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Paradise Papers sends shockwaves around the world

  • November 07, 2017

Governments around the globe worked quickly on Monday to respond to the Paradise Papers, a collection of 13.4 million leaked records from two offshore firms, after several politicans and public figures were mentioned in the data.

Obtained by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and investigated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the trove of leaked documents details the offshore tax avoidance methods used by the world’s wealthiest companies and individuals.

Read more: Paradise Papers — what you need to know

Here’s how some around the world reacted to the news:

Europe

European Union finance ministers are set to discuss plans for a tax haven blacklist on Tuesday, EU officials announced.

The revelations from the data “put renewed emphasis on the work the European Commission is doing to fight tax avoidance,” said European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis.

Read more: Germans among those featured in the Paradise Papers

The bloc previously planned to reach an agreement on an EU-wide blacklist by the end of the year, although no decision is expected on Tuesday.

Currently, each of the EU’s 28 member states has its own list of jurisdictions that are perceived as being less cooperative where taxes are concerned. The criteria to define tax havens vary widely among EU states with little consensus on the jurisdictions that appear on their national blacklists.

“It’s time that we agree and publish a blacklist on tax havens,” EU tax commissioner Pierre Moscovici told reporters, calling for “adequate sanctions” when serious offenses are unveiled.

United Kingdom

The papers also revealed that British Queen Elizabeth II’s estate also made investments in tax havens, prompting calls from the opposition Labour Party for a public inquiry.

“All of our investments are fully audited and legitimate,” a spokesperson for the Duchy of Lancaster said in a statement. The duchy provides the monarch with her income and handles her investments.

They added that the queen “voluntarily pays tax on any income she receives from the duchy.”

“The shocking revelations from the Paradise Papers today, yet again of widespread tax avoidance and evasion on an industrial scale, must lead to decisive action and real change,” Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said.

  • Bono (picture-alliance/dpa/A. Gombert)

    Global elite named in Paradise Papers

    Bono and Nude Estates

    U2 frontman and activist Bono was one of the highest-profile players named in the papers. In an elaborate web of financial transactions, Bono invested in a Maltese company called Nude Estates that was involved in a shady deal over a Lithuanian shopping mall. Malta is famous for its liberal tax policies. A spokesman for the singer denied any wrongdoing.

  • Wilbur Ross (picture-alliance/dpa/A. Harnik)

    Global elite named in Paradise Papers

    US commerce secretary

    President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross was listed in the papers for his interests in the Russian gas company Sibur. Ross has now been accused of failing to disclose his Russian connections to Congress during his confirmation hearing, though Ross has argued that as the company is not one facing US sanctions, he was not obliged to disclose them.

  • Queen Elizabeth II (picture-alliance/dpa/D.-L. Olivas)

    Global elite named in Paradise Papers

    Queen’s private estate in hot water

    Queen Elizabeth II is provided an income by her private estate, the Duchy of Lancaster. According to the Paradise Papers, the duchy invested 10 million pounds ($13 million) in offshore accounts in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. The estate has said that the investments are legal.

  • Gerhard Schröder in front of Rosneft logo (Reuters/O. Astakhova)

    Global elite named in Paradise Papers

    Germany’s former chancellor

    Gerhard Schröder, leader of Germany from 1998 to 2005, was named for his management role at the Russian-British energy firm TNK-BP in 2009. The company was registered in the tax haven British Virgin Islands. In 2013, TNK-BP was bought by Russian energy giant Rosneft — where Schröder is now the independent director of the board.

  •  Juan Manuel Santos (picture-alliance/Photoshot)

    Global elite named in Paradise Papers

    Colombia’s president caught

    According to the papers, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is listed as the director of two offshore companies in Barbados. He previously claimed to have severed ties with them in 2000 when he became minister of finance.

  •  Paul Allen (Ausschnitt) (picture-alliance/PA Wire/B. Mitchell)

    Global elite named in Paradise Papers

    Lifestyles of the rich and famous

    Not all of the revelations in the Paradise Papers necessarily detail illegal activity. But they do shed light on some of the strange investments and luxurious possessions of the world’s elite, including Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s yacht. Besides Microsoft, other US companies like Apple, McDonald’s, Facebook and Walmart were found to have ties to Appleby.

  • Madonna (Picture alliance/AP Photo/K. Wigglesworth)

    Global elite named in Paradise Papers

    Madonna medical supplies

    One of the odd investments listed in the Paradise Papers is singer Madonna’s stake in a medical supply firm. Actress Keira Knightley was also found to have stock in a Jersey-based real-estate firm.

    Author: Elizabeth Schumacher


United States

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, one of the main allies of US President Donald Trump implicated in the leak, denied any wrongdoing.

The papers revealed that Ross invested in a shipping firm that has significant business ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

“There is nothing wrong with anything that was done,” Ross told CNBC, adding that he properly disclosed his investments in Navigator Holdings, which reportedly transports gas for Russian petrochemical company Sibur.

He added that he is not considering resigning from his post.

As Commerce Secretary, Ross’s ties to Russian entities raise questions about potential conflicts of interest and whether they undermine US sanctions on Russia.

Read more: Offshore — The legal and the not so legal

Russia

Russian officials downplayed the Paradise Papers data on Monday, with Russian companies and government officials saying that the deals leaked in the data were legal and not politically-motivated.

In a statement reported by Russian news agencies, petrochemical giant Sibur expressed “amazement at the politically charged interpretation in some media of ordinary commercial activity.”

The head of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian senate, Konstantin Kosachev, accused reports on the leaks of “stirring emotions” and having “muddled wording.”

“When it is boiled down, what is described here is standard and legal commercial activity,” Kosachev told RIA Novosti state news agency.

Read more: U2 frontman Bono named in Paradise Papers tax evasion leak

Canada

Canada’s tax agency said it has already started reviewing the Paradise Papers documents for any evidence of its nationals having used tax havens to avoid paying taxes at home.

Over 3,000 Canadian companies, foundations, trusts and indivduals appear in the documents, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s close friend and chief fundraiser Stephen Bronfman.

Bronfman also denied any wrongdoing in a statement, saying that one multi-million dollar transfer to a trust in the Cayman Islands was made “in full compliance with all legal requirements.”

Trudeau has made tax fairness one of his main policy aims.

India

Indian officials announced that a panel of government officials has been established to investigate cases mentioned in the Paradise Papers.

Officials from India’s central bank along with members of government bodies will conduct and monitor the investigation, India’s finance ministry said.

Read more: Paradise Papers prompts probe of India’s corporates

The names of some 714 Indians appear in the Paradise Papers documents. Although their inclusion in the documents does not mean they attempted to stash funds, some of the individuals and companies are already being investigated by Indian authorities.

rs/rt (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Article source: http://www.dw.com/en/paradise-papers-sends-shockwaves-around-the-world/a-41265104?maca=en-rss-en-bus-2091-xml-atom

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