In August 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (US) imposed a fine of USD 14.8 million on The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon) in order to settle charges alleging violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). According to the SEC, BNY Mellon violated the FCPA when it hired relatives of foreign government officials as interns in exchange for doing business with a foreign wealth fund. The SEC’s argument was that BNY Mellon did not follow their usual internal guidelines for hiring interns, such as evaluating and hiring the interns through BNY Mellon’s established internship program, interviewing the interns and doing a legal and compliance background check of potential violations prior to hiring them. This recent action is part of an increasing trend by the SEC to pursue alleged violations and impose fines not only on individuals and U.S. companies but also on their foreign subsidiaries as well as third party partners and intermediaries engaged by such companies.

In February 2015 the German Federal Ministry of Finance published a circular clarifying the procedure that allows an investor to provide sufficient information in order to avoid lump-sum taxation after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the German lump-sum taxation of non-transparent foreign investment funds according to Sec. 6 GITA violates the free movement of capital (ECJ, decision dated 9 October 2014, “Van Caster” – C-326/12). In a recent update of said circular following another judgement of the ECJ (decision dated 21. May 2015, "Wagner-Raith" - C-560/13) the German Federal Ministry of Finance narrows down the scope of application for the procedure to avoid lump-sum taxation to EU- and EEA-funds only and leaving countries like the US in the rain. 

On March 11, 2015 the German Supreme Tax Court ruled that income included in the tax basis of a German taxpayer under the German CFC rules acc. to Sec. 10 Para 1 Sent 1 German Foreign Tax Act will remain foreign source income. Because German trade tax is only on income generated in Germany such CFC add-backs are to be excluded from the German trade tax base acc. to Sec. 9 No 3 Sent 1 German Trade Tax Act.