tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-356777042024-03-12T17:48:48.951-07:00My Panama LawyerMyPanamaLawyer is a blog for discussion of issues of interest to foreigners relocating to Panama.
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No legal advice is provided. The opinions posted are solely those of the authors of the respective articles. Images and text are reproduced on a fair use, non-commercial basis pursuant to international conventions.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger376125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-997968828904389272020-07-20T07:00:00.000-07:002020-07-20T07:00:00.350-07:00Lessons from the rise and fall of the Netherlands Antilles<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Lessons from the rise and fall of the Netherlands Antilles</div>
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By Andrew P. Morriss and Craig M. Boise</div>
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July 7, 2009</div>
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Thirty years ago, one of the world’s largest offshore financial centres was the island of Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles. </div>
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The Netherlands Antilles was the domicile for George Soros’s hedge funds as well as for corporate entities used widely by non-Americans to hold US real estate and other assets.</div>
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Most importantly, however, the Antilles was the home of the subsidiary finance corporations that were used by virtually every major American corporation as part of a structure to access the cheap foreign investment capital of the Eurobond markets.</div>
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This arrangement benefited both the Antilles and the United States. As is generally the case in the leading OFCs today, the financial services industry contributed significantly to the Antilles total government revenues. At the same time, foreign debt investment in US corporations expanded dramatically. Despite the mutually beneficial nature of Netherlands Antilles’ finance transactions, however, the United States cancelled the tax treaty that facilitated such transactions and the Antilles’ financial sector all but evaporated within a few years. </div>
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What happened?</div>
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A brief review of the history of the Antilles’ offshore financial sector offers some answers:</div>
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The Antilles’ financial services sector was the fortuitous product of three unrelated events. First, the construction of major oil refineries in Curaçao and Aruba to process Venezuelan crude oil in the early 1900s gave the islands a small but significant population of professionals that included accountants, lawyers, and civil law notaries. This nascent professional sector expanded significantly, along with the Antilles international reputation, when, following the German invasion of the Netherlands in World War II, a significant number of Dutch companies transferred their statutory seats to the Antilles as permitted by the law of the Dutch Kingdom.</div>
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Unsuccessful efforts to retain Indonesia as part of the Dutch Kingdom following World War II led the Netherlands to offer the Antilles a significant degree of sovereignty over internal matters, including taxation. During the 1950s, at the urging of an entrepreneurial civil law notary named Anton Smeets (who later founded CITCO, the worldwide financial services giant), the Antilles government took advantage of its newfound autonomy to pass legislation creating a ‘ring-fenced’ tax regime in the Antilles that afforded special tax status to foreign-owned corporations that were domiciled in the Antilles but derived most of their income elsewhere. This regime encouraged the formation of passive Antilles investment entities that were largely exempt from Antilles taxation on the income they earned.</div>
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Following World War II, the United States extended to the Netherlands Antilles the tax treaty it had previously negotiated with the Netherlands. Although the US extension of tax treaties to overseas territories of its treaty partners after World War II was rather routine, the treaty’s exemption of US source interest payments from the otherwise applicable 30 per cent US withholding tax combined with the Antilles’ ring-fenced tax regime made the jurisdiction a highly desirable location for entities receiving interest payments from the United States.</div>
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These three events set the stage for the Antilles’ offshore financial sector success. When US balance of payments deficits in the 1960s led the American government to encourage US multinationals to raise debt financing outside the United States for their foreign operations, American firms learned how to access the Eurobond market through finance subsidiaries created in the Antilles. When interest rates in the Eurobond markets later dipped below US rates, Eurobond financing became an appealing option for funding domestic as well as foreign operations, exponentially increasing the number of Antillean finance subsidiaries and driving significant growth both in the financial sector and the related sectors it supported. By the late 1970s, billions of dollars in corporate Eurobonds were being issued through the Antilles annually, saving US borrowers an estimated two to three per cent in interest costs.</div>
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As Antillean financial services firms became more sophisticated and their offshore customers grew more comfortable with the jurisdiction, new lines of business developed. For foreign investors, Antillean companies became popular vehicles for holding US real estate. Bearer shares in such entities provided investors anonymity and allowed the transfer of real estate assets without the transfer of title records in the United States. Moreover, the Antilles’ low-tax regime for foreign-owned companies attracted early hedge funds and captive insurance companies that were able to operate as Antilles corporate entities with only minor inconvenience. Notably, however, the Antilles did not lift its requirement that legal documents be filed in Dutch and it did not adopt laws that facilitated the formation and development of these new businesses. By failing to innovate in these markets, the Antilles eventually lost its initial advantaged position in both the hedge fund and captive insurance industries.</div>
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By the late 1970s, the Treasury Department, which had assumed oversight of tax treaty negotiations, became concerned that the United States-Netherlands Antilles tax treaty was subject to ‘treaty shopping’ – that is, it was being used by individuals and entities not physically resident in either country and for whom its benefits were not intended. As the treaty became what many within Treasury called a ‘treaty with the world’, US tax revenue losses mounted; US government estimates indicated that as much as US$100m per year in tax revenue was lost as a result of the treaty. Moreover, if the United States’ 30 per cent withholding tax on interest payments could be avoided merely by creating an Antillean entity to receive the payments, Treasury would have difficulty persuading foreign governments to sign tax treaty’s that included the expansive information exchange provisions it sought. Finally, US law enforcement officials also grew concerned about their inability to penetrate Antilles entities holding US real estate, and worried that proceeds of criminal enterprises were being laundered. Thus, the utility of a financial engineering strategy that had been acceptable to the United States a decade earlier was overshadowed by other US policy concerns and the United States attempted to renegotiate its tax treaty with the Netherlands Antilles.</div>
