Daily Archives: April 21, 2017

NETARTS The Friends of Netarts Bay Watershed Estuary Beach and Sea (WEBS) is offering a free sustainable clamming workshop at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 29, in the Netarts Bay area.

Participants who must sign up for a specific location will learn about the role of shellfish in bay health, types of shellfish and invertebrates in the bay, sustainable methods for harvesting wild shellfish, current research on trends in clam size and biomass, and distribution patterns, research and regulations around harvesting.

Be warned: Attendees should expect to get dirty they will be venturing out into mud flats with guides. Boot or closed-toed shoes are recommended. Flip flops are strongly discouraged.

A shellfish license is required and can be obtained from the local state Department of Fish and Wildlife office or at Naveens Bayside Market and Deli.

WEBS is a local non-profit organization dedicated to sustaining the Netarts Bay area through education and stewardship.

Registration is required. For a link, please visit Friends of Netarts Bay WEBS Eventbrite site or Facebook page.

This workshop is part of the Explore Nature series of hikes, walks, paddles and outdoor adventures. The events hosted by a consortium of volunteer community and nonprofit organizations are nature-based experiences meant to highlight the unique beauty of Tillamook County and the work being done to preserve and conserve the areas natural resources and natural resource-based economy, according to press materials.

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Learn about sustainable shellfish harvesting in Netarts Bay - Coast Weekend

Multinational oil giant Chevron has lost its appeal against a multimillion-dollar tax bill issued by the Australian Taxation Office, setting the scene for the tax man to challenge other companies with dubious tax schemes.

While Chevron's appeal to the Full Federal Court is not the end of the matter the company has told Fairfax Media it may appeal to the High Court the case has emboldened Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan to go after other multinationals.

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Big companies can get very creative with their tax avoidance strategies, including global resource giants Chevron and Shell.

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Get to know the online retail giant before it sets up shop on Australian shores.

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Australias spending on road and rail is picking up the slack from housing construction. Michael Pascoe comments.

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Ahead of a meeting with suppliers, Malcolm Turnbull says it's essential businesses and families have access to reliable and affordable gas,

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The decision to abolish 457 temporary work visas is presented by Malcolm Turnbull as putting the interests of Australians first.

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Former police officer Adam Watts details the lengths his insurance company went to deny him his workers compensation after being medically discharged from the force.

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No, Australia isn't suffering a housing bubble. Sydney and to a lesser extent Melbourne might be, but the whole nation is starting to pay the price for it.

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Australia has more economic challenges than just Sydney and Melbourne housing prices, for example wages growth is stubbornly low and so is inflation. Michael Pascoe comments.

Big companies can get very creative with their tax avoidance strategies, including global resource giants Chevron and Shell.

The Australian Taxation Office has already issued tax bills totalling $2.9 billion to seven large companies.

The Chevron case was in many ways a major test case for the ATO, and will have global implications for the way tax paid by large companies is assessed.

The ATO has been fiercely battling Chevron in court over unpaid taxes between 2004 and 2008.

The case examined the tax deductibility of a $2.5 billion inter-company loan made from a Chevron subsidiary in Delaware to Chevron Australia.

The Full Federal Court unanimously agreed with the ATO that Chevron used a series of loans and related-party payments worth billions of dollars to slash its tax bill by about $300 million.

The agency has to date spent more than $10 million in out-of-pocket expenses in the the Chevron case and was hoping for a win.

The ATO will now be able to challenge other companies with similar transfer pricing arrangements.

In 2015, Chevron paid itself $2.2 billion in interest payments; that amount is over half of the $3.9 billion in offshore interest payments to related parties that the ATO reported for the offshore oil and gas industry in its recent submission.

"We are heartened by the outcome," an ATO spokesman told Fairfax Media. "This is the first matter to reach an Australian court which tests how our transfer pricing rules apply to interest paid on a cross-border related party loan.

"In short, the Court did not accept the proposition that the Australian subsidiary group of Chevron should be allowed to claim interest on the basis that its borrowings should be judged under the transfer pricing rules as if it was a standalone 'orphan' company separate from the rest of the Chevron Group."

