of 2003 the EU-agreed
rate of 12.5% applied generally to Irish
companies.
The
IFSC banking sector has grown extremely
rapidly in the last few years.
In
recent years, the IFSC and the Irish Central
Bank have begun to admit a number of blue-chip
corporate (in-house) banks, reversing
a previously stance against 'non-bank'
banks, although there is still a preference
away from them.
In
early 2009, in response to the global
credit crunch, the Irish government announced
its decision after having consulted with
the Board of Anglo Irish Bank Corporation
plc, to take steps that will enable the
bank to be taken into public ownership.
Within
a statement the Finance Ministry said:
“This decision has been taken after
consultation with the Central Bank and
the Financial Regulator, which has confirmed
that Anglo Irish Bank remains solvent.
Anglo Irish Bank is a major financial
institution whose viability is of systemic
importance to Ireland. Anglo has a balance
sheet of some EUR100bn with a substantial
deposit base which the State is determined
to safeguard. The government has made
clear that it will ensure its continued
viability. Anglo Irish Bank will continue
to trade normally as a going concern,
with appropriate government support as
necessary. All Anglo employees remain
employed by the company.”
“The
funding position of the bank has weakened
and unacceptable practices that took place
within it have caused serious reputational
damage to the bank at a time when overall
market sentiment towards it was negative.
Accordingly the government believes that
the recapitalisation is not now the appropriate
and effective means to secure its continued
viability. Therefore the government must
move to the final and decisive step of
public ownership.”
“The
government believes that the prospects
for the institution are solidly underpinned
in the new structure, with the benefit
of state ownership and a renewed management
and Board. In the current circumstances
the State is the only available potential
owner.
“The
recently appointed Chairman of the Board,
Mr. Donal O’Connor, will stay on
as Chairman. Anglo will be managed on
an arms length basis as a commercial entity.
A new board will be appointed having regard
to the need for appropriate continuity.”
“Shareholder
rights will be respected in this process.
The relevant legislation outlines a process
for determining compensation as appropriate.”
“All
customers of Anglo Irish Bank can be assured
that the full amount of their deposits
and savings are further safeguarded by
this action. They can also be assured
that they can and should continue transacting
with Anglo as normal and there is no need
for customers to take any steps as a result
of this announcement. Anglo Irish Bank
will communicate directly with all customers
in the coming days.”
“Creditors
(including bondholders) of Anglo Irish
Bank can be assured that it will continue
to service its obligations and will repay
its debts at maturity."
In
February 2010, The European Commission
announced that it has approved, under
EU state aid rules, the establishment
of the National Asset Management Agency
(NAMA), an impaired asset relief scheme
for financial institutions in Ireland.
The Commission
said that it is satisfied that the scheme
is in line with its guidelines on impaired
asset relief for banks that allow state
aid to remedy a serious disturbance in
a member state's economy. The scheme will
help address the issue of asset quality
in the Irish banking system and promote
the return to a normally functioning financial
market.
Commenting, Competition
Commissioner, Joaquín Almunia,
said: "Ireland's financial sector
has been one of the most affected by the
global financial crisis in Europe and
the burst of the Irish real estate bubble
has only compounded the problems. This
impaired asset measure, which is specifically
targeted at real estate assets, is therefore
key to cleaning up Irish banks' balance
sheets. This is an important step towards
the overall restructuring of the sector
and its return to a normal and responsible
functioning of the market."
The purpose of
NAMA is to restore stability to the Irish
banking system by allowing participating
financial institutions to sell to the
agency assets whose declining and uncertain
value is preventing the long-term shoring-up
of the financial institutions' capital
and, therefore, the return to a normally
functioning financial market.
The
scheme was open to all systemically-important
credit institutions established in Ireland,
including subsidiaries of foreign banks,
with a 60-day application window that
expired on February 19. Five institutions
will participate: Anglo Irish Bank, Allied
Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Irish Nationwide
Building Society and Educational Building
Society.
See
Offshore Legal
and Tax Regimes for details of
taxation in the IFSC and the application
process for a tax certificate.
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Ireland Securitisation SPV
The Irish Finance Act 1996 included provisions
which installed a favourable regime for
the establishment of 'SPVs' ( = Special
Purpose Vehicles for the securitisation
of assets) within the International Financial
Services Centre in Dublin. Profits were
treated as trading receipts and taxed
at 10%; and there were no withholding
taxes on interest payments on bonds. See
Offshore Legal
and Tax Regimes for fuller details.
