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London takes aim at New York with five-year financial plan.

berkeley business — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 15:35:23 +0000

LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Britain needs to ease taxes on banks and make it easier to hire staff from abroad, its financial and professional services lobby said in a blueprint to help London unseat New York as the world’s top international financial centre within five years.

The strategy paper on Tuesday from TheCityUK reiterated some ideas already aired in government-backed reports and elsewhere in recent months as the City of London looks to recoup ground lost following Britain’s departure from the EU.

“By some metrics, the UK is losing ground: London is currently slipping further behind New York each year while other centres are strengthening,” the paper said.

The U.S. financial capital overtook London in 2018 in a leading annual survey, it said, adding that New York dominated in stock market listings.

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“The UK therefore needs to adopt a relentless focus on strengthening its international competitiveness to win back the prize of being the world’s leading international financial centre,” The City UK lobby group, which promotes the wider financial sector abroad, added in the paper.

Britain’s departure from the European Union effectively closed London off from its biggest financial services customer, adding further pressure to catch up.

The finance ministry has already set out reforms to make London’s capital market more competitive, and TheCityUK set a five-year target for London to “out-compete its rivals” by amending tax, visa and other rules.

Britain’s financial services minister John Glen said competitiveness is core to all the government is doing and it shared The City UK’s ambition to grow the financial market as freedom from the EU offered a clear opportunity.

“It won’t be about deregulation and looking to a race to the bottom as perhaps some anticipated,” Glen told a launch event for the paper, adding that people were looking for incremental rather than radical changes in capital markets.

“We can be more nimble,” Glen said.”Berkeley Business

Becoming the global hub for financial data, sustainability investing and investment and risk management will also be crucial in helping Britain overtake New York, TheCityUK said.

The total tax rate for a London bank is 46.5%, 13% higher than a New York based bank, it added.

Glen said he recognises that taxing banks needs to be competitive alongside the United States and elsewhere.

The single most important issue for financial firms is being able to hire globally, TheCityUK CEO Miles Celic said.

“In conversations we have had with government, I think that is something that is absolutely understood,” he told reporters.

The post London takes aim at New York with five-year financial plan. first appeared on Diles Corporate Group.

Three Things Every Startup Should Consider When Expanding Internationally

berkeley business — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 15:34:53 +0000

If you have a scalable business, expanding internationally will likely cross your mind. Expanding your reach across the globe to various markets can help raise your visibility and increase your chances of continued and bigger success. Depending on the type of business you run, specific markets present tempting opportunities that may not be possible in your home country. That being said, there are three factors I believe every business should consider prior to embarking on the international expansion journey.
Set clear business objectives. When you are in the process of evaluating whether or not your company is ready for international expansion, ask yourself what your objectives are and why you want to take this step.
In 2016, my company launched a cloud-based platform that focused on the medical affairs industry. Although we were originally based in Sweden, over 60% of our customers were U.S.-based, and we were experiencing 150%-plus year-on-year growth in sales and recurring revenue. With more than half of the top 20 pharma companies as a part of our customer portfolio, we knew it was time to take the leap to expand to the U.S. market.
In 2017, we established our U.S. subsidiary and began hiring talent across the country to strengthen our efforts in raising our visibility within our industry. Our objective was clear from the beginning: We wanted to bolster our relationships with key industry players and further educate ourselves on the market. If you don’t set a clear objective from the beginning, you can often find yourself wasting time and money. When we decided it was time to take the plunge, we made it a priority to develop a financial plan outlining various scenarios to give us a clear picture of what success and failure would look like.
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It’s important to prepare yourself for different outcomes to successfully move forward regardless of what happens. International expansion is full of hurdles. It’s impossible to be prepared for everything, but creating a plan will help soften the downfalls when they happen. Allowing setbacks to negatively affect your business for long periods of time can be detrimental to moving forward. Take the time to establish several courses of actions to take, depending on the result. I have seen many companies fail due to lack of planning. Educate and prepare yourself — you will thank yourself in the end.
Challenge your product road map. Entering a new market presents new challenges and the need to question your product roadmap. It’s important to understand the substantial amount of time that goes into international expansion and the resources needed to make that happen.
As the founder, you have to keep in mind that this isn’t just you making this decision. I made it a priority to work closely with my management team to make sure my goals and vision for the company aligned with the rest of the group. As part of a young company, I find it particularly important to make sure management still makes detailed product decisions as opposed to relying on various departments to solely make these decisions, as they may in a larger company.
In our specific case, our research and development and commercial departments often had conflicting views, which at times can be frustrating but ultimately forced us to continually challenge our product road map and enabled a very good decision process to use internally. As a result, we have built a better relationship with our customers, and we can justify why we prioritize certain aspects of our business. This has been a huge contributing factor to our international success thus far.
Sort your finances. International expansion can come with a hefty price tag. It’s important to have a long-term financial plan in place. When my company decided to expand in the United States, we simultaneously made the decision to set up shop in Asia, as they were among the other 40% of our customer base. This type of expansion is far greater than a local expansion.
If you have investors or are seeking investment to make this possible, your investors will want to know exactly how you plan to spend their investment and what the return on investment will be. It’s important to understand that turning this expansion profitable will likely take more time than anticipated. You need to not only have a financial plan but learn about taxes, exchange rates and other factors that will contribute to generating income. Create a realistic budget with set milestones to help you reach your target goals.
Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC)

