MVINEWS.COM
MetroVan Independent News
April 2016
9
BUSINESS
BP oil spill tax break
British Oil Giant Could Win Up To $5.35B
In Tax Savings On Deepwater Horizon Settlement
A federal judge in New Orleans closed
the books on years of litigation from the
2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But
environmentalists and lawmakers are livid
that the deal allows the British oil giant to
write off most of the $20.8 billion as just
another cost of doing business.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier finalized
on Monday a settlement first announced
last summer. It requires BP to pay a federal
$5.5 billion non-tax-deductible civil penalty
under the Clean Water Act and the rest to
five Gulf states and local government. The
money will be paid out over 16 years, or an
average of $1.3 billion a year.
But lawmakers and environmentalists
had been pushing to ensure strong
language that would make clear that
the $15.3 billion going to state and local
governments be treated the same way as
the federal penalty.
A letter signed by 53 House members
sent to Attorney General Loretta Lynch in
November demanded federal prosecutors
prohibit BP from treating the money to the
states as a tax write-off.
“We are concerned that without strict
language to the contrary, BP will seek
to claim the remaining $15.3 billion as a
business expense, displacing the burden
of that uncollected revenue onto every
other taxpayer while securing a tax windfall
worth $5.35 billion for itself,” said the letter
signed by Natural Resources Committee
Ranking Member Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.).
The Bank of the Philippine Islands
(BPI) Europe and Rizal Commercial
Banking Corporation (RCBC) are closing
its branches in Italy.
In a statement, BPI said it is closing its
Milan and Rome branches effective June
1, 2016 in line with its business decision to
strengthen its presence in London.
BPI said the Prudential Regulation
Authority (PRA) was informed of the closure
on February 24, 2016. The closure, the
bank said, was designed to complement
a plan submitted to the UK regulatory body
in 2014.
"Upon completion of its Italian branch
closure activities, BPI will focus on banking
operations of its Threadneedle and Earl
Court's offices in the United Kingdom,"
BPI said.
It added that its clients in the BPI
Europe Italian branch have also been
formally informed of the closure. The bank
clients are urged to get in touch with the
branches on or before May 1, 2016 for the
Workers clean up from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, in Waveland, Mississippi, July
9, 2010. On Monday, a federal judge finalized years of litigation against British oil giant BP. But the most of
the $20.8 billion the company will pay out over the next 16 years is tax-deductible.
Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
BPI, RCBC close remittance operations in Italy
Over Half of BC Immigrants
Purchase Home in their
First 5 Years
By Emma Co
Last weekend I had a chance to spend
some time and have dinner with a school
mate visiting for the first time here in
Vancouver from the Philippines.
Besides the beautiful city, amazing
views, Stanley Park, Granville Island the
clean air and water that we are blessed
with, she was quite surprised with the
number of Filipinos living in our city. She
asked me “Emma, why is it that many of
our kababayans that I meet seem so busy.
They would have full time job, with a part
time job on the side. It’s actually quite
exhausting listening to their daily routine”.
I told her that is the Asian immigrant
work ethic. Parents are willing to make
sacrifices for the future of their children,
and others being given a chance to earn
a good living.
A few years back, I knew of a couple
with their boy wanting to rent a whole
house. I initially questioned how they can
afford it, and why rent such a big place.
Both parents worked a number of jobs,
took courses to enhance their skills and
for additional income, hosted several home
stay students. Yet with all their sacrifice,
creativity and team work they made it work.
They are now proud homeowners running
a franchise business.
I recently found an article from BC
Business by Felicity Stone:
In the article it explains how an ongoing
research by UBC professor Daniel Hiebert
based on national household survey data
shows, 53 per cent of landed immigrants
who arrived between 2006 and 2011
became homeowners in that period.
Chinese immigrants at 73 per cent
registered the highest rate of home
ownership, followed by 52 per cent
of South Asians, 51 per cent of South
Koreans, and 44 per cent of White and
Filipino immigrants.
Hiebert told BCBusiness “Most of
the stories that appear in the press on
immigrant 2&R&