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.