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United States issues final regulations to combat Caribbean offshore tax evasion

WASHINGTON, CMC - The United States Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued what they describe as “comprehensive final regulations” to combat Caribbean and other offshore tax evasion.
The departments said the reporting and withholding tax provisions, commonly known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), “target non-compliance by US taxpayers using foreign accounts.
“The issuance of the final regulations marks a key step in establishing a common intergovernmental approach to combating tax evasion.

Economist: Euro crisis could erupt again this year

DAVOS, Switzerland — Is the euro crisis over? A leading US economist says not by a long shot. Even as the head of the European Central Bank talked of “positive contagion” in the markets and predicted an economic recovery for the recession-hit eurozone later this year, economist Barry Eichengreen warned that the debt crisis that has shaken Europe to its core could easily erupt again this year unless European leaders move faster to solve their problems.

Stanford ex-CFO gets five-year prison sentence

HOUSTON (Reuters) – James Davis, the government’s top witness in convicted swindler Allen Stanford’s fraud trial, was sentenced today to five years in prison for his role in a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. Davis, 64, who pleaded guilty in 2009 to three charges and could have been sentenced to 30 years, told the court in a breaking voice, “I am ashamed and I am embarrassed.” He added that he let down his family, co-workers and thousands of investors.

US-based rating agency revises Jamaica’s economic outlook to stable

NEW YORK, CMC - Fitch Ratings has upgraded Jamaica’s economic outlook from negative to stable and also affirmed the island’s long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs).
“Jamaica's ratings balance the sovereign's structural strengths, such as relatively high income per capita and social indicators, policy consensus and relatively strong institutional capacity against continued growth underperformance, high vulnerability to external and confidence shocks, weak public finances and fiscal solvency indicators.

Caribbean called on to safeguard economic growth

WASHINGTON CMC – The World Bank has urged the Caribbean and other developing countries to safeguard their economic growth, warning that the “road ahead remain bumpy.”
In the Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report, released here on Wednesday, the Washington-based financial institution said four years after the onset of the global financial crisis, the world economy “remains fragile and growth in high-income countries is weak.”

Petition to exonerate Marcus Garvey moves to US Congress

MIAMI, CMC - A Miami-based group spearheading an initiative to exonerate Jamaican Marcus Garvey has expanded its online petition to the US House of Representatives.
The Coalition for the Exoneration of Marcus Garvey, Jamaica’s first National Hero, said it is urging the US Congress to clear his name once and for all.
Geoffrey Philp, a spokesman for the group, said the drive for the exoneration of Garvey has been going on now for at least 80 years and that on January 10, 2007, Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel introduced a bill to the 110th Congress.

Study reveals that US spent billions on Caribbean immigration enforcement

WASHINGTON, CMC – A new study has found that last year the Obama administration spent more on immigration enforcement affecting the Caribbean and other countries than on all the other major federal law enforcement agencies.
The Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group, in its 182-report said the US government spent nearly US$18 billion on immigration enforcement.

Legislator welcomes ruling on stop-and-frisk tactics

NEW YORK, CMC – The Grenada-born American legislator, who was arrested during the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade two years ago, is hailing the decision of a court to strike down part of the New York Police Department (NYPD) “stop-and-frisk” policy.
“I thank Judge Scheindlin for standing up to the abuses of the stop, question and frisk tactic and standing up for the residents of the Bronx who have been unfairly targeted and unjustly arrested,” Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Wednesday.

US newspaper says Jamaica’s debt worse than Greece

CHICAGO, CMC – A leading United States newspaper Tuesday said that Jamaica’s debt crisis is in a worse financial shape than Greece and suggested that the Portia Simpson Miller administration consider a bailout plan with significant debt relief.
The Chicago Tribune in an editorial said that Jamaica has more debt in relation to the size of its economy than any other country and warned against the Caribbean island becoming what it labelled “The Greece of the Western Hemisphere”.

US announces final rule to support Caribbean family unity

WASHINGTON D.C., United States, 2013 -Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, has announced new rules reducing the time Caribbean and other nationals who are US citizens are separated from their immediate relatives.
She said these relatives - spouse, children and parents - must be in the process of obtaining visas to become lawful permanent residents of the United States under certain circumstances.

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