From U.S. Senator Carl Levin: WASHINGTON – The bipartisan leadership of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations today urged the Department of Justice to seek extradition of Swiss residents whom the DOJ has charged with tax evasion offenses. … [Read more...]
Enablers and intermediaries
Letter on derivatives: stop the offshore race to the bottom
Wall Street banks trade perhaps half of their derivatives activities through foreign banks. For them, foreign jurisdictions are an obvious escape route from U.S. financial regulations. Last June, Marcus Stanley of Americans for Financial Reform wrote: … [Read more...]
European Union Savings Tax Directive Amendments – coming very soon?
We have written at length about the European Union Savings Tax Directive (EUSD), a scheme involving 43 European countries and other participating jurisdictions to tackle tax evasion by exchanging appropriate information automatically with each other. … [Read more...]
Ukraine: how to put pressure on Russia
Following our blog yesterday looking at the national security implications of Europe's tax haven mentality, we have been drawn to this post from 2008, looking at the West's options in dealing with Russian aggression in Georgia at the time. It lists several interesting possibilities, but we found … [Read more...]
Why Russia no longer fears the West. It’s the offshore, stupid
If there's one story you read today make it this one, from Politico Magazine. It's triggered by the crisis in Ukraine, but it's been a long time coming. The point of this short story is clear: Western leaders are waking up to the fact that Russia no longer fears or even respects them. Why? … [Read more...]
Anonymous UK company owned Viktor Yanukovych’s presidential palace compound
From Global Witness - see also Daily Mail and The Independent. Update: see also this important blog, looking at the national security implications of all this corruption. Anonymous UK company owned Viktor Yanukovych’s presidential palace compound 1 March 2014 The private residence of the … [Read more...]
European MEP calls for hearing on Swiss banking scandals
Following the latest Credit Suisse scandal in the United States, Ana Gomes, a European Member of Parliament, has issued this public letter to the chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE); and Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON.) We fully … [Read more...]
The Credit Suisse scandal: echoes of Too Big To Jail
We've had a bit of time to look through the landmark Credit Suisse report from the U.S. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, outlining industrial-scale Swiss corruption. It contains some pretty instructive things about some of the ways banks use to get around international initiatives, and … [Read more...]
Tax havens and corruption: Lebedev and TJN in the NYT
From Alexander Lebedev in the New York Times: "According to the Tax Justice Network, an independent group promoting efforts to curb tax avoidance, crooked business people, working with corrupt officials, have embezzled $30 trillion over the last 15 years — or half of the world’s annual gross … [Read more...]
Credit Suisse: industrial scale corruption in Switzerland
From The Guardian: "Senators Carl Levin and John McCain had harsh words for the Justice Department and the Swiss government, too, as they released a 178-page permanent subcommittee on investigation (PSI) report into offshore tax avoidance. … [Read more...]
Guernsey milking and the offshore stock exchange
The International Advisor magazine has just reported: "Guernsey chief minister Peter Harwood resigned today, in the wake of publication of a critical article in the current issue of the British satirical and investigative publication, Private Eye." This refers to an excellent report entitled … [Read more...]
Ernst & Young: why Dubai’s first conflict gold audit was silenced
We have remarked before on Dubai's role as a particularly egregious and recalcitrant secrecy jurisdiction, harbouring some of the world's worst scoundrels and their money: the likes of Indian master criminal Dawood Ibrahim, the arms dealer Viktor Bout, and many others. Dubai ranks 16th in our … [Read more...]
Links Feb 7
Delayed European Parliament vote crucial for corporate transparency Eurodad See also: Time for action on financial transparency euobserver Bankers take fight over U.S. anti-tax dodge rules to appeals court Reuters … [Read more...]
Links Feb 6
Global version of FATCA could be a reality in a few years, say industry officials Thomson Reuters / Compliance Complete See also: No more delays for FATCA, says IRS STEP Greek-Swiss tax deal remains elusive Reuters Is Switzerland retreating on Rubik? … [Read more...]
Links Jan 24
"ChinaLeaks" Stories Censored In Mainland China ICIJ See also: China mobilizes cyber-cops after leak on elite overseas wealth globalpost, Chinese media speaks no evil over Offshore Leaks Deutsche Welle, Latest update: Release Of Offshore Records Draws Worldwide Response and searchable Offshore … [Read more...]
