Most of you have probably seen this news one place or another. The Guardian has been at the forefront:
Millions of internal records have leaked from Britain’s offshore financial industry, exposing for the first time the identities of thousands of holders of anonymous wealth from around the world, from presidents to plutocrats, the daughter of a notorious dictator and a British millionaire accused of concealing assets from his ex-wife.
More at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/03/offshore-secrets-offshore-tax-haven
Here is the Financial Times:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7ca55c98-9d49-11e2-88e9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2PWwSdno4
Unfortunately, I’m not rich and thus I’m not listed for having money stashed away in my local checking account. 🙁
Here is the NYTs coverage of the future of FATCA security breaches…
Data Leak Shakes Notion of Secret Offshore Havens and, Possibly, Nerves
and the Daily Beast
This Is Where the World’s Richest People Hide Their Money
Brace yourselves for the gold rush of whistleblowers, with Brad Birkenfeld as their inspiration. Most will improve on his moves by managing to avoid the unpleasant incarceration part, though.
This will probably revive all the US media about Denise Rich – whose name is on the list http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/03/offshore-secrets-owners-unmasked . Which may lead to articles about expatriation and the exit tax.
Here is the article from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
Secret Files Expose Offshore’s Global Impact
Frankly speaking, this type of sensational news is NOT good for those of us who oppose FATCA. This will lead to more calls for FATCA like actions around the world, or more support for the US FATCA. I made this comment on Linkedin…
While we all like to beat up on Rich People who hide money in so called “Offshore Tax Havens”, this is a sobering lesson about the transparency that our ideologues, the FATCAnatics, want with FATCA automatic data sharing and the global system, GATCA they are trying to create in cooperation with the OECD.
You are seeing the future now, where all U.S. Person data and ITNs is put into more and more 3rd party hands around the globe, and then available for theft and disclosure.
Welcome to FACEBOOK banking. I will tweet my ITN and bank account balances if you will tweet yours! Transparency, that is what we want, right? Transparent to whom is the question. ICIJ members? Thieves? Leakers? Tell me again, how I should be celebrating this.
Many of those named are probably not evaders and have disclosed the relevant info to their own governments. But making the info public exposes them and their loved ones to kidnapping in many parts of the world. Breaching their privacy is totally irresponsible.
You’re correct, John Doe, breaching their privacy is totally irresponsible. How / by what methods was their privacy breached? Is this the work of whistle blowers? Did the consortium of ‘journalists’ obtain information legally? Is this responsible journalism? Are those who have done nothing illegal, again, lumped in with the ‘tax evaders’? Is the concept of innocent until proven guilty gone? Who will some of these be able to sue for loss of their privacy and for being subjected to danger now they are identified as wealthy to all the kooks out there?
http://business.financialpost.com/2013/04/05/offshore-tax-haven-cra/
Offshore Finance Leak Exposes Millions Stashing Money, Maybe You Too?
This loss of security and financial data release in light of the Security nightmare of FATCA is sobering…
Maybe, if you haven’t read this out of Lebanon yet, it is time for a reposting..
FATCAs FATAL Security Flaw
Just Me, I stumbled upon something interesting today. Everyone in the world can have secure email with IncaMail except for Americans. Note how the following links ends with:
http://www.post.ch/en/post-startseite/post-incamail-home/post-incamail-preise.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/05/offshore-accounts-leak-canada-revenue-agency_n_3022220.html
Innocent until proven guilty?
Virtual lynch mob…
One comment:
I do understand and agree with attempts by governments around the world to track down their own residents who are evading taxes by hiding money in other countries. (Although I might not extend such sympathy to countries like North Korea and Syria at the present time.) The fact that many rich people and corporations are able to avoid paying taxes means that the rest of us must pay more taxes, or our governments must borrow more to sustain their operations on our behalf.
The problems for those of us who are not hiding our money to avoid taxes arise from
1. US extra-territorial taxation policies, which are driving US citizens abroad to renounce US citizenship so their ordinary bank accounts in their countries of residence are not treated as tax-avoidance instruments.
