Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Greenies of the world unite!

It is so hard to care at all about the climate change protests and the well meaning Tarquins/Greta's behind them.


Dancing around on Yoga mats is one thing, but today has also see John McDonnell decide to helpfully incite the anti-capitalist movement too. We can look forward to him as Chancellor ordering our highest tax-paying companies to be 'occupied' and 'hounded.' A real through the looking glass moment.


Equally, I find the usual Press denunciations of the Greenies to be as feeble, or even worse than the strange claims they make.


"You came by plane, hypocrite!"
or
"Your from a wealthy background so you can afford morals"


These ad hominem attacks just add more heat, so to speak to the situation. They prove nothing other that the accuser has no real counter arguments.


What is better is to consider what the Greenies say, for example, a better argument is to tell them what really matters is China which is hugely increasing its emissions. To which the answer comes back 'well we sent them all our factories, so that is our fault too.'


Well, for me, here is the crown of thorns. Of course the West did not 'send' their manufacturing to the East. No, the East merrily came and grabbed it. They were able to do so, because labour was much cheaper and there were fewer regulations for companies to abide by - so their costs were 10x less originally than the West which had invented the Industrial revolution. Moreover, from an energy perspective, the East could happily burn all the coal and oil it liked. They don't care about using highly polluting fuel oil  in powerstations for example and Russia was happy to export - and still is to this day. So as well low regs, cheap labour they also have cheap energy costs.


With this, the economies of the East rapidly industrialised and started taking Western market share, whilst still growing the overall market. So, morally, the West did not export anything. The West in some ways is a victim of the growth of China - our sclerotic economies are signs of this.


It also means that as much as we hate the talking shops of Paris etc, really the only way to fight climate change is globally and internationally - but the focus needs to be on recalcitrant nations who refuse to play by the new rules required, whereas the Greenies as ever are focused on the evil's of Western Empire and Capitalism. Which is a shame, as in the long-term there is no mileage in this and if their worst fears come true they will have spent their energies in exactly the wrong place!


from Capitalists@Work http://www.cityunslicker.co.uk/2019/04/greenies-of-world-unite.html

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

REIT Use of Non-GAAP Measures to Remain Under SEC Scrutiny, Lawyer Says

Karen Garnett, partner at international law firm Proskauer, participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITwise: 2019 Law, Accounting & Finance Conference in San Antonio.

Garnett discussed how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is addressing some of the emerging issues surrounding corporate governance.



from News https://www.reit.com/news/videos/reit-use-non-gaap-measures-remain-under-sec-scrutiny-lawyer-says

IRS Revises EIN Application Process - Responsible Parties Must Be Individuals with a SSN or ITIN

Effective May 13, 2019, entities will be prohibited from using their own Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) as the “responsible party” on applications for additional EINs.  Citing enhancements to security of the EIN process, the IRS announced that when requesting an EIN, whether by paper on Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number, or online individuals named as a responsible party must have a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).  Government and military entities are generally exempt from the responsible party requirements.
 
The new policy does not change the rule that tax professionals may act as third-party designees for entities and complete paper or online applications on behalf of their clients.
 

Implications

Foreign entities with responsible parties who do not have a SSN/ITIN should consider requesting an EIN prior to May 13, 2019, if an entity classification election will be filed or the foreign entity will file a U.S. federal tax return. It appears that under the new procedures, foreign entities will no longer be able to show the responsible party’s identifying number as “FOREIGN” when requesting an EIN.  Going forward, it is important to keep in mind that it can take several weeks to apply for and receive an ITIN. Also, an ITIN is currently provided to a foreign individual only in certain situations.
 

CONTACT:
 
Controversy and Procedure:    

Todd Simmens
Partner and Controversy and Procedure
Technical Practice Leader

 

Cathy Stopyra
Tax Managing Director


Michelle Murphy
Tax Quality & Risk Management Assistant Director
 
Doug Klein
Tax Managing Director

Allison Goodhartz
Experienced Tax Senior
   

 
International Tax:    
Joe Calianno
Partner and International Tax Technical Practice Leader
  Sean Dokko
Senior Manager


from BDO USA Tax Publications Feed https://www.bdo.com/insights/tax/federal-tax/irs-revises-ein-application-process-responsible-pa

Who Knows What's Going On?

