Geneva  - Liechtenstein and Luxembourg announced Wednesday they signed a double taxation agreement in line with the transparency standards demanded by a group of developed nations.

It was the first such transparent treaty that Liechtenstein, a tiny principality nestled between Switzerland and Austria that depends heavily on its financial sector, signed with another country.

Luxembourg Finance Minister Luc Frieden and Liechtenstein Prime Minister Klaus Tschutscher signed the double taxation agreement, which had been initialed last month, in Vaduz, the capital of the Alpine principality.

Vaduz, Liechtenstein  - Liechtenstein and Britain will on Tuesday sign a tax agreement aimed at recovering outstanding taxes from British investors in the Alpine principality.

The Liechtenstein government said the agreement was aimed at encouraging clients of Liechtenstein's financial services with tax arrears in Britain to voluntarily provide information under special conditions between 2010 and 2015.

Vaduz, Liechtenstein - Liechtenstein has started negotiations with Germany and other countries and would begin talks with Britain next week as part of its pledge to rework tax agreements to fight tax evasion.

Klaus Tschutscher, the new prime minister of the Alpine principality, said his government would move to conclude Tax Information Exchange Agreements meeting the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards.

Vaduz, Liechtenstein - Liechtenstein's LGT Group on Tuesday reported a 36 per cent drop in profits for 2008, as well as net cash outflows of 1.3 billion Swiss francs
(1.1 billion dollars).

Last year, LGT's profits were 163 million francs compared with 255 million in 2007. It had 78 billion francs under management at the end of 2008, a decline which was attributed to "negative market effects."

Vaduz, Liechtenstein - Pierre Littbarski has left a personal hell in Iran for the tax haven of Liechtenstein and enjoys the tranquillity there.

The German coach signed at the Vaduz club last month after fleeing Iran's Saipa Tehran in October because he was caught in a power struggle between club boss Hamid Sadschadi and national team coach Ali Daei.

"I basically fled Iran, saying I would meet my wife in Dubai," he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

But the World Cup winner from 1990 insisted that not everything was bad in Iran: "The people there are very friendly and football-crazy."

Singapore  - A private bank based in Liechtenstein plans to make Singapore a hub for its Asian operations, a published report said on Friday.

The VP Bank Group intends to increase its staff strength in the city-state from 12 to 26 in the next 12 months and is aiming to manage 5-billion-US-dollars worth of assets in Asia within five years, said Singapore managing director Reto Isenring.

The city-state was chosen as a hub because of its "business- friendly government and an attractive tax environment, a skilled workforce" and excellent infrastructure, The Straits Times quoted Isenring as saying.