McDonald’s to move European base to Geneva
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McDonald’s will become the latest company to move its European headquarters from London to Geneva for tax purposes.
McDonald’s campaign
The fast-food chain is planning to move to Switzerland in autumn, where corporate tax rates can be considerably lower compared to the UK.
The decision is part of its plan to simplify the ownership of intellectual property rights.
McDonald’s president for Europe Denis Hennequin, is expected to be among the senior executives that will make the move. It is not know at this stage if there will be any job losses and which divisions will be affected.
It follows a similar trend among other companies which have also headed to Switzerland including Procter & Gamble, Colgate Palmolive, Kraft and Yahoo!.
Last year, the world’s second largest marketing communications group WPP moved to Dublin, Ireland for tax purposes. Its network of agencies include JWT, Ogilvy & Mather, Grey and Young & Rubicam.
It followed pharmaceuticals company Shire and media group United Business Media, which both decided to move their tax domiciles from Britain to Ireland in April, in response to planned tax changes on foreign earnings.
Readers' comments (1)
Anonymous | Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:49 am
Moving to save costs whether we are in a finiancial crisis or not is understandable. However measures need to be put in place to safeguard employment, as the moves will significantly affect employment rates.
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