The latest market figures show Russia has increased its purchases of gold to record highs in what appears to be part of the country’s policy to cushion itself against the sanctions of the United States. 

Figures released by the World Gold Council (WGC) show that the Central Bank of Russia bought 63 tonnes of the precious metal in the third quarter of 2017. The WGC added in a statement that the Russian stockpile of the bullion had already reached 1,778.9 tonnes as of the end of September.

In September only, the regulator added 34.6 tonnes of bullion to its reserves, in the highest monthly increase since October 2016, reported the Russian news website Sputnik News citing the country’s business newspaper Kommersant.

Currently, the Russian Central Bank has been ranked sixth in the world in terms of bullion reserves. The top five are the United States (8,133.5 tonnes), Germany (3,373.7), Italy (2,451.8 tons), France (2,435.9) and China (1,842.6).

At the same time, according to the WGC, the Russian Central Bank is leading in terms of the pace at which it is stockpiling gold.

Russia’s campaign to collect gold is meant to enable the country to have guarantees amid the tightening of the US Federal Reserve’s policy and amid the growing tensions between Moscow and Washington. Russia also wants to protect its reserves against possible geopolitical risks.

Market analysts also suggest that the Russian Central Bank will continue to expand its gold reserves.

If the Russian Central Bank continues to buy gold at the same pace Russia is likely to topple China as the world’s fifth-biggest holder of bullion in early 2018, according to Kommersant.

Culled from Presstv

Vodafone has announced the termination of its activities in La Republique du Cameroun. The company made public its decision today Friday, November 10, 2017 indicating that its truly over. After the withdrawal of its license by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority including the long suspension of its services, the multinational specialized in telecommunications reluctantly concluded that it was no longer commercially viable to resume its services in Cameroon.

As a result, Afrimax Cameroon ceased operations with immediate effect, “says a company official. Vodafone in a statement presented their sincere apologies to their customers, partners and suppliers “for the inconvenience caused”. They also thanked the loyal staff of Afrimax Cameroon for their hard work, enthusiasm and support.

The press release from Vodafone Cameroon also stated that the structure operated by Afrimax using the Vodafone trademark in accordance with the license agreement signed with the Vodafone Group has no equity interest in Afrimax or Vodafone Cameroon.

In mid-September 2017, the inexperienced  Francophone Minister of Post and Telecommunications suspended Vodafone Cameroon on the grounds that the company had sold all of its capital to Afrimax. The partnership signed in July 2017 between Vodafone and Cameroon Telecommunications (CAMTEL), the state-owned telecoms operator, stipulated that Vodafone Cameroon will use CAMTEL’s existing infrastructure that covers 100% the cities of Douala and Yaounde and will allow Vodafone to expand its geographical coverage throughout the country.

By Sonne Peter with files from CIN

New documents have revealed that British Prince Charles’s private estate invested hugely in an offshore firm that lobbied to alter deals on climate change.

Leaks from the newly-released Paradise Papers indicated that the Prince of Wales’s private estate, the Duchy of Cornwall, invested millions of pounds in offshore funds and companies to change climate agreements and allow “carbon credits” from rain forests to be traded.

Reports said the investment was regarded as highly sensitive and members of the estate had been sworn to secrecy about the Prince’s involvement.

This comes as the Prince of Wales has long been a vocal speaker on the issue of climate change, making speeches and writing books on the environment since the 1980s.

The main purpose of the Duchy of Cornwall is funding the “public, charitable and private activities of the Prince of Wales and his family.”

Some 53,000 hectares of land in 23 counties belong to the Prince of Wales’s private estate, with latest accounts showing it had assets of 913 million pounds in April.

Many of the leaked documents reveal how politicians, multinationals, celebrities and high-net-worth individuals use complex structures of trusts, foundations and shell companies to protect their cash from tax officials or hide their dealings behind a veil of secrecy.

The Paradise Papers also revealed that about 10 million pounds of the private funds of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth were placed in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

The tax evasion controversy adds to the debate on the Queen’s income that is estimated at around 100 million dollars for 2017.

Source: Presstv

Newly-leaked documents reveal the private estate of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has invested millions of pounds in the British Caribbean tax havens of the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

According to documents obtained by the International Consortium of Journalists, around 10 million pounds (13 million dollars) of the queen’s private cash is said to have been tied up in offshore portfolios.

The leak, dubbed the Paradise Papers, contains 13.4 million documents, mostly from one leading firm in offshore finance. Nearly 100 media groups are investigating the leaked papers.

The core of the leak, totaling more than 13.4 million documents, focuses on the Bermudan law firm Appleby, a 119-year-old company, whose clients are corporations and very wealthy people. Appleby helps clients reduce their tax burden; obscure their ownership of assets like companies, private aircraft, real estate and yachts; and set up huge offshore trusts that in some cases hold billions of dollars.

