Deltaphi Epsilon Initiation

Tax havens: The first measures sifted

In the upcoming G20 summit in September in Pittsburgh, and Elisabeth Guigou Daniel Garrigue come to deliver a report on the fight against tax havens. Only watchwords for members: transparency and sanctions.

Harmonize taxation within the European Union, automate trade information, punish non-cooperative countries ... This is essentially what the report calls the fight against tax havens and offshore centers made Wednesday by Elisabeth Guigou and Daniel Garrigue. Both members and members of the European Affairs Committee of the National Assembly to call not to let down our guard in the fight against these "black holes of the international financial system", says Elisabeth Guigou. Socialist deputy of Seine-Saint-Denis and recalled that in these Eden tax, nearly 10,000 billion transited each year, almost half of global financial transactions. From
How to sound the alarm on the need to act quickly against "delinquents country." The stated goal is the next G20 meeting to be held on 24 and 25 September in Pittsburgh, USA.

lists not strict enough
Heads of State and Governments had voted in London at the G20 last April, for better international supervision, a lifting of bank secrecy and the establishment by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) lists white, gray and black listing uncooperative jurisdictions in criminal and tax. But if the initiatives are good, it lacks effective coordination to achieve international cooperation.

The output of such list is too easy according to Elisabeth Guigou, "just as the countries listed verbally committed to apply the conventions to which the kind of list. It's a little easier as a system. It be the "de-list" only after the establishment of a true fiscal transparency. " And the facts seem to prove him right since the four countries "black listed" by the OECD, namely Costa Rica, Uruguay, Philippines and Malaysia have been delisted after pledging to make "effort" for the exchange of tax information.

A lack of tax harmonization
competition in taxation between European states is also particularly referred to in the report Guigou-Garrigue, which calls for tax harmonization in Europe. An "overhaul" of the system would then allow to better regulate and supervise the finance at European and international scale. In Focus, hedge funds, hedge funds above the money market itself protect the vagaries of that market. A European directive, which was considered scandalous by Daniel Garrigue do not submit to disclosure or transparency obligations, allowing them to pass without being subject to any regulation: "It is outrageous to give a passport to tax havens to spread their products on European territory "said the member of the Dordogne emphasizing the need for transparency.

An uncertain lifting of bank secrecy
Switzerland imposes strict rules to access the list of its banking
In theory, the G20 in London ended the era of bank secrecy. In practice, many countries still practice it. He entered reset Swiss law in 1934 which said that its violation is a criminal offense. The parliamentary report that secret pin as "impossible to establish the tax, protect savings and allow justice to intervene." Thus, to obtain information on the banking and financial transactions based in Switzerland, the authorities must formulate a very specific request "with the name of the suspect, the bank and almost the reason for the request. The use of the information is then very limited, "said Elisabeth Guigou. Socialist regrets the lack of centralized information and preaches for automation collection and exchange of tax information and criminal. Public authorities could access it easily and thereby exercise greater oversight.

The absence of meaningful sanctions
The report calls for sanctioning countries that refuse to cooperate or continue to leave little or transit capital not subject to taxation. A measure that would give pause to the most recalcitrant states. But even the MPs' report is unclear on this issue. If talking about sanctions, it does not detail and does not indicate how high and how States could be "punished". Elizabeth Guigou nevertheless clear that, on this issue, "it is for authorities to decide and G20 to list the sanctions. But it is possible to prohibit banks regulated countries to make trade with these countries Offenders ".

France must put its own house
The report finally calls to ensure that France becomes flawless in fiscal transparency. However, all major banks, including the French, have settlements in tax havens and offshore centers, which was alone, according to the bank host 4000 International Monetary Fund (IMF). These settlements represent, in the Commission Bank, 160 subsidiaries and 84 branches across other, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland and Singapore.

question is whether the political will dare ask them to stop transactions and distributions of capital to these centers protected.

Florence Méréo

Source: Lexpansion.com
( http://www.lexpansion.com/economie/actualite-economique/les-mesures-contre-les-paradis-fiscaux-passees-au-crible_190611. html )

No Sew Fleecetie Scarf

The European Investment Bank Will it continue to endorse tax havens?

Friends of the Earth, networks Counter Balance (1) and Eurodad (2) today published a new report, "Flying in the Face of Development : How EIB loans enable tax havens "(3), highlighting the involvement of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in tax havens. This study reveals that the Bank of the European Union is investing billions of euros in associates at offshore centers. NGOs denounce this outrageous situation and call upon European states to be consistent with their declarations against tax havens by requiring that the EIB should end this practice and adhere to its development mandate.


past five years, the EIB has lent 5.66 billion euros to banks French, Dutch and English were most involved in tax havens (4), while 210 million went to African funds using tax havens in their investment strategies. In addition, major infrastructure projects such as the West African Gas Pipeline in Nigeria (5), Tenke Fungurume mine in Democratic Republic of Congo (6) or the Mopani mine in Zambia (7) are related to Bermuda or the Virgin Islands, known tax havens. Anne-Sophie

