Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor

The UK doesn't tax dividends paid out to foreign companies or individuals - just ask Lady Tina Green. Dividends paid out of companies in France to parent companies attract a tax - it "withholds" some of the money (in much the same way some of your salary is withheld in tax by your employer).

Corporate tax experts tell me that makes the UK a very attractive place to have a holding company.Failure to respond to a changing environment until it's too late is often called the boiling frog syndrome. As the heat slowly gets turned up, you don't notice the gradual increase in temperature until, before you know it, you are boiled. It seems McDonald's has learnt that lesson.

Read Simon blog here.

Wall Street's post-election rally shows no signs of fatigue as the three major indexes hit all-time highs in morning trading. The Dow Jones is up 0.2%, the S&P 500 added 0.1%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.16%. 

Donald Trump's election as US president last month sparked euphoria on Wall Street, with investors chasing stocks that are likely to gain from his proposals to cut taxes, spend more on infrastructure, and simplify red tape.

Image source, AFP

A former French budget minister who helped in the government's fight against tax evasion has been sentenced to three years in prison for - tax evasion.

A Paris court found Jerome Cahuzac guilty of tax fraud and money-laundering for hiding his wealth in tax havens around the world, including Switzerland and the Isle of Man. 

The judges said Cahuzac committed "a criminal offence of an exceptional seriousness, destructive of the social bond,'' describing a man in "a total loss of his bearings".

He is, however, appealing against the decision and will remain at liberty in the meantime.

The affair has been one of the biggest political scandals of President Francois Hollande's government.  

Before becoming a prominent socialist politician, Cahuzac built his wealth on his professional activities as a plastic surgeon.

It's worth remembering that the European Commission has only recently opened a formal investigation in to Luxembourg's tax treatment of McDonald's - last week, in fact.

"A tax ruling that agrees to McDonald's paying no tax on their European royalties either in Luxembourg or in the US has to be looked at very carefully under EU state aid rules," said commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

Here's the commission's statement in full., external

McDonald's has confirmed it is setting up a new base in the UK, where it will pay corporation tax.

The fast food giant said the new office would be responsible for the majority of royalties earned outside the US.

It comes as the EU investigates McDonald's tax affairs in Luxembourg.

The firm said it would move most of the international functions from Luxembourg to the UK. It added that it paid more than $2.5bn in corporate tax in the EU between 2011 and 2015. 

The ECB's decision to keep pumping money into the eurozone until at least the end of 2017, but to reduce the bond-buying programme to €40bn from April next year, has left traders scratching their heads.

Is this tapering, where the ECB gradually starts easing the eurozone off quantitative easing; or is it a potentially endless extension of the monetary stimulus?

Mario Draghi, the ECB president who previously described QE as a "bazooka", has moved to clear it up.

"The presence of the ECB will be on the markets for a long time," he's told reporters. "That's why tapering was not discussed." 

Spanish analyst Miguel Otero tweets:

Image source, AFP

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi is outlining plans to keep snapping up billions of euros worth of bonds until at least December 2017.

That includes buying bonds with a very low, or even potentially negative, yield where necessary.

Christophe Barraud, chief economist at Market Securities, has this explanation:

The euro is still falling - it's now down 0.6% against the pound at £0.846.  

But here's a health warning on those swings in the euro from Duncan Weldon, head of research at the Resolution Group:

Image source, Getty Images

So is the ECB's move a way of weaning the eurozone off monetary stimulus - a process known as tapering - or not?

Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, says: "This is a tapering of sorts and the initial reaction in the euro certainly suggested markets are going through a bit of a taper tantrum.

"It’s a pretty clever way to taper in that the QE programme is being extended beyond the initial deadline but just at a slower pace – there was never the expectation of QE ad infinitum so we have a pretty neutral policy move here."

Mr Wilson points out that Italian bond yields spiked higher following the Bank's announcement because it "suggests that the ECB is not about to do anything extra for Italy or the Italian banks in the wake of the referendum.”

Bloomberg economist Maxime Sbaihi puts it another way:

Image source, Bloomberg

The euro has swung sharply against the pound too after the ECB's bond-buying announcement shocked the markets.

Sterling initially slumped against the euro, before shooting straight back up again. It's currently 0.2% higher for the day at €1.173.

Image source, Getty Images

There appears to be much confusion over the European Central Bank's giveth and taketh away announcement on bond buying.  

The euro staged a sharp rise against the dollar only to fall back dramatically once details of the ECB's plan emerged, which include tapering quantitative easing from next April.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at City Index, says: "Ok, so the ECB didn't do as I expected, but I was right in saying that there is no free lunch at the ECB - they give with one hand, and taper with another!"

"Was the statement dovish or less dovish than expected? The answer is both… The extension to QE is much longer than we expected, but the tapering announcement is almost hawkish, a mere three days after the Italian’s voted No in its referendum."

Market watchers are reacting to two key announcements from the ECB: that its bond-buying programme will go on until at least December 2017; but that it will ease from €80bn a month to €60bn from April.

The European Central Bank (ECB) will continue with its quantitative easing programme until at least next December.

The ECB its asset purchasing programme will continue at €80bn a month until March 2017. It will then drop to €60bn until the end of the year, "or beyond if necessary".

It kept interest rates unchanged.

Image source, Getty Images

Starbucks is set to fill every corner of the globe with coffee shops after announcing plans to open in 12,000 new locations over the next five years. 

It will include growing its spread in China to 5,000 cafes and will take the total number of Starbucks coffee shops to 37,000.

The strategy will be implemented by Kevin Johnson, the current chief operating officer, who will take over as chief executive from founder, Howard Schultz, next year. 

Image source, Getty Images

McDonald's plans to set up a new company in the UK where it will pay tax for most of the royalties it receives outside the US, Bloomberg is reporting.

The fast food chain said it's moving the tax base from Luxembourg to the UK, where it will pay corporation tax, according to the report.

"McDonald’s selected the UK for the location of its new international holding structure because of significant number of staff based in London working on our international business, language, and connections to other markets,” it said.

The US company is under investigation by the EU for its tax arrangements in Luxembourg.

BBC economics producer Mark Broad tweets:

Just days after Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, warned of "staggering wealth inequalities" in many advanced economies, evidence has emerged of just that in the US.