Many of the leaked documents reveal how politicians, multinationals, celebrities and high-net-worth individuals use complex structures of trusts, foundations and shell companies to protect their cash from tax officials or hide their dealings behind a veil of secrecy.

The files show the offshore empire is bigger and more complicated than many had imagined.

What are the offshore tax havens?

Essentially the tax havens are places outside a country’s regulations, to which companies or individuals can redirect money, assets or profits to take advantage of lower taxes rates than their own country.

These jurisdictions are known as offshore tax havens, to use the more technical jargon, offshore financial centers (OFCs). They are generally stable, secretive and reliable, often small islands but not exclusively so, and can vary on how rigorously they carry out checks on wrongdoing.

Britain has a big role in the flourishing of these entities, not simply because so many of its overseas territories and crown dependencies are OFCs, but many of the lawyers, accountants and bankers working in the offshore industry operate out of the city of London.

Who hides the cash?

Wealthy individuals and large companies have one thing in common: enormous amounts of money they want to hide from taxing.

Some of the world’s biggest multinationals feature in the leak, including Apple, Nike and Facebook, as well as some of the richest people in the world, from the British monarch to Bono, and from the stars of British sitcoms to the stars of Hollywood.

Brooke Harrington, renowned author of Capital Without Borders: Wealth Managers and the One Percent, said offshore finance is not for the 1 percent but the .001 percent.

Source: Presstv

IMF team reached a staff level agreement with the authorities on policies that could support approval of the first review. Growth is decelerating, mostly due to weaker oil production.

The team and authorities agreed on the need to implement without delays measures to strengthen the financial sector, enhance the business environment to boost private sector investment and economic diversification, and achieve a more inclusive growth.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Ms. Corinne Deléchat, visited Yaoundé from October 24 to November 3, 2017 to conduct discussions for the first review of the program supported by an Extended Credit Facility (ECF) that was approved in June this year.

At the conclusion of this visit, Ms. Deléchat issued the following statement:

“The IMF team reached staff level agreement with the authorities on economic and financial policies that could support approval of the first review of their three-year program under the ECF. The IMF Executive Board is expected to consider the first review mid-December 2017. The completion of the first review would enable a second disbursement of SDR 82.8 million (about US$116.3 million).

“The country’s economic program has remained on track, despite a challenging backdrop. All quantitative performance criteria under the program for end-June 2017 have been met. In addition, all structural benchmarks through end-October have been implemented except for two, which have been modified. The authorities have also implemented measures to improve revenue mobilization, increase transparency of budget execution, enhance cash management and maintain financial sector stability.

“Growth is decelerating, mostly due to weaker oil production. Growth for 2016 has been revised downward slightly from an earlier estimate of 4.7 percent to 4.5 percent. For 2017, growth is projected at 3.7 percent, while inflation is expected to remain low, falling to 0.5 percent. The fiscal deficit should decrease as projected from 6.2 to 3.1 percent of GDP in 2017 despite a shortfall in oil revenue, which will be mostly offset by a reduction in current spending.

“The draft 2018 budget envisages a further reduction of the budget deficit to 2.3 percent of GDP, in line with the objectives of the ECF-supported program. To reach this target, the authorities will implement a set of measures to strengthen revenue mobilization by continuing to widen the tax base while continuing to rationalize and enhance the quality of public spending. In particular, the authorities intend to strictly prioritize public investment, focusing on current priority infrastructure and related projects, and projects with a high socio-economic impact.

“The team highlighted the importance of containing new borrowing, particularly on non-concessional terms, to preserve debt sustainability. The large stock of contracted but yet undisbursed debt is a symptom of remaining weaknesses in project preparation and implementation, amid an ambitious public investment program. The team encouraged the authorities to promptly implement the measures they have identified to reduce this backlog and ensure higher project execution rates going forward.

“The IMF team welcomed the reform momentum in public financial management and discussed key reforms that have been highlighted by the recent Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) analysis. In particular, the recent progress with the transposition of the six Directives on public finances harmonization in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), the imposition of limits on the use of exceptional budget procedures and the preparation of a strategy to enhance the coverage of the single treasury account should help enhance the credibility and transparency of the budget. Furthermore, the team and the authorities agreed on the necessity to implement without delays measures to strengthen the financial sector, enhance the business environment to boost private sector investment and economic diversification, and achieve a more inclusive growth.

“The team met with Prime Minister Philémon Yang, Minister Secretary General at the Presidency Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, Minister of Finance Alamine Ousmane Mey, Minister of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development Louis Paul Motaze, BEAC National Director Jean-Marie Mani, and other senior officials and representatives of the diplomatic community, development partners and private sector.

“The team wishes to thank the Cameroonian authorities for their hospitality, cooperation, and the constructive dialogue.”