The Legal 500

EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn has sought to assuage concerns that Spain and Italy will require an EU-funded bailout, stating that the countries' economic fundamentals are secure.

Determined to regain market confidence and to rescue a failing eurozone from the brink, Germany and France have called for a common European 'economic government' to be established, spearheaded by an appointed leader, and for the fiscal and economic policies of eurozone member states to be dovetailed in order to strengthen the euro as a common currency.

With member states fundamentally rethinking the functioning of the European Union, one thing seems certain to emerge from the Eurozone crisis: that proponents of a fiscal union (that countries' budget policies should largely be governed by the EU) have gained significant ground on those that would advocate the continuation of fiscal sovereignty.

Bermuda Premier Paula Cox has said that her 'unprecedented' meetings with key European Union representatives demonstrate that Bermuda's position as a reputable international financial centre is strengthening.

During a recent meeting of the European parliament?s economic and monetary affairs committee in Brussels, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Jean-Claude Trichet vehemently rejected the idea of introducing a financial transactions tax purely at European level.

Article by Nyreen Llamas

A little over 10 years ago, the remote gambling industry was a relatively unknown sector in Gibraltar. Granted – we had already witnessed the arrival of Victor Chandler and Ladbrokes undertaking telephonic betting from the jurisdiction but this activity was relatively contained.

By Selwyn Figueras

In recent weeks we learnt of the favourable opinion of the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, Niilo Jaaskinen, in respect of the case before the General Court (formerly the European Court of First Instance) regarding Gibraltar’s tax system ‘the Opinion’. 

In a recent speech, Lim Hng Kiang, Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry, disclosed that discussions on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) are at an advanced stage.