Saturday, January 15, 2011

The Truth About Tax Havens

Via Guardian.co.uk on Nicholas Shaxson's book, 'Treasure Islands' (H/T Pilant's Ethics Blog).
Krall was supposed to check for suspicious movements through the accounts – of which there were plenty. She raised many red flags. "They [her managers] would say, 'This was a commission'." Were these bribes? Commissions on what? "I went back, and never got an answer." One Swiss-based trust company that had a relationship with her bank displayed almost nothing on its website, bar some photos of a nice fountain in Geneva. "The crap they brought to us was unbelievable. There is no way a responsible trustee should take this on. You would have no idea who the trust settlors were, what the assets were or where they came from. I objected strongly, but the bank took them on."
There is something about island life that stifles dissent. In the island goldfish bowl, you cannot hide. The ability to sustain an establishment consensus and suppress troublemakers makes islands especially hospitable to offshore finance, reassuring international financiers that local establishments can be trusted not to allow democratic politics to interfere in the business of making money.
Click Here to Read: The Truth About Tax Havens 

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