New Zealand has edged out Singapore to take top spot for ease of doing business in the World Bank’s latest rankings, but money-laundering experts warned the honor masked the darker side of the Pacific nation’s vulnerability as a channel for illegal funds.
In its annual Doing Business report released on Tuesday, the World Bank cited tax improvements as a key reason for moving New Zealand to top spot from its previous runner-up position.
The nation also topped the World Bank’s indicator on ease of company formation, a particularly worrisome aspect for anti-money laundering efforts and one that has raised some alarm bells given the use of shell companies to launder funds.
Companies registered in New Zealand were among a network of opaque firms that were used to dupe Chinese investors out of millions of US dollars in a pyramid scheme called “EuroFX” earlier this year.
New Zealand also came under fire this year when the Panama Papers showed the nation’s shell companies and trusts were touted as a secretive way to channel funds around the world, including for tax-avoidance purposes.
“You want a jurisdiction that has a clean reputation, but doesn’t ask many questions when you’re setting up a company there,” said Jason Sharman, an Australia-based money laundering expert and coauthor of the book Global Shell Games.
New Zealand Minister for Economic Development Steven Joyce said the government is aware of the risks and is taking steps, such as bringing anti-money laundering regulations in line with international standards.
The New Zealand Ministry of Justice is also “looking into” the feasibility of a registry that shows the beneficial owners behind companies.
“It’s all about the management of risks and we’ve taken a number of steps,” Joyce said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Others said the risks are not being managed well enough.
“Anyone who wants to … hide dirty money, just needs a local director, a physical address and NZ$45, and in a few minutes they’ve got just what they need to do it with,” said Ron Pol, the Wellington-based head of anti-money laundering firm AML Assurance.
The World Bank report tracks regulatory changes in 190 nations for businesses throughout their life cycle — from the ease of business start-up regulations and getting credit to property rights.
It said a record 137 economies undertook reforms to make it easier to start and operate businesses in the past year, with more than 75 percent of the changes occurring in developing nations.
The World Bank says better performance in the Doing Business rankings generally equates to lower levels of income inequality and reduced poverty.
Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗) yesterday reported higher neutralizing antibody levels in people who were given its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster after two AstraZeneca doses, the company said. In a trial of 200 participants who received Medigen’s COVID-19 vaccine, neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 grew by 5.7 times one month after being administered, Taoyuan General Hospital said. Medigen said that the results have been submitted to medRxiv, an online platform for researchers to share complete but unpublished papers. Another trial conducted by National Taiwan University Hospital showed that among 45 participants who received three doses of the Medigen vaccine,
BEATING EXPECTATIONS: With electric vehicles and the metaverse on the horizon, the company predicts a solid first quarter as customers stockpile inventories Key iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) could achieve an “unprecedented” performance in the first quarter, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said. “Our performance in the first quarter might surpass how we fared in the past few years, and it is likely that some staff at key sites might only get two days off during the Lunar New Year holiday,” Liu said in prepared remarks for the company’s annual workers’ party yesterday. Manufacturers around the world are racing to build up inventory out of fear that outbreaks of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 and other uncertainties could further disrupt their supply
The US Department of Commerce on Tuesday said that a global survey of semiconductor chip producers and users shows a shortage will persist, sparked primarily by wafer production capacity constraints. The voluntary survey of 150 companies last fall in the supply chain confirmed “there is a significant, persistent mismatch in supply and demand for chips, and respondents did not see the problem going away in the next six months.” US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo told reporters that the department “in a few instances didn’t really get what we needed and we’re going to go company by company and do personal engagement
EV ‘ECOSYSTEM’: The firms have agreed to work with the Indonesian government and others in creating infrastructure for the country’s growing EV market Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday made a major step toward a foothold in the world’s electric vehicle (EV) market by signing partnership agreements with the Indonesian government and local energy and battery companies, in which local EV supplier Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) would also take part. Hon Hai, the world’s largest electronics manufacturing company, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian Ministry of Investment, battery maker PT Industri Baterai Indonesia, PT Indika Energy and Gogoro to build a sustainable energy ecosystem in Indonesia, a joint statement said. The government-level deal came after Hon Hai last year unveiled its first EV
RSS