Certificates
granting tax advantages within the IFSC
were issued by the Minister for Finance;
initial application was made to the Industrial
Development Authority. The 10% rate applied
to new SPVs only until the end of 2002,
when the general rate of 12.5% came into
effect for all Irish companies.
In
order to ensure future competitiveness
in the area of securitisation, a review
group of industry and Government agency
members was set up in 2002 to identify
where legislation needed to be amended.
The Finance Bill 2003 overhauled the rules
and any securitisation vehicle established
in Ireland on or after February 6th 2003
was subject to the new legislation.
From this date, there is no difference
between vehicles set up in the IFSC and
non-IFSC SPVs. Existing
IFSC SPVs were
unchanged by the new legislation.
Under
the amended legislation, excessive or
profit participating interest is now allowed
to be a tax-deductible expense in the
SPV. The scope of qualifying activities
has been broadened so that SPVs can now
carry on a business of holding or managing,
or holding and managing, qualifying assets.
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Ireland Film Financing
Ireland has seen considerable success
in encouraging film production through
a combination of subsidy programmes and
tax breaks.
In 2003,
then
Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy decided
to end the system of tax breaks for film
financing in Ireland. According to film-makers,
the so-called section 481 tax breaks had
contributed to year on year growth of
18% in the industry, and account for 107
million euros of Ireland's GDP. The industry
also directly employed 4,300 people, bringing
a further 49 million euros into the labour
market.
Lobby groups
urged the government to extend the tax
breaks for a further ten years, by which
time they estimated
that the industry will employ up
to 11,000 people with turnover rising
from 103 million euros to 550 million
euros. The cumulative effects of allowing
the tax break to lapse in 2004 would
result in 80% of the industry being lost,
the body claimed.
The
government bowed to pressure, and in its
2004 budget extended the Section 481 scheme
until 2008. In May 2006, it emerged that
the European Commission had endorsed a
new system of tax incentives designed
to encourage growth in the Irish film
industry, announcing that the scheme does
not constitute state aid.
The
Irish scheme to support film production
amended an earlier scheme previously approved
by the Commission, and allows film production
companies to obtain 80% tax relief on
investments of up to EUR35 million or
80% of the production budget of a single
film.
Additionally,
Finance Minister Brian Cowen announced
in the 2006 Finance Bill that the percentage
of expenditure that is eligible for tax
relief would be raised to 80% for all
films, up from the existing levels of
55%-66%.
In
2008, the Irish government introduced
new measures to strengthen Section 481,
increasing the ceiling on qualifying expenditure
for any one film is increased from EUR35
million to EUR50 million. Qualifying expenditure
includes all EU personnel and purchases
of goods and services in the State. Projects
may derive a benefit of up to 28% of their
eligible Irish expenditure.
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Ireland Insurance
See Offshore Business
Review – Insurance for a more
general treatment of captive insurance
companies.
Insurance business in Ireland (including
captive insurance) is regulated by the
Minister for Enterprise and Employment.
Following the 1994 implementation of the
EU Insurance Framework Directives, there
is a 'single passport' regime in effect
for EU insurance companies, and they can
commence business in Ireland, as elsewhere,
subject to a notification procedure and
the annual filing of accounts with the
Registrar of Companies.
However,
the captive insurance sector in Ireland
has taken root in the International Financial
Services Centre (IFSC) in Dublin, where
substantial tax advantages have traditionally
been available to companies who obtain
certification.
Captives
(or other insurers) based in Ireland can
take advantage of more than 45 double
tax treaties, although the withholding
tax exemptions available through the IFSC
do compromise treaty benefits in some
cases. From 2003 the 10% IFSC regime was
supplanted by the 12.5% general corporation
tax rate.
The
events of 9/11 in 2001 temporarily dampened
the rate of growth of the insurance sector,
but in 2002 strengthening premium rates
led to an influx of new capital and company
formations. 50 captives alone were formed
in the first nine months of 2002 in Dublin.
In
April 2001, The Irish government announced
the formation of an Irish Financial Services
Regulator (IFSR), following recommendations
made in the McDowell Group Report which
called for the integration of financial
services regulation in Ireland. Among
the financial sectors governed by the
IFSR are the insurance industry, and the
aim is to protect consumers.