"This decision is significant and has direct implications for a number of cases the ATO is currently pursuing in relation to related party loans, as well as indirect implications for other transfer pricing cases."

The ATO noted that Australia's transfer pricing rules have been further strengthened since the years under consideration in the Chevron decision, and there were also tougher domestic laws including the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law and Diverted Profits Tax.

But a Chevron spokesman signalled this may not be the end of the battle. "Chevron is disappointed [with] today's decision ... We will review the decision to determine next steps, which may include an appeal to the High Court of Australia.

"As recognised by the trial court in the dispute, the financing is a legitimate business arrangement and the parties differ only in their assessments of the appropriate interest rate to apply."

He said Chevron Australia was one of Australia's largest investors and employers and since 2009 had paid almost $4 billion in federal and state taxes and royalties.

The tax and business community have also been keenly watching the case.

"The ATO's win against Chevron should send a strong signal to all multinationals that these blatant tax avoidance schemes will be challenged," said International Transport Workers Federation senior researcher Jason Ward. The union, which represents workers on the offshore LNG projects of WA, has been a vocal critic of Chevron.

"With this judgement, Chevron should be forced to change the current $42 billion loan which is already being audited by the ATO. If the current larger scheme is not restructured, Australians will lose billions more in future tax revenue."

KPMG tax partner Grant Wardell-Johnson said the case would have global ramifications. Companies could no longer postulate that a subsidiary is completely independent of its parent.

"You cannot treat it as if it were an orphan," he said. "Rather you must take into account the common ownership in determining the appropriate consideration."

The Tax Institute's senior tax counsel Robert Deutschsaid "multinationals should as a matter of urgency review their existing offshore financing arrangements in light of this decision".

"The decision may yet be appealed to the High Court but there is neither certainty that such an appeal will be made nor, if made, that it would be successful," he said. "For the moment all parties should proceed on the basis that the Full Federal Court has provided the final word on this matter."

Chartered Accountants tax leader Michael Croker said:"This is such an important win for the ATO and will influence many conversations with other multinational companies."

He said the Chevron decision could influence government thinking on the need for further statutory limits on interest deductibility, noting Labor's worldwide gearing ratio policy.

"But there are those who say Australia's resource based economy and substantial infrastructure needs mean we cannot be too proscriptive on interest deductions," he said. "One model is to impose restrictions but allow the Treasurer to authorise higher gearing for nation-building projects."

Shadow assistant treasurer, Andrew Leigh, said the decision highlighted the importance of closing debt-shifting loopholes. "For all its hot air, the Turnbull Government has consistently opposed Labor's fair measures to tighten the rules that let multinationals use internal loans to shift profits offshore," Mr Leigh said.

Australian Greens finance spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said Chevron had fought for almost 15 years against paying its fair share of tax to Australians. "The Chevrons and Adanis of this world do not need, or deserve, handouts from the Australian taxpayer when billions are being ripped out of our school system and our young people are struggling with record cost-of-living expenses".

The Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance, which has looked at profit-shifting techniques used by tech giants including Apple, Google and Microsoft will now shift its full focus to the oil and gas industry. New hearings are expected to take place in Perth on April 28.

As outlined by both Chevron and the ATO in the Senate hearing in 2015, the new $42 billion loan, like the smaller $2.5 billion loan in the court case, is a hybrid loan structure. It reduces profits in Australia and makes tax-free interest income in Delaware.

The Delaware parent company, which has no office and employees, pays an annual filing fee to the state of Delaware of $US175 and no tax on interest income.

Chevron admitted in the Senate hearings that this larger loan, under audit by the ATO, could reduce corporate income tax payments in Australia by $15 billion. But tax experts say the actual impact could be much larger.

The ATO will be releasing detailed guidance to help companies with related party loans comply with Australia's transfer pricing rules.

Follow Nassim Khadem on Facebook and Twitter.

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Multinationals tax dispute: Chevron loses appeal, ordered to pay about $300m to ATO - The Sydney Morning Herald

Joining Chinas One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative may be an effective vehicle to spur economic growth in Canada and the US. The 110 nations that have expressed interest in participating in the trade initiative account for more than45% of the worlds gross domestic productand population.