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Malta Can Become “The Epicentre of Security Token Financing

berkeley business — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 15:34:23 +0000

Traditionally having served only the domestic market, the Maltese Stock Exchange has been actively undertaking a process of internationalisation, leveraging on the country’s status as a leader in digital asset regulation to offer the world innovative capital market solutions.

In our globalised world, small countries often share distinct advantages and disadvantages when compared to bigger economic rivals.

In particular, their challenges relate to lower economies of scale, and traditionally less diversification and macroeconomic policy autonomy. Yet on the other hand, smaller nations generally benefit from certain political advantages that are geared towards greater cohesion and flexibility – recognised as important determinants of the investment climate and economic growth.

Malta, a tiny island-nation in the Mediterranean, and the smallest European Union member state, has played to these strengths marvellously in recent years, positioning itself as the bloc’s fastest growing country. Indeed, it has done so using its small size to its considerable benefit.

Owing to Malta’s geographical limitations, its economy has needed to be flexible to compete. But it’s also down to its small size, and the government’s philosophy to openly embrace digital disruption, that it has been quicker to adapt than most – leading to the recent creation of genuine world-leading industries in the emerging spheres of iGaming and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT).

It’s this openness to modernise and internationalise the economy that not only helped Malta address one of its inherent economic challenges – diversification – but also led to an explosion in foreign investment, and the island-nation’s impressive GDP growth.

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Chinese investors moving beyond citizenship scheme in Cyprus

berkeley business — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 15:33:56 +0000

East Asian investments in Cyprus appear to be gathering momentum, but the nature of the assets bought is shifting to non-urban investments, outside the citizenship scheme.

Initially, in the immediate aftermath of the 2013 crisis, there was a big demand in the Paphos area where the purchase of high-value, luxury villas made buyers eligible for the citizenship by investment scheme. Well-off Chinese seeking ‘access to Europe’ became a key target group for developers seeking new markets and quick sales.

It is Limassol, however, with its high-rises and luxury, highly-priced apartments that has stolen the show over the last 36 months, giving rise to concerns that these sales were driven by the transient demand for Cypriot passports.

Recent indications, however, show a shift in trends. Some notable purchases by Chinese business include a hotel in the west of Larnaca, a residential construction in Limassol and another residential block in Nicosia.

What these sales have in common is that they all require further investment as the assets bought are either incomplete or in need of very extensive renovation. Other sales seen by the Cyprus Mail include a building in central Nicosia and four plots in residential areas, where planning for construction is already underway.

“What we are seeing is a decline in one-off buys, which originally led to concerns that they were based exclusively on the passport scheme. We are now seeing east Asian investors focusing more on investments that would require financing beyond the original sale,” commented a banking source.

Demand appears to have also picked up on assets which provide an immediate yield, such as large commercial buildings, warehouses, hotels and even retail space. It is clear that these investors are focusing on securing a return on their investment. Particularly in “assets in the tourist section”, which is a banking misnomer for hotels, investment interest appears to be intensifying, although completed deals are still to be seen in volume.

“The focus on China has changed. This market does not only generate consumers who purchase assets for personal use and perhaps for additional residency benefits,” according to a senior banker. “China now generates actual investors who are taking a position on the prospects and opportunities of Cyprus, adding further cash in their original investment, completing construction and improving the existing value proposition of the asset they buy”.

This makes the KYC (know your customer) function of the banks easier as investors with “skin in the game” are forced by circumstance (and by further investment) to become more transparent.

