WIESBADEN, GERMANY: Britain will not succeed if it tries to attract businesses by undercutting its EU neighbors on corporate tax after Brexit, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Wednesday.
“If a big country thinks that it can have the advantages of a small country, things will go wrong,” Schaeuble told a G20 conference in Wiesbaden.
“Great Britain can’t be compared with the Cayman Islands. That would be an insult to Great Britain.”
British finance minister Philip Hammond said in a German newspaper interview earlier this month that the island nation would be forced to “change our economic model” to remain competitive if it does not get the concessions it wants on access to the European single market.
Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to formally notify Brussels authorities of her country’s intention to quit the 28-member bloc by the end of March, following a hard-fought exit vote last June.
London is keen to obtain concessions from the remaining EU members to allow its companies, including manufacturers and financial services providers, continued barrier-free access to the single market.
Hammond said he wanted Britain to remain a “recognizably European-style economy with European-style taxation systems, European-style regulation systems” after Brexit.
However, London would have to change course “if we are forced,” in order to “regain competitiveness.”
While May insists that the UK must also be allowed to control immigration from the continent onto its shores, EU leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel say the single market’s “four freedoms” — of labor, capital, goods, and services — are indivisible.
“The rest of the world won’t allow” tax havens to benefit at the expense of other countries, Schaeuble insisted Wednesday.
Germany shrugs off UK tax haven threat
Germany shrugs off UK tax haven threat
Closing Bell: Saudi main index closes in red at 10,709
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index dipped on Thursday, losing 138.89 points, or 1.28 percent, to close at 10,709.04.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR6.59 billion ($1.75 billion), as 102 of the listed stocks advanced, while 154 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index decreased, down 22.40 points or 1.52 percent, to close at 1,450.58.
The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu lost 123.85 points, or 0.54 percent, to close at 22,792.98. This came as 30 of the listed stocks advanced, while 40 retreated.
The best-performing stock was Al-Rajhi Co. for Cooperative Insurance with its share price surging by 9.96 percent to SR74.50.
Other top performers included Jazan Development and Investment Co., which saw its share price rise by 9.89 percent to SR8.33, and Gulf Insurance Group, which saw a 7.48 percent increase to SR23.
On the downside, City Cement Co. and Al Gassim Investment Holding Co. saw declines, with their shares dropping by 5.51 percent and 4.22 percent to SR11.50 and SR13.15, respectively.
On the announcement front, Almoosa Health Co. has signed a construction contract with Almajal Alarabi Group valued at SR608.85 million to complete the electrical, mechanical, and architectural finishing works for the new Almoosa Specialized Hospital in AlHofuf City.
The agreement, finalized on Feb. 26, covers all complementary internal and external works based on approved engineering designs to ensure the facility is fully operationally ready upon completion.
According to a Tadawul statement, work on the project will commence immediately, with an expected completion timeline of 16 months.
Almoosa Health intends to finance the development through a combination of its own resources and long-term Shariah-compliant facilities secured from local banks, with the financial impact anticipated to begin following the hospital’s completion and commissioning.
Almoosa’s share price surged by 4.24 percent to reach SR147.50.