Two-way trade between China and the participating nations already exceeded US$1 trillion in 2016. China last yearinvested more than US$2.5 billion in some of the nations industries and infrastructure located along the the OBOR route. These numbers are expected to grow in the coming years. Indeed, two-way trade is expected to be between US$3 trillion and US$4 trillion when the initiative is fully implemented, accounting for nearly 25% of Chinas total trade.

In light of these numbers and potential prospects, OBOR offers huge opportunities for Canadian and USexporters. Joining OBOR may indeed be the most effective and practical trade and investment policy that the two countries can implement to realize long-term sustainable economic growth.

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In addition to the 110 (and growing) number of OBOR markets, China itself is able to absorb huge quantities of US and Canadian exports. Recent data coming out of China indicate that its economy is gaining strength, largely ondomestic consumption and investment increases and continual economic reforms.

In the first quarter of this year, Chinas GDP grew by6.9%, private consumption rose by more than7%, manufacturing increased by more than10%, and trade surged by 21%. The International Monetary Fund predicts that Chinas economy will likely grow by 6.5% this year and 6.2% in 2018.

This writer is equally bullish on the Chinese economy, projecting it to grow by between6% and 8% annually to 2020 in a co-authored book, Chinas Economic Rise and Its Global Impact, published by Palgrave McMillan in 2015.

Another reason to join the Chinese trade initiative is that the economies of China and US/Canada are highly complementary. Resource-based Canada has a considerable quantity of natural resources forestry, fishery, mining, oil and gas, agriculture that China needs to fuel its growing economy. The US capital-intensive and natural-resources-based economy is what China needs to sustain long-term economic growth. US technology and high-end manufacturing are demanded in China. With US President Donald Trumps recent policyof make in and buy in America, joining OBOR makes perfect economic sense.

However, some influential politicians and pundits consider China the US biggest threat, doing everything possible to block investment from, selling to and buying from China, particularly products and investments they deem to be a dangerto national security. Yet the same groups complain about the huge trade deficit that the US has with China. Moreover, after moving polluting manufacturing to China, the anti-China crowd complain about the country polluting the planet. It seems that theywant to blame China for the problems its businessand financial sponsors created.

Anti-China sentiments are no less harsh in Canada. There is no shortage of China-bashing rhetoric published by the countrys major newspapers, accusing the Chinese government of abusing human rights and posing a national-security threat because Chinese enterprises or entrepreneurs are buying or investing in Canadas natural resources and real estate. After years of being brainwashed by the medias relentless reporting on the country, the majority of both Canadians and Americansbelieve the rhetorical nonsense for lack of alternative sources of information on China.

Accusations of human rights abuses are largely if not solely fanned by so-called pro-democracy activists. In Canada and the US, for example, anti-China politicians often invite only theseactivists, Tibetan and Uighur separatists, and people such as Martin Lee and Anson Chan to testify before parliamentary or congressional hearings on Chinas human rights activities.

While the anti-China activists might be telling the truth, Canadian and American politicians should also invite non-dissidents or the average person to testify on Chinas records on human and religious rights. History will tell that the Chinese government does not always lie, nor do dissidents always tell the truth.

It is true that some Chineseofficials, particularly those in local government, do suppress human rights, thoughperhaps not to the extent claimedby critics or dissidents. The fact is that more than80% of the Chinese population supportsBeijings economic and political policies, according to the US-based Pew Poll. With support that Canadian and American politicians can only hope for, it is difficult to argue that the Chinese government is as bad as its critics claim.

Critics argue that torture is done behind closed doors, out of peoples mind and sight. However, that speculation is questionable. The late Harry Wu lied that he was beaten in jail. His testimony served anti-China politicians purpose, allowinghim to live comfortably if not luxuriously in the US onthe taxpayers dime until he passed away at a luxury Latin American resort.

Meanwhile, selling technology to or accepting investment from China does not threaten Canadian orUS national security. In fact, China is more at risk by investing in those twocountries. It cannot take away the dirt it bought and facilities it built. Moreover, the US has a far more advanced and stronger military than Chinas.

