Document management software a priority in Asia Pacific | ComputerWorld Hong Kong

IDC said Thursday that most respondents in a recent survey indicated that they plan to invest in document management software, followed by record management software among all other content management (CM) software in the Asia Pacific excluding Japan region.

“In India, Singapore, China, and Australia, managing content published on the Web is the top role played by CM software,” said Ridhi Sawhney, market analyst of Asia/Pacific Software Research at IDC. “Managing content with ever-increasing volumes of information, mounting regulatory pressure, and disparate applications with isolated data repositories, remains a big challenge. There is continuous demand for content management software from legacy businesses and developing countries as organizations endeavor to transition from manual overlay systems to automated systems.

CM market in the region is expected to grow steadily at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.42 percent, reaching US$ 308.42 million by 2013.”

[continued] IDC: Document management software a priority in Asia Pacific | ComputerWorld Hong Kong.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare

Swiss to Reveal Tax Man Tactics

Switzerland will unveil the criteria behind the disclosure of 4,450 UBS accounts handed over to U.S. tax officials at a press conference tomorrow, Bloomberg reports.

As part of a late summer settlement between UBS and the U.S. government, the Swiss banking giant agreed to hand over the names on those UBS accounts. (UBS paid $780 million in February to settle criminal charges that the bank helped wealthy American clients avoid paying U.S. taxes.)

Swiss officials are expected to reveal the model used by IRS and Justice Department lawyers to suss out overseas tax evaders. The Am Law Daily reported in August that the Justice Department might never release an appendix to its UBS accord detailing the criteria used to select the 4,450 accounts, because it doesn't want to tip its hand on disclosure requirements and possibly incentivize individuals not to come forward under an amnesty program.

The amnesty deadline for U.S. citizens to file income tax returns disclosing assets stashed away in offshore tax havens passed on October 15. Swiss authorities withheld details of how UBS accounts were selected so as not to interfere with the IRS's voluntary disclosure program, which saw about 7,500 Americans submit filings.

Now the country's Justice Ministry–making more headlines recently for its role in the Roman Polanski case–will announce more intimate details of its arrangement with U.S. regulators. According to Bloomberg, the criteria will likely be based on a point system that automatically triggered the disclosure of certain accounts.

Like speeders getting pulled over by state troopers on a highway, certain accounts would accrue points based on certain characteristics. Have a million Swiss francs in your local savings bank in lakeside Lucerne? That's a point. Financial arrangements structured as foreign trusts and foundations also are fertile ground for red flags, Bloomberg reports.

The IRS has recently opened new offices in Beijing, Panama City, and Sydney as part of its effort to crackdown on overseas tax havens for U.S. citizens. Bloomberg recently reported that Hong Kong has become a target for federal prosecutors keen on determining how the roles financial professionals possibly linked to tax evasion have evolved after the former British colony was returned to China in 1997.

Read more:  Swiss to Reveal Tax Man Tactics.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare

Microsoft Drops the Price for SharePoint Online

Seems increased competition with Google is making Microsoft look twice at its pricing for online services such as SharePoint news, site and Exchange.

The company has reduced the monthly rates for its Business Productivity Online Suite BPOS which includes SharePoint from US$ 15 to US$ 10. They also dropped the monthly subscription for Exchange Online from US$ 10 to US$ 5.

In addition to the price reduction, BPOS is also available in Singapore, and soon India. BPOS will be available in over 36 countries by the end of this year and there are a number of new high profile organizations using the service. Trials are slated to begin in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania and Taiwan.

Its this adoption that is pushing the price of the online services down. According to Microsoft specifically, ““rapid customer adoption, global scale and improved efficiencies from new software such as Exchange Server 2010.”

via Microsoft Drops the Price for SharePoint Online.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-01

Powered by Twitter Tools

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare

New Bill Could Bring Chapter 11 to Hong Kong

Efforts to introduce a Chapter 11-style corporate restructuring law in Hong Kong have been revived, the South China Morning Post reports subscription required.

In Hong Kong and in much of the rest of Asia, failing companies typically end up in the hands of liquidators. By comparison, Chapter 11 proceedings under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code famously permit troubled companies to enter a court-supervised period of reorganization, during which they are sheltered from creditors and can seek ways of boosting their finances, often by selling off assets.

The government of Hong Kong has been proposing such a law for over a decade but two previous versions of the Corporate Rescue Bill have foundered over a provision requiring employees be paid in full before a company can file a restructuring plan.

via New Bill Could Bring Chapter 11 to Hong Kong.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare

Merging Chinese Companies Rely on Silicon Valley Lawyers

When two Chinese companies merge, you might expect a Chinese or Hong Kong firm to handle the deal. But not when those companies are backed by venture capitalists with strong Silicon Valley ties.

That’s how partner David Lee ended up leading a team out of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe’s Valley office on behalf of privately held Digital Media Group in its $160 million sale to publicly owned Vision China Media.

“You would think you are talking to a person that you are meeting in Menlo Park,” Lee said of VCs at Oak Investment Partners and Gobi Partners. “The way they operate, they are just like any Valley person. They transplanted a few years ago to China.”

Lee said the investors preferred a U.S. style of lawyering, and a team with plenty of experience finding solutions to potential M&A roadblocks.

via Merging Chinese Companies Rely on Silicon Valley Lawyers .

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare

HONG KONG: International arbitration comes home

Hong Kong is steadily gaining global recognition as an international arbitration centre for the Asia Pacific region, providing an ideal venue for speedy and reliable dispute solutions.

That’s a key message that Mr. Yan Lung Wong, Secretary of Justice of the Hong Kong SAR government, conveyed to federal Minister of Justice, Robert Nicholson, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and other senior judiciary, legal, business, academic figures and government officials during his three-day visit to Ottawa and Toronto last week.

via Ottawa Business Journal.

LinkedInPinterestEvernoteWordPressBlogger PostEmailShare