Simpere Friends of the Earth, said: "Our study shows that many projects financed by the EIB involve tax havens and multinational using offshore centers. Yet the investment policies of the Bank are decided by its Board of Directors, composed of Member States of the EU whose makers enchaînent declarations against tax havens. How can they claim to fight against these practices while at the same time, they overwhelmingly endorse the public with the bank of the European Union? "Desislava Stoyanova, Coordinator of Counter Balance, said:" This situation is unacceptable from a public institution. And in particular the EIB, including gaps in transparency and accountability are well known, whereas they are two crucial aspects in the fight against tax havens. "

The report recalls that the use of tax havens is a hindrance to development, as shown by numerous studies, including the recent Norwegian government report on the subject (8). Anne-Sophie Simpere concludes: "The Norwegian Government has proposed a series of measures to ensure that the Investment Fund does not contribute to tax havens. European states will they stay behind, leaving their bank to continue to fund development projects in dubious financial centers in the opacity? "Friends of the Earth and Counter Balance asking the EIB and the European states not to support projects related to tax havens and ensuring full transparency of the EIB loans to financial intermediaries, to ensure that these flows do not contribute to fuel tax evasion .

Press contact: Caroline Prak 01 48 51 18 96 / 06 86 41 53 43

Notes:
(1) www.counterbalance-eib.org
(2) www.eurodad.org
(3) Report downloadable here (English): http://www.amisdelaterre.org/La-Banque-europeenne-d, 4372.html
(4) It is the Barclays Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and ING.
(5) The West African Gas Pipeline Consortium Company Limited (WAGPCo) is registered in Bermuda. The EIB has provided EUR 75 million loan to Ghana for the implementation of this project.
(6) Tenke Holdings Ltd. / Lundin Holding, registered in Bermuda, is part owner of the proposed mining of copper and cobalt Tenke Fungurume in the Democratic Republic of Congo for which the EIB has conditionally approved a loan of 100 million in 2007.
(7) Mopani Copper Mines Plc (Mopani Copper Mines), which has received loan of EUR 48 million from the EIB, is majority owned by Carlisa Investments Corporation, located in the BVI.
(8) See Commission on Capital Flight from Developing Countries, Tax Haven and Development, Summary of the Preliminary Study , June 2009, page 4: "Illegal capital flight corresponds to ten times Roughly The Financial Assistance Given to Developing Countries."

License Plate Covers Legality In Alberta

Maylis Labusquiere: "For users of tax havens to justify"

Maylis Labusquiere in charge of advocacy at Oxfam France - Agir ici, participated on 29 last, the symposium "havens and legal hell: justice or chaos" held in the Assembly by the national platform tax havens and Mariama Keita Site Information havens and judicial . Recalling the responsibility of companies in the fiscal hemorrhage strike public budgets in the South and jeopardizes their development, it stresses the need to deal primarily with the use of tax havens that are multinationals.

How Long Will A Pinot Noir Last

Switzerland she really killed her bank secrecy? The Tour de France

Despite statements from world leaders on the end of bank secrecy, the path to transparency is still very long. Expansion examines the case of Switzerland, which has pledged to apply the OECD standards in this area. First obstacle course: legislative procedures in the case of Switzerland until the referendum to require that the Confederation ratified new tax treaties or new treaties for the exchange of tax information. Even if they eventually come into force, there is no guarantee that the Swiss tax authorities accept in all cases of fraud to disclose information in accordance with the criteria of the OECD model for exchange of information on demand. In case of divergence with the requesting State on the conditions for the lifting of bank secrecy, it is likely that the Court will at the Swiss Supreme Court, further delaying the process ...


The Swiss Confederation has signed tax treaties with several countries. But nobody really knows the content of these texts. Enough to keep the blur on the announced death of Swiss banking secrecy. Our explanations.

How Switzerland will ratify the tax To be applicable, these double tax treaties should be subject to all stakeholders of the Confederation, the first of which was the financial sector. Based on their observations, recommendations and others, the Swiss government will present the bilateral agreements in Parliament. What should not happen before late August. The latter will then decide whether to submit the text to a popular referendum. Therefore remains to know where is the Swiss population on the issue of banking secrecy. The government has already announced that only the first initialed agreement would be submitted to a popular referendum, leaving some uncertainty as to what he would do in case of negative response of his fellow citizens. If the agreements are ratified despite this and eventually come into force, the Swiss judge who will be the end of the story or not allowing the lifting of bank secrecy. Another problem, the OECD Convention does not provide for sanctions against states. Only possibility for a state that considers itself cheated, terminate the tax treaty in force.