Last but not least, Chinese innovation is fast catching up to that of the US and Canada, not because it is stealing from them asthe anti-China crowd would have us believe, but because China is spending heavily (more than 2% of GDP) on research and development. With more than 5 million STEM (science, technology, engineering and management) graduates each year, there are bound to some bright and creative ones.

The governments of the US and Canada should brush aside the anti-China rhetoric and join theOBOR trade initiative.

Ken Moak taught economic theory, public policy and globalization at university level for 33 years. He co-authored a book titled China's Economic Rise and Its Global Impact (Palgrave McMillan, 2015). His latest book is titled, Developed Nations and the Impact of Globalization and it will be published by Palgrave McMillan Springer in 2017.

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Joining OBOR may be right choice for US and Canada - Asia Times

Ten years from now, respondents believe that emerging market economic development will be driven by increasing levels of education, modernizing infrastructure and innovation. The study found that institutional investors see the shift from "old economy" to "new economy" fueling fundamental change across these markets.

"Institutional investors see the evolution of emerging market countries from resource-based, commodity-dependent economies to more diversified and dynamic economies as the dominant trend for the next decade," said Andrew McCollum, Managing Director at Greenwich Associates. "As that transformation takes hold, investment managers' ability to generate alpha will require a much more integrated investment process that focuses on bottom-up fundamentals but blends top-down macroeconomic and political perspectives."

Demand for external expertise on emerging markets in institutions is growing. The study found that nearly a quarter of endowments, foundations and corporate pensions with less than $1 billion in AUM say they expect to hire a new emerging market equity manager in the coming year, as do nearly 20% of public funds of the same size.

"Once again institutional investors are looking beyond today's markets to how they can effectively meet their future return targets," saidJohn McDonough, Head of Distribution and Marketing at OppenheimerFunds. "We remain committed to bringing them unique insights that come from being at the forefront of global investing for almost 50 years."

In contrast to some investors shifting towards beta strategies, 78% of U.S. institutions participating believe that active strategies will be their main vehicle for obtaining emerging market exposures in the next ten years. In addition, respondents noted that 85% of European and 31% of U.S. institutions expect to incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into their investments in emerging countries.

Interviews were conducted by Greenwich Associates with 121 institutional investors, from the U.S. and Europe, between November 2016 and February 2017.

To read the report visit: https://www.ofiglobal.com/institutional-investors/ico/institutional-perspectives

About OppenheimerFunds

OppenheimerFunds, Inc., a leader in global asset management, is dedicated to providing solutions for its partners and end investors. OppenheimerFunds, including its subsidiaries, manages more than $228 billion in assets for over 13 million shareholder accounts, including sub-accounts, as of March 31, 2017.

In 2016, OppenheimerFunds launched a Revenue Weighted ESG Strategy which focuses on U.S. large-cap equities with highly rated ESG practices, anda Revenue Weighted Global ESG Strategy, which focuses on global large- and mid-cap equities with highly rated ESG practices.

Founded in 1959, OppenheimerFunds is an asset manager with a history of providing innovative strategies to its investors. The firm's 15 investment management teams specialize in equity, fixed income, alternative, multi-asset, and revenue-weighted-ETF strategies, including ESG. OppenheimerFunds and its subsidiaries offer a broad array of products and services to clients, who range from endowments and sovereigns to financial advisors and individual investors. OppenheimerFunds and certain of its subsidiaries provide advisory services to the Oppenheimer family of funds, and OFI Global Asset Management offers solutions to institutions. The firm is also active through its Philanthropy & Community initiative: 10,000 Kids by 2020, reaching children with introductions to math literacy programs. For more information on the firm, visitoppenheimerfunds.com.

An investment in the strategy is subject to investment risk, including the possible loss of principal amount invested. Foreign investments may be volatile and involve additional expenses and special risks, including currency fluctuations, foreign taxes, regulatory and geopolitical risks. The stocks of companies with favorable ESG practices may underperform the stock market as a whole. The alternate weighting approach employed by the strategy (i.e., using revenues as a weighting measure), while designed to enhance potential returns, may not produce the desired results.

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OppenheimerFunds and Greenwich Associates Release Report on ... - PR Newswire (press release)