Also
in April 2001, Ireland's Central Bank
announced that it had taken over responsibility
for the regulation and supervision of
insurance intermediaries. This resulted
in about 5,500 new firms coming under
the regulatory framework of the Central
Bank. This new addition to the Central
Bank’s responsibilities, under the
Insurance Act 2000, extends the scope
of the Bank’s supervisory remit to
cover the protection of clients of insurance
intermediaries, both life and non-life.
As
of 2008, there were 170 licensed captives
in Ireland, the third-highest tally in
Europe.
In
October 2009, Aviva, the UK's second largest
insurance firm, announced plans to consolidate
its European business under the umbrella
of a new holding company in Ireland, but
the firm has insisted that the move was
not motivated by a desire to reduce the
amount of tax it pays.
The company announced
that the plan is designed to cut costs
and consolidate its business across its
12 separate operations in Europe. But
while the company expects that the move
will cut its overall tax rate, it argues
that tax savings are not the sole motivation.
A company statement
announcing its decision explained that:
"As part of the transformation of
its European business Aviva has established
a single holding company for its European
operations in Ireland. It will convert
a number of existing subsidiary businesses
in the region to branch status, where
it is appropriate to do so, and subject
to regulatory approval. This will deliver
economic, operational and regulatory benefits
to Aviva, especially with the anticipated
introduction of Solvency II."
A
number of UK-incorporated companies have
fled the UK citing the burdensome corporate
tax laws as a primary reason. Another
major UK insurance firm, Brit Insurance,
is among this list of companies.
In
January 2010, Global insurance group XL
Capital Ltd proposed to move its parent
holding company's place of incorporation
to Ireland from the Cayman Islands, with
the parent holding company to be renamed
"XL Group plc", according to
a statement issued by the company.
XL's Chief Executive
Officer, Michael S. McGavick, said: "We
believe that changing XL's place of incorporation
from the Caymans to Ireland is in the
best interests of XL and our shareholders.
Among other benefits, we believe the proposed
move will reduce certain risks that may
impact us and offer us the opportunity
to reinforce our reputation, which is
one of our key assets, and to better support
our global business platforms. The new
'XL Group' name is desirable to reflect
our exclusive focus on providing property,
casualty and specialty insurance and reinsurance
products for our customers' complex risks."
XL's
statement indicated that redomestication
will not have a material impact on its
financial results, the implication being
that it can continue to enjoy low tax
advantages comparable with those pertaining
in the Cayman Islands, whilst gaining
the stated benefits. In its filing with
the US Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC), XL has reported "reputational,
political, tax and other risks because
of negative publicity regarding companies
that are incorporated in jurisdictions,
including the Cayman Islands, whose economies
have low rates of, or no, direct taxation."
The
following month, Insurance firm, United
America Indemnity also announced its intention
to re-domicile from the Cayman Islands
to Ireland.
The company had
previously planned to re-domicile to Switzerland
but later determined that incorporating
in Ireland is in the best interests of
both the company and its shareholders.
In a statement, UAI underscored that its
decision was motivated by Ireland’s
“attractive business environment,
a highly educated and motivated professional
workforce, a comprehensible legal system
grounded in common law, a sophisticated
regulatory environment, and an extensive
global network of international treaties.”
See
Law of Offshore
for further details of the regulatory
regime for insurance in Ireland; see Offshore
Legal and Tax Regimes for details
of the IFSC and the application process;
and see Double
Tax Treaties.
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Ireland
Aircraft Finance and Leasing
Ireland has put behind it the unfortunate
GPA debacle, and with the asset of the
International Financial Services Centre
(IFSC) has continued to establish itself
as a major jurisdiction for aircraft leasing,
attracting such notable names as Airbus
Industrie which runs its main aircraft
leasing operation from Dublin.
The
IFSC offered
a 10% corporation tax rate and exemption
from withholding taxes to companies which
obtained
certification from the Minister for Finance;
applications were
made through the Industrial Development
Authority. The 10% rate was not available
to new applicants after 1999, due to the
introduction of of a general 12.5% corporation
tax rate agreed by the Irish Government
with the EU from 1st January 2003.
There
are a number of other favourable tax rulings
available in Ireland to leasing companies;
see Offshore
Legal and Tax Regimes for further
details.
Ireland's
network of double
tax treaties is also a major attraction
for leasing companies, although the IFSC
tax benefits cause the loss of treaty
coverage in some cases.
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