According to the same data, the value of the investments is also widening, as large deals to the order of some tens of millions are no longer the exclusive phenomenon of Chinese sales. Lower value sales, in the order of 100 to 200 thousand euro are also appearing. These investments are clearly beyond the scope of the passport scheme, which makes regulators and banks nervous, even though it pleases the smaller construction companies.

Data suggests that the original investment interest demonstrated by Chinese buyers is now maturing into a more generalised interest. One bank reported sales of more than €120 million to Chinese nationals in the last year. These sales, however, are no longer monopolised by Limassol, but are expanding to the rest of the country, to Famagusta, Larnaca and even Nicosia, including central urban areas that will be further developed.

It is clear that the potential of sales to east Asian, and especially Chinese nationals, is huge especially given the appetite of a growing middle class to diversify and to start focusing on yielding assets in which investors maintain a longer-term interest. More importantly, we are seeing that this interest is also escaping the short-sightedness of the original citizenship by investment scheme, involving the purchase of highly-priced housing and is now starting to move into more orthodox, yield-oriented investments that can only be good for the economy.

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10 Key Steps To Expanding Your Business Globally

berkeley business — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 15:32:32 +0000

“Going global” is defined as the worldwide movement toward economic, financial, trade, and communications integration. The concept of globalization can be traced back as far as the Roman Empire. More recently, the concept was popularized by Thomas L. Friedman in his book The World Is Flat, in which he argued that the pace of globalized trade, outsourcing, and supply-chaining was speeding up and that its impact on business organizations and business practices would continue to grow in the 21st century.

For small and emerging businesses, going global is a significant undertaking that could disrupt existing business activities. Thus, it is for crucial for CEOs and business leaders to understand its full impact and determine if the rewards outweigh the risks. Stakeholders across the organization will be called on to carry more responsibilities to continue to execute on day-to-day activities in addition to the global initiative.

Taking a small business global is an complex and dynamic process. Gaining a deep understanding of the targeted markets, the competition, current local market trends, and the requirements to successfully launch and drive growth lays an important foundation.

Perform a “Deep Dive” Due Diligence

Before going global, it is critical to understand what the full impact on your business will be.

Prepare a market segmentation analysis to determine if your product will sell in the local market.

Prepare a product gap analysis against local products. Is there a demand that is not satisfied by a local company?

Perform a SWOT analysis against competition. Your product will likely be higher priced than local products. Will the market buy your product?

Consider market opportunity/sizing. How big is the market and how long will it take you to capture your targeted sales?

Develop a Strategy and Business Plan

Each market has its own nuances due to economic, cultural, governmental, and market conditions. It is important to develop a localized strategy and business plan that drives local success while remaining integrated with the overall corporate strategy and objectives.

Define short-, medium-, and long-term strategy. Set reasonable goals to measure progress and cost/benefits.

Define goals, objectives, and success metrics.

Complete the business model and structure. Decide if you set up a separate company, a branch, or a sales office.

Develop a top-down annual budget.

Develop a tactical project plan with commit dates.

Establish a Beachhead Team

Many global companies try to launch with executives from the parent company or rapidly build a local team from scratch. This is time consuming, risky, and slows time to market. Using proven senior interim executives allows the company to hit the ground running, quickly validate assumptions, and drive key readiness initiatives while the company hires the right senior management team.

Bring on senior interim executives with deep domain expertise or outsource interim leadership to executive leadership organizations.

Establish the financial infrastructure—consider outsourcing this to local service providers.

Begin the recruiting process for the permanent leadership team.

Product Readiness

Based on the product gap analysis, take the necessary steps to market-ready your offerings to achieve high-impact product differentiation.

Review government- and industry-specific regulations to ensure that compliance and certifications are obtained if needed.

Determine if any localization of the product is needed. Pay close attention to the translation of the name of your product in the local language.

Initiate a patent and trademark review—some countries are known for “copying” good ideas.

Initiate testing and quality assurance review based on local standards.

Consider a local logistics and distribution network. Who will sell your product and how will it get to them?

Organizational Readiness

Cultural differences, whether it is language, regulations, or customs, requires a firm to be flexible in the policies and procedures implemented in an international operation to ensure employees are engaged and executing on the company’s plans. The “one size fits all” mindset can have short-term benefits but will have negative long-term effects.

Evaluate the organization structure needed to successfully execute your strategy.

Develop policies, procedures, and handbooks that comply with local requirements while maintaining balance with overall company policies.

Develop competitive benefits programs to attract qualified local employees.

Develop competitive compensation packages based on local standards and customs.

Develop a local information technology infrastructure that is compatible with your domestic infrastructure.