First of all: if the headline reads like an open invitation to anyonewho thinks they do, the BTL Comments section is truly at your disposal!  (And if, after you've survived a few challenges from the C@W readership, you still think you know - you should apply for a job as MSM leader-writer, because they haven't the faintest idea.  Even Guido is just dealing in trivia.) 

Here's how I'd stake out the landscape:
  • everyone keeps having the excellent excuse of waiting for the Next Scheduled Event - after which, presumably, they'll understand everything and will doubtless let us know.  Right now that's the Euro Elections and maybe also the Locals.  Who bothers trying to call them?  The only game being played is to tell your own party: "if we don't do X [get rid of May, promise R2, commit to revoking A50, fill in your own heartfelt disideratum here] we'll be wiped out ..."
  • there is no sign of leadership.  Anywhere, really.  OK, Starmer and Farage are being a bit more purposeful than most.  But that's about it
  • there is no sign of coalition-building.  Around anything.  Every faction seems to think the best tactic is to retain its own purity of position.  (For Corbyn, of course, this means high-principled fence-sitting, which must eventually start to affect the flow of blood to those bollocks of his that the Momentumites so admire)
  • rather against my own views on How Things Happen, there isn't much sign of the grown-ups seizing control.  Quite the reverse: the children are happily blocking the streets, metaphorically-speaking on quite a wide scale, as well as at Marble Arch  
Incidentally, for those of the Marxist disposition - or more specifically, Marxist-Leninist - none of this comes as a surprise.  As we've mentioned before, to many of them the current state of affairs closely resembles the backdrop they'd expect to presage the Revolution.  And, famously, Marx offered precious little guidance as to what to do in these circumstances, not least because (a) ultimately he was a library-bound tosser, and (b) he reckoned that the Hand of History would be doing its blind and baleful dialectical thing: no need to be too specific.  It was Lenin who started theorising - and, more importantly, doing something - about What Happens Next.  And, because what he faced in 1917 et seq bore scant relationship in detail to anything Marx had predicted, he was making it up as he ruthlessly went along.

Do we see any candidiates for the role of Lenin?  I am quite sure McDonnell dreams about this - but he doesn't look he part to me.

Have at it in the comments, chaps.

ND



from Capitalists@Work http://www.cityunslicker.co.uk/2019/04/who-knows-whats-going-on.html

Monday, April 22, 2019

Kimco Fosters Young Leaders Through Innovative Ideas Program

Ross Cooper, president and CIO of Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITwise: 2019 Law, Accounting & Finance Conference in San Antonio.

Cooper discussed a panel he moderated at REITwise about managing a range of generations, noting that there are more similarities among generations than differences, and that everyone is looking for flexibility, communication, and work-life balance.



from News https://www.reit.com/news/videos/kimco-fosters-young-leaders-through-innovative-ideas-program

PwC Partner Anticipates Complex Transition to SOFR

Tom Wilkin, partner and U.S. REIT leader at PwC, participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITwise: 2019 Law, Accounting & Finance Conference in San Antonio.

Wilkin discussed the planned transition away from the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) in favor of the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) that will occur by the end of 2021. LIBOR is currently the predominant interest rate benchmark for the dollar and other global currencies. He noted that globally, about $350 trillion in contracts are tied to LIBOR in some way.



from News https://www.reit.com/news/videos/pwc-partner-anticipates-complex-transition-sofr

Friday, April 19, 2019

Real Estate Professor Says the Right CEO Hire is Board’s Number One Priority

Cydney Donnell, director of real estate programs at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School, participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITwise: 2019 Law, Accounting & Finance Conference in San Antonio.

Donnell discussed the changes in diversity of thought among corporate boards over the years.



from News https://www.reit.com/news/videos/real-estate-professor-says-right-ceo-hire-boards-number-one-priority