1. Small states and global finance
Dr William Vlcek
Lecturer in International Relations
School of International Relations
University of St Andrews, Scotland
4 July 2013

2. Overview What is meant by ‘global finance’?
The size of capital flows
The Brettons Woods institutions and other international organisations
Small states and open economies
Mauritius and the Cayman Islands
Tax haven or OFC?
The experience of Iceland with global finance
4 July 2013

3. Foreign assets on deposit: developed countries and offshore financial centres
Source: Bank for International Settlements (Jan 2013) BIS Quarterly Review
(Basel: Bank for International Settlements), Table 6a.
4 July 2013

4. BIS offshore financial centres
Aruba
Bahamas
Bahrain
Barbados
Bermuda
Cayman Islands
Curacao
Gibraltar
Guernsey
Hong Kong SAR
Isle of Man
Jersey
Lebanon
Macao SAR
Mauritius
Netherlands Antilles
Panama
Samoa
Singapore
Sint Maarten
Vanuatu
West Indies UK (composed of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, and St Kitts and Nevis)
4 July 2013

5. Bretton Woods institutions
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), foundation for the World Bank Group
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
International Development Association (IDA)
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
4 July 2013

6. Bank for International Settlements
The ‘Central Bank for Central Banks’ located in Basel, Switzerland
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision
Basel Capital Accord, 1987
Basel II, 2004
Basel III, 2011 (capital)/2013 (liquidity)
4 July 2013

7. International regulatory groups
International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)
International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS)
International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)
Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
SWIFT – Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication
4 July 2013

8. The ‘open’ economy A country that is open to trade other countries
A small open economy is a ‘price-taker’
4 July 2013

9. Mauritius
4 July 2013

10. The Cayman Islands and the Caribbean
4 July 2013

11. ‘tax haven’ versus ‘offshore financial centre’
Tax haven – a jurisdiction that imposes little or no tax on mobile capital
Offshore financial centre – a jurisdiction that provides a legal and financial regime specifically targeted at foreign mobile capital (and taxation may be one part of that regime)
4 July 2013

12. Icesave An online savings bank, part of the Icelandic bank, Landsbanki
4 July 2013

13. Connecting Greek finance to the world
Source: International Monetary Fund (Oct 2010) Understanding Financial Interconnectedness, p. 19.
4 July 2013

14. This page intentionally left blank.
4 July 2013

15. Taxing the multinational corporation
Home jurisdiction
Host jurisdiction
Intermediate corporate structures in the Caribbean
4 July 2013

16. Baidu.com, Inc. Corporate Structure16
Baidu, Inc. (Cayman Islands)
Baidu Netcom Science Technology Co., Ltd. (affiliate, PRC)
Baidu Holdings Limited. (British Virgin Islands)
Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Co., LTD. (PRC)
Baidu Japan Inc. (Japan)
Baidu (Hong Kong) Ltd. (Hong Kong SAR)
Beijing Perusal Technology Co., Ltd.
(affiliate, PRC)
Beijing BaiduPay Science and Technology Co., Ltd. (affiliate, PRC)
Baidu (China) Co., Ltd. (PRC)
Baidu.com Times Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (PRC)
Baidu HR Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
B.D. Mobile Telecommunications Limited (Cayman Islands)
Qunar Cayman Islands Limited
(Cayman Islands)
Qiyi.com, Inc. (Cayman Islands)
(Wholly-owned)
(majority-owned)
Baidu Cloud Computing Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (PRC)
Baidu Cloud Computing Technology (Shanxi) Co., Ltd. (PRC)
Source: Baidu.com Inc, 2006 Annual Report and SEC Form 20-F for 2007
4 July 2013