Manage payroll and human resource functions—again, a process that lends itself to outsourcing.

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Establish a Go-to-Market Strategy

The effective selling and marketing of your products or services requires a comprehensive, cohesive strategy that addresses sales strategy, sales delivery, branding/value proposition, marketing strategy, marketing programs, and pricing, which together create clear market differentiators that propel market acceptance and revenue growth.

Determine your optimum sales model: direct, indirect, OEM, distributor, hybrid?

Determine your sales methodology: solution, feature, consultative, price?

Determine if a new brand will be created or whether you will use the parent brand.

Develop a comprehensive marketing plan and KPIs.

Evaluate your pricing model—consumers in less developed countries are very price conscious and your product may not fit the local economic environment.

Legal Readiness

Some countries are known for being highly litigious, so it is critical that strong legal processes are put in place to minimize unnecessary commercial risks. Also, government agencies have strict requirements that necessitates legal documentation be in place prior to operating within the country. Being proactive does require money upfront, but this more than offsets downstream risks and liabilities.

Create localized commercial agreements.

Review industry-specific regulations to ensure compliance and certifications are obtained if needed.

Perform general corporate services such as dispute resolution, immigration, customs, and shipping.

Maintain corporate records and governance—again, an outsourced function might work well.

Tax and Finance Readiness

The proper tax and finance infrastructures need to be set up early on to ensure that you are receiving timely reporting and that your foreign entity is adhering to local corporate policies and procedures.

Consider outsourcing accounting, payroll, and tax.

Establish local banking relationships.

Develop a risk management plan.

Develop a transfer pricing study.

Develop a cash repatriation plan.

Prepare and report sales and VAT taxes.

Prepare Your Final Budget Preparation

Results from the above steps should provide sufficient data for stakeholders of the foreign company to develop a final budget that is aggressive yet attainable, and one that will be owned by your local team.

Develop a 3-year budget and a 12-month business plan with detailed key performance indicators, and update every 6 months.

Perform quarterly operating reviews.

Establish a real-time (or at least weekly) budget to actual reporting with variance analysis.

Establish Close Relationships with Local Businesses

Gain a strong competitive advantage by creating a supporting ecosystem of complimentary products and services, which can come via third-party relationships. These relationships can support the scaling of the organization while minimizing the financial risk.

Negotiate alliance/partner/distributorship programs.

Develop an ecosystem strategy and business model.

Build an internal alliance team to manage and foster relationships.

Expanding your business overseas is not for the fainthearted, but for most businesses it will be inevitable as global markets offer greater opportunities for growth. By paying attention to details and outsourcing administrative functions, the difficult job of “going global” can produce great results.

The post 10 Key Steps To Expanding Your Business Globally first appeared on Diles Corporate Group.

Caribbean citizenship by investment schemes top ranks

berkeley business — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 15:32:03 +0000

The Caribbean island of Dominica offers the best citizenship by investment programme in the world, a title it has achieved for a third year now, according to the CBI Index.

The Financial Times wealth management branch, Professional Wealth Management (PWM), has released the 2019 CBI Index, revealing the top five global citizenship by investment programmes to be in the Caribbean.

Dominica broke records with the highest ever score on the Index (91%), whilst St Kitts and Nevis and Grenada followed closely behind with scores of 89% and 87% respectively. St Lucia leapt to fourth place from fifth last year and scored 84%, while Antigua and Barbuda dropped one place to achieve 79%.

Overall, it was the combination of “extensive due diligence with efficiency, speed, affordability, and reliability” that brought Dominica to the top spot, states the Index.
“St Kitts and Nevis also maintained its upward trajectory regarding visa-free and visa-on-arrival offerings and continued to demonstrate its commitment to enhanced due diligence,” scoring particularly well under ‘Citizenship Timeline’ due to its unique Accelerated Application Process (AAP). Grenada too benefitted “from its improved citizenship timeline, after the significant slowdown in 2018.”

“St Lucia surpassed Antigua and Barbuda for the first time,” with experts citing freedom of movement, speed, and due diligence as vital factors.

A total of 13 countries were examined in this year’s study, carried out by independent researcher James McKay: Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cyprus, Dominica, Grenada, Jordan, Malta, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Turkey, and Vanuatu.

Overall, the central industry trends of transparency, experience, and enhanced security saw the Caribbean nations carry their success from past years into 2019, outperforming their peers in five out of seven pillars.

Jordan was the lowest scoring (51%), just behind Austria and Cambodia, which jointly scored 54%.

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