McDonalds to move European HQ to Geneva-FT.com

LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) - Fastfood giant McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) will relocate its European headquarters to Geneva from London to take advantage of preferential intellectual property tax laws, FT.com reported on Sunday.

The website said the Geneva office would open in the autumn, making it the latest U.S. company to rebase in Switzerland to take advantage of that country's tax regime.

Under UK tax rules that came into force at the start of the month, McDonald's would pay tax on foreign profits relating to intellectual property twice over, FT.com said.

It quoted the company as saying that the move "enables us to conduct the strategic management of key international intellectual property rights, including the licensing of those rights to our franchisees in Europe, from Switzerland."