A Trading Tactic Is Foiled, and Banks Cry Foul
By FLOYD NORRIS, NYT
What country are you in? Where is your business located? In what country did your trade take place?
Those were once questions whose answers were so obvious that no one asked them. Now they are questions that can drive financial regulators and tax collectors to distraction. Lawyers can get rich proving that under one definition or another, the person, company or transaction was somewhere with more convenient rules.
Earlier this year, we learned about Apple’s disappearing subsidiary, an extremely profitable one that had no employees and — for tax purposes — was located nowhere. Under United States tax law, it was based in Ireland. Under Irish law, it was based in the United States. So it paid taxes to no one. Presumably, if Congress ever overhauls the tax code, that will be dealt with.
Now we learn of the vanishing swaps market.
During the deregulation era — broadly from about 1980 through 2008 — swaps were more or less unregulated and grew exponentially. After the financial crisis, Congress regulated swaps for the first time in 2010, under the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law, which many banks fought. A market that had operated under cover — and that played a significant role in causing the financial crisis — would be brought into the open. Trades would be reported for everyone to see. They would go through clearinghouses. Participants would put up margin and have to put up more if the value of their position declined.
(More here.)
What country are you in? Where is your business located? In what country did your trade take place?
Those were once questions whose answers were so obvious that no one asked them. Now they are questions that can drive financial regulators and tax collectors to distraction. Lawyers can get rich proving that under one definition or another, the person, company or transaction was somewhere with more convenient rules.
Earlier this year, we learned about Apple’s disappearing subsidiary, an extremely profitable one that had no employees and — for tax purposes — was located nowhere. Under United States tax law, it was based in Ireland. Under Irish law, it was based in the United States. So it paid taxes to no one. Presumably, if Congress ever overhauls the tax code, that will be dealt with.
Now we learn of the vanishing swaps market.
During the deregulation era — broadly from about 1980 through 2008 — swaps were more or less unregulated and grew exponentially. After the financial crisis, Congress regulated swaps for the first time in 2010, under the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law, which many banks fought. A market that had operated under cover — and that played a significant role in causing the financial crisis — would be brought into the open. Trades would be reported for everyone to see. They would go through clearinghouses. Participants would put up margin and have to put up more if the value of their position declined.
(More here.)
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