2. Initiatives like FATCA and related IGAs which impose intrusive and costly burdens of financial reporting on innocent banks and people.
Since the ICIJ journalists have been able to uncover the identities of many international tax evaders, shouldn’t police forces of various countries be able to do the same kind of investigative work, or shouldn’t they be able to follow up on the leads provided by the ICIJ work? Why, instead, should all of the rest of us have to prove repeatedly through FATCA-like mechanisms that we are not criminals?
@AnonAnon
Great point, but it’s much easier for certain budget strapped governments to offload the costs of chasing down lost tax revenue to other nations and foreign financial institutions, especially when they wield a big stick.
I agree, AnonAnon that governments need to go after real tax evasion — massive amounts may be hidden. And shouldn’t the police be involved first, before reporting perhaps people in these numbers who do not have illegal tax evasion accounts?
Is FATCA the answer? Much collateral damage while the big fish swim away.
With this ICIJ group of journalists and the readers who provide comments, we will be painted with the same ‘tax evader’ brush. The reactions resemble the rash conclusions of a lynch mob. Just as US Persons Abroad are not responsible for the US debt the US thinks we should be paying our fair share for, dual citizens in Canada or other countries, legal taxpayers, are not ripping off the countries where we live with tax evasion. Quite a stretch.
Wait until the costs of FATCA are revealed.
As I always say don’t panic no matter what. There are a lot of “US.” If people want to paint us a tax evaders well let them we can fight back. In fact I believe the events of the last few days have opened some interesting avenues for us.
Lets just say I personally have something up my sleeve that I didn’t have a few days ago.
Ah Tim, now you have us all wondering. Can you give us a clue? Is it “big?” 😉
Its medium. If I told you would at first think it is bad news but I think we can turn it to good news.
If Canada were to sign an IGA AND insist on full reciprocity, that would put an end to it. There is no way for the thousands of US banks to vet their customers for furriners of every stripe.
@Tim
Hmmm……. Medium. Still sounds optimistic. After a week of pretty bad news, it sounds interesting. How long do we have to wait?
@KalC, never say never. Technically, all global financial data could be stored in one central database and everyone could have access to this database. Such would put an end to pay inequalities and some current forms of money laundering, while opening up a whole new universe of money laundering as well as paving the way for a new generation of financial crimes. Giving everyone access to financial data can be easy and inexpensive. Yet, the many crimes resulting from such would cost a fortune.
The world can have access to my financial data, for all that I care, but it’s the crimes resulting from the lack of secrecy which scares me out of my socks!
With pay inequalities, I was referring mostly to gender inequalities. Yet, on second thought, financial transparency cannot prevent pay inequalities, since there is no proven method of measuring worth.
Continued media coverage of this leak…
This from PBS Newshour Friday night. (Just getting around to watching it.)
Journalists Expose Trove of Hidden Offshore Bank Accounts Around the World
No mention of FATCA, and yes I made a comment, and to my surprise, it did NOT go into moderation..
Also this from the Washington Post
Piercing the secrecy of offshore tax havens
and finally this from Forbes…
Once Upon A Time, Secret Bank Accounts Saved Lives
If anyone is reading this thread, you might enjoy this…
http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/according-to-washington-post-expose-people-who-utilize-tax-havens-are-far-more-honest-than-politicians/
BTW, with the G8 meeting happening, it is so convenient that another story about this leak and the data bases they have created just happens to come out? See the pattern…
Offshore Tax-Haven Data Made Public As Companies Brace For Scrutiny
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/14/offshore-tax-haven-_n_3443722.html?ir=Business&ref=topbar
So, look on your calendar for the next meeting of G#, as you can be assured that this story or something similar will run again.
Does anyone remember the German article that was posted somewhere on IBS about how this release was coordinated. I remember reading it, but can not find it. Any help would be appreciated.