Banking secrecy is what?
Kind of professional secrecy, "bank secrecy" means the obligation of banks not to give information about their customers to third parties. In Switzerland there since 1939 and gives the country a significant tax attractiveness. In 2008, Swiss banks have handled nearly 4 3000 billion, ranking 3rd in the world.
But for years the controversy swells around this secrecy. With globalization, many countries saw tax evasion grow, and therefore asked the Swiss to gain access to bank accounts and transaction details of their nationals fraudsters.
A query that has always been refused by the Swiss Confederation. But the context has changed. With the scandal of Liechtenstein and the financial crisis, the pressure was around tax havens increased. And on the eve of the G20 on 13 March, Switzerland has undertaken to apply the OECD standards.

What exactly these commitments?
Article 26 of the Model Tax Convention, the OECD provides a "duty to share information that is foreseeably relevant to the correct application of a tax treaty. This is called the system of information on demand, which is opposed to another system, where the exchange of information would be automatic. Clearly, if two countries sign an agreement, they are obliged to provide banking information whenever the other party so requests. But only in this case.

The OECD has classified its member states into 3 lists, white for those who comply with section 26, a gray for those who wish to comply with section 26 and a black for those who refuse any commitment on these issues tax. For the moment Switzerland is, if she wants out of the gray list, signed twelve agreements respecting bilateral Article 26, and this with any member of the organization. What she is quick to do from a few weeks until today it has reached an agreement with nine of them, including France and the United States.

What is the content of these agreements ?
Impossible to know. For as long as the agreements were not signed, but only initialed, as is the case today, their content is not intended to be unveiled. However, opinions differ on the content of these conventions, even though everyone claims to have had the hands ... Thus, the Swiss bankers say that the Swiss tax authorities will be required to disclose only "in cases where the evidence will be given a suspicion of tax fraud, identity of the person and the name of the bank" . It is in any case what was said in L'Expansion. Com Pierre Mirabaud, current president of the Association Swiss bankers. The problem is that, at the same time, Pascal Saint-Amans, head of the division for international cooperation and fiscal competition at the OECD made a contrary interpretation of these conventions ... "The only condition is that demand is not random. It will only provide the identity of a person suspected of fraud, and that's it," he maintains. What would change everything. If a simple name is enough really, so the days of secrecy are indeed numbered. Otherwise, he will be entitled to an unexpected respite.

Finally, the end of bank secrecy is so close?

Julie of the Brush

Source: L'Expansion. Com
( http://www.lexpansion.com/economie/actualite-entreprise/la-suisse-at-elle-vraiment-tue-son-secret-bancaire_189157.html )

Can You Clean Greasy Parts In A Dishwasher

havens

Funny symbolic for the Tour de France 2009! It will stop in all tax havens border of our country ... or almost! Judge for yourself! The start will be Saturday, July 4 in Monaco. On Friday, July 10, a spectacular high mountain stage will lead the riders from Barcelona to Andorra, the second arrival "paradise", where they will depart the next day to run to Saint-Girons. After a week on the classical paths, the tour will head to Switzerland, Sunday, July 19, with arrival in Verbier, where riders take a day off.

The opportunity is too good for the platform " havens and judicial " does not seize it. It brings together several NGOs, including the Earth-CCFD Solidarity, Catholic Relief Services, the National Union of Magistrates, the National Union of unified tax (SNUI), Attac ... Jean Merckaert, CCFD (Catholic Committee against Hunger and for Development ), decided to organize a "cons Tour" with activists of these organizations. The first stage will take place at the border with Monaco cycling enthusiasts dressed up ... palm trees, the day before departure. The next day during the prologue and before the start of the stage, leaflets and banners will be at the rendezvous. Other symbolic happenings are planned in Andorra and Verbier - which will join NGOs like the Swiss Berne Declaration, Alliance ... - and July 23 in Annecy. For Jean

Merckaert, this "turn against" should remind leaders of the G20 countries that are committed in London in early April, pushing tax havens to transparency and that this promise must be acted upon. The reminder is timely because the G8 leaders meet in Italy from July 6 to 8.

"We expect the G8 that drives the point and go further, also explains the CCFD. The G20 has attacked tax havens, we must also fight against the legal and banking havens. We are an association of development and our main concern is the cost that are havens for developing countries. Would have the heads of state will seize this issue. " The Norwegian government has already done, and on 18 June, the commission he appointed to study this subject delivered its report . It confirms the calculations of American academic Raymond Baker. "For him, the loss to developing countries is around 900 to 1,050,000,000,000 dollars. 3% of these are related to corruption, 30 to 33% in organized crime (trafficking in arms, drug counterfeiting ...), but the remaining two thirds are mainly due to tax evasion, "says Jean Merckaert.

Commenting on the initiatives taken by the G20 to demand more transparency on the part of paradise tax, particularly in the framework of the OECD, CCFD hope these countries do not engage only cooperate with a dozen rich countries, but also apply their commitments to transparency in all countries that request them.

The Tour de France does not stop at home, Luxembourg and the Channel Islands, to escape this time the protests of NGOs ...

SF

Source: Le Nouvel Observateur ( http://laviedesaffaires. blogs.nouvelobs.com/archive/2009/06/30/le-tour-de-france-dans-les-paradis-fiscaux.html )

Contacts and program on the site Tax Justice Network