Time to black-list the tax haven whitewash
So why have the 2009 initiatives proved so feeble? Unfortunately it is because the biggest purveyors of financial secrecy are also the largest recipients of illicit flows: the US, the UK, the Cayman Islands, Ireland, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Recently a report from 25 US members of Congress estimated that more than $3,000bn had been parked in US banks because of favourable privacy laws. Meanwhile, a network of secretive British tax havens feeds huge volumes of licit and illicit business to the City of London.
Such illicit financial structures typically straddle many jurisdictions, perhaps with an offshore trust, a company with nominee directors, or bank secrecy adding opacity at each step. All are backed by skilled accountants, lawyers and bankers. But at the end of all these convoluted ownership structures, the actual assets will still be sitting in London, Zurich or New York.
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