EU to accuse Apple of taking illicit Irish state aid

BRUSSELS: The European Union said it will unveil on Tuesday details of investigations into sweetheart tax deals for Apple amid reports it will accuse the US tech giant of getting illegal state aid.

The probe into Apple’s tax affairs in Ireland, where it has for years enjoyed an effective rate of less than 2 per cent, found the schemes gave the company an unfair competitive advantage, the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal reported.

The EU launched an investigation in June into tax deals negotiated by Apple, Fiat and Starbucks with Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, the latest in a series of clashes between Brussels and multinational firms.

Apple and other giants including Amazon have come under intense pressure from politicians and campaigners over their tax dealings, with critics saying the arrangements allow companies to move billions in earnings from higher taxed countries to lower taxed ones.

The European Commission, the executive branch of the 28-nation EU, will take the next formal step against Apple by publishing on Tuesday the full reasons behind June’s decision to open the investigation, a spokesman said.—AFP

Swiss bank UBS starts forex settlement talks

ZURICH: Switzerland’s UBS has begun settlement talks over allegations it was involved in manipulating foreign exchange rates, the bank said, and warned that it could face a material penalty in any deal struck.

The terms proposed in the talks included findings that UBS did not have adequate controls over its foreign exchange business, it said in a share-swap prospectus published on Monday.

UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, did not identify the regulator concerned but the prospectus said that other investigating authorities could also start settlement talks in the near future. A spokesman for the company declined to elaborate beyond what was said in the prospectus.

However, sources told Reuters on Friday that Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was talking to UBS and five other banks — Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, JP Morgan and Citi — about a possible settlement that could results in each bank being fined hundreds of millions of pounds.

The banks are expected to be fined different amounts, depending on the gravity of the alleged misconduct, the sources said.

Published in Dawn, September 30th , 2014