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NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Home Loan Servicing Solutions Ltd. dipped in their trading debut Wednesday after the stock's initial public offering priced at the low end of its anticipated range.

The Cayman Islands company set its IPO of approximately 13.3 million ordinary shares at $14 apiece. Home Loan Servicing had said it in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it expected to price the IPO between $14 and $16 per share.

In morning trading, the stock lost 40 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $13.60, with nearly 3 million shares changing hands early in the session.

Home Loan Servicing said it will also issue and sell an additional $10 million of its stock to founder and Chairman William Erbey at the IPO price in a concurrent private placement.

The company plans to use the offering's net proceeds to buy the right to receive servicing and other related fees, associated servicing advances and other related assets from Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC.

Erbey serves as Ocwen Financial Corp.'s chairman, according to the filing. Ocwen Loan Servicing is an Ocwen Financial subsidiary.

Home Loan Servicing is giving the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 2 million ordinary shares to cover any excess demand.

Home Loan Servicing is trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the "HLSS" ticker symbol.

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Home Loan Servicing Solutions shares dip in debut

29 February 2012

The Cayman Islands' Economics and Statistics Office has reported that the island's economy began to recover from the economic downturn during the first nine months of 2011, with growth of 1.2% year-on-year recorded, compared to a contraction of 5.8% in the same period a year earlier.

Among the various economic sectors, the performance of the hotels and restaurants, and real estate, renting and business services stood out as these were estimated to have grown by 7.5% and 3.4% respectively. However, the financial services sector continues to see mixed results.

Banking deposits fell by 2% over the period to September 2011 to USD5.16 trillion. As of September 2011, the total number of licensed bank and trust companies stood at 250 - down by 4.6% from 262 a year ago. Similarly, licences issued to trust companies decreased by 4.7% to 123.

During the nine-month period, applicants from Europe and USA led the Caymans' banking licencees accounting for 29.2% and 26.4%, respectively. The distribution of other banking licence sources was as follows: South America 17.2%; Asia and Australia 10.0%; Caribbean and Central America 8.4%; Canada and Mexico 5.2%; and the Middle East and Africa 3.6%.

In the insurance industry, the number of captive insurers fell marginally over the period, while premiums improved to USD2.07bn. The number of mutual funds fell by 1.7% year-on-year.

The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange experienced a growth in listings of 1.5% from 1,116 in September 2010 to 1,133 in September 2011.

The Cayman Islands also witnessed growth in terms of company registrations, to 7,063 compared with 6,192 over the same period of 2010, a 14.1% increase.

Despite weak economic performance, the Cayman Islands government was successful in significantly reducing the deficit from USD61.3m a year ago to USD17m. Revenues increased by 6.5% over the period while expenditure increased at a lesser rate of 3.6%. Capital expenditures fell markedly.

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Mixed Fortunes For Cayman Finance Industry

Posted: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 2:42 pm | Updated: 5:14 pm, Wed Feb 29, 2012.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed legislation Wednesday to allow individuals to divert more money they would otherwise owe the state to instead help children attend private and parochial schools.

The new law provides a dollar-for-dollar income tax credit of up to $500 for money donated to organizations that provide scholarships to help pay the tuition and fees of students at these schools. Married couples could get a $1,000 credit.

This is in addition to an existing program that provides a tax credit of up to $503 for donations to scholarship organizations. In 2010, the most recent year figures were available, the credits the amount not paid to the state treasury totaled $43.2 million.

The measure was pushed by Sen. Rick Murphy, R-Glendale, who said he was concerned that the amount of money donated under the current program has not kept pace with requests by students to get financial help to attend private and parochial schools.

Brewer vetoed legislation last year to increase the amount individuals could donate. She said the state could not afford the loss of tax dollars.

This new law, however, was crafted to address her concerns by including a requirement that the scholarship funds could go mainly to those who initially switch from public schools. Murphy said that will save money by taking students out of public school classrooms.

That apparently was enough to convince Brewer.

