Top 10 All Topics Headlines from Offshore The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, commonly referred to as FATCA, became effective earlier this year, and foreign financial institutions in every jurisdiction, including in the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands, will be required to make certain reports to the US Internal Revenue Services. When Congress resolved the fiscal cliff crisis early this year, it brought permanence to estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax laws that had been in flux for over a decade. Gross negligence is a civil law concept that has been imported into the common law. The Obama Administration has recently proposed ambitious spending and revenue changes, as it released its proposed budget for fiscal year 2014, and a number of proposed tax changes affecting estate planning have emerged. Employment relationships in the United Arab Emirates are governed by Federal Law No.8 of 1980 Regulating Labour Relations as amended by Federal Laws No.24 of 1981, No.15 of 1985 and No.12 of 1986 (the Labour Law). Following an evaluation of Hong Kong in 2008, the Financial Action Task Force ("FATF")1 identified the following deficiencies in the Hong Kong anti-money laundering ("AML") and counter-terrorist financing ("CTF") regime One of the most debated issues in an employment agreement is the legality of restrictive covenant provisions, such as a non-compete clause which prevents employees from working for a competitor upon termination of their employment agreement. As the name implies, end of service gratuity is an amount of money that every employee is entitled to receive, and every employer is liable to pay, upon termination of an employment relationship in the UAE, provided that the employee meets the conditions set out in the Labour Law (UAE Federal Law No.8 of 1980). It is mandatory for an expatriate employee to sign a labour contract in the format stipulated by the Ministry of Labour prior to commencing employment. In accordance with its agreement with its international lenders, Cyprus has made a number of changes to tax rates. | 