This is a narrowly crafted law that will open new educational opportunities for Arizona children, said gubernatorial press aide Matthew Benson. And he said the governor, who convinced voters two years ago to temporarily hike state sales taxes to balance the budget, does not believe this new program will cut into needed revenues.

For the bulk of these children who would be moving from a public school into a private facility, the state would get some savings from that, Benson said. He estimated the actual net loss to the state in the neighborhood of a few million dollars, likely even less than that.

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New Arizona law expands tuition tax credits for private schools

Freedom of Information not so free at the state house.

A recent restructuring bill forced a lot questions from citizens concerned about the separation of powers in state government. So through theFreedom of Information Act, many wanted details on how law makers put together the bill. But South Carolina legislators are exempt from such disclosure.

The Freedom of information Act or FOIA went into effect in 1967. In short, its purpose is to allow the release of previously undisclosed documents, controlled by the government. But in some cases, such as those at the South Carolina state house, the rules don notalways apply. An email obtained by the South Carolina Policy Council, shows that lawmakers are well aware of what they have to release and when. And they do not have to release anything.

Lawmakers passed a law back in 1980 which allows them to ignore FOIA requests. Rick Brundrett from the Policy Council, says there is no real recourse for tax payers who have questions.

Citizens have a right to know how their government operates. And freedom of information is designed to give citizens the opportunity to learn how their government operates. When the legislature has this exemption set for themselves no other state agency has citizens cannot learn as much about how their government operates.

The policy council reports they first found out the scope of the emotions, when they tried to get information on Boeing incentives and were stonewalled. Meantime a bill is up for debate that could end the law.

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Freedom of Information not so free at the state house.

Greenback Expat Tax Services reports: While extensions are available and often necessary, all expats should aim to file their US expat tax return by April 17th to avoid extra costs.

(PRWEB) February 29, 2012

Although all US expats receive an automatic two-month extension that prolongs the April 17th deadline to June 15th, Greenback Expat Tax Services urges expats to file by April 17th if at all possible. According to Greenback Expat Tax Services President David McKeegan, it literally pays to file by April 17th. Many expats, says Mr. McKeegan, dont realize that even though the deadline for US expats is June 15th, if they owe any taxes interest begins to accrue as of April 17th. Although many expats dont owe tax if they file their taxes correctly and take advantage of all the exclusions and credits, it always pays to be on the safe side.

US expats can also request an extension to October 15th. The IRS understands that sometimes expats are unable to file by the original or automatically extended deadline. Greenback Expat Tax Services understands this as well, but they still advise expats to plan ahead and aim for April 17th. According to Mr. McKeegan, interest charges arent the only things to consider. Its such a great feeling of satisfaction to get your tax obligations fulfilled early in the year. We know that delays are sometimes unavoidable, but filing by April 17th provides relief for expats in that it allows them to get their taxes out of the way. Furthermore, all expats should be advised not to get behind on their taxes. The IRS takes delinquency quite seriously even for expats, and those who make it a habit to file by the original deadline will be much less likely to end up under question by or in trouble with the IRS. Filing a US expat tax return can be a challenging process, but we hate to see anyone suffer the consequences of late filing or delinquency.

Finally, one last consideration that should not be overlooked: the sooner you file your US expat tax return, the sooner you are entitled to a refund (if relevant)!

For more information on US expat tax deadlines and extensions, visit http://www.greenbacktaxservices.com.

About Greenback Expat Tax Services

Greenback Expat Tax Services specializes in the preparation of US expat taxes for Americans living abroad. Greenback offers flat-fee pricing, a simple, hassle-free process, and CPAs with more than 30 years experience in the field of expat tax preparation. For more information and to download a free guide to US expat taxes, visit http://www.greenbacktaxservices.com

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Carrie McKeegan Greenback Expat Tax Services 1-888-362-5032 Email Information

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Greenback Expat Tax Services Explains Why US Expats Should File by April 17th Despite Automatic Extension