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Failing to sense the shift in the US’s cost-benefit analysis of the treaty, the Antilles government would not offer concessions sufficient to satisfy Treasury negotiators and the United States unilaterally terminated the treaty in July, 1987. (In response to an uproar in the bond market when US borrowers realised they would have to ‘gross-up’ their interest payments to cover the withholding tax on previously issued bonds, the United States hastily grandfathered outstanding bonds.) Despite a number of efforts to develop new offshore financial products, the Antilles has never found another market niche to rival the finance subsidiaries.</div>
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Lessons for OFCs </div>
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Our research suggests two key lessons from the Antilles experience that today’s offshore leaders should bear in mind as the United States, the OECD and the European Union ramp up their efforts to regulate the offshore financial industry.</div>
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Offshore jurisdictions prosper when their products and services are perceived by onshore interests as offering mutual benefits. The US Treasury department encouraged Antilles finance subsidiaries for years, as their use was seen as a solution to an American balance of payments deficit. But the growth of any particular product can create interest group opposition within the onshore jurisdiction. In the case of the Antilles, the rampant growth of the finance subsidiary business resulted in the salutary effects of Eurobond market access being outweighed by new policy concerns (treaty shopping, tax revenue losses, money laundering). Ensuring that onshore governments continue to benefit sufficiently from offshore transactions and that they realise the magnitude of that benefit is thus critical to the survival OFCs. The public sector and the financial industry must work together to keep the jurisdiction’s laws competitive and to represent the jurisdiction’s interests with onshore governments and in international fora.</div>
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OFCs must continue to identify and develop new offshore opportunities. The Antilles had a thriving offshore industry, lost it in an instant and has yet to restore its vitality. In large part, this reflects the Antilles’ singular dependence on a tax treaty that was particularly vulnerable to unilateral cancellation. Because the Antilles had not successfully developed new financial products or services, the treaty cancellation proved devastating. Virtually every line of business in the offshore world depends on the arbitrage of differences in onshore and offshore legal regimes. To survive, industry and government in OFCs must cooperate to encourage flexibility and innovation in the expansion of offshore financial products and services where these differences exist.</div>
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It is axiomatic that those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. These are turbulent times for OFCs, and the leaders of offshore jurisdictions would do well to remember the lessons of the rise and fall of the Netherlands Antilles.</div>
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This article is drawn from Craig M. Boise & Andrew P. Morriss, Change, Dependency & Regime Plasticity in Offshore Financial Intermediation: The Saga of the Netherlands Antilles, Texas International Law Journal (forthcoming 2009) available at <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1368489">http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1368489</a> </div>
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Andrew P. Morriss, Chairman, is the D. Paul Jones, Jr. & Charlene Angelich Jones – Compass Bank Endowed Chair of Law at the University of Alabama School of Law. He was formerly the H. Ross & Helen Workman Professor of Law and Business at the University of Illinois,Urbana-Champaign. He received his A.B. from Princeton University, his J.D. and M.Pub.Aff. from the University of Texas at Austin, and his Ph.D. (Economics) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a Research Fellow of the N.Y.U. Center for Labor and Employment Law,and a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Energy Research, Washington,D.C., as well as a regular visiting faculty memberat the Universidad Francisco Marroquín,Guatemala. He is the author or coauthor of more than 50 scholarly articles, books, and bookchapters, including Regulation by Litigation (Yale Univ. Press 2008) (with Bruce Yandle and Andrew Dorchak), and is the editor of Offshore Financial Centers and Regulatory Competition (American Enterprise Institute Press 2010).</div>
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T. +1 (216) 272 9187</div>
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+1 (217) 244 3449</div>
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E. amorriss@ law.ua.edu </div>
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<span style="font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: start;">LinkedIn: </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-morriss/0/74/a84" style="color: #ce9f27; font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: start;" title="LinkedIn">Andrew Morriss</a><br style="font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: start;" /><span style="font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: start;">Twitter: </span><a href="https://twitter.com/andy_morriss" style="color: #ce9f27; font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: start;" title="@andy_morriss">@andy_morriss</a><br style="font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: start;" /><span style="font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: start;">Research: </span><a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=245412" style="color: #ce9f27; font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: start;" title="See my research on SSRN">See my research on SSRN</a><br style="font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: start;" /><span style="font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: start;">Blog: </span><a href="http://andrewpmorriss.com/" style="color: #ce9f27; font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: start;" title="Offshore Green">Offshore Green</a></div>
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Craig’s research, writing and teaching focus is on US international tax policy, offshore financial centres, and offshore financial intermediation. </div>
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Craig M. Boise</div>
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Dean Designate and Professor of Law </div>
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C|M|Law </div>
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Cleveland State University </div>
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2121 Euclid Ave. LB 138 </div>
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Cleveland, OH 44115 </div>
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T: +1 (216) 687-2300</div>
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E: craig.boise@ law.csuohio.edu</div>
<strong style="font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">W:<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=345018" style="color: #ce9f27;" title=" http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=345018 "> </a></strong><a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=345018%20" style="color: #ce9f27; font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;" title=" http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=345018 ">http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=345018 </a><span style="font-family: Baskerville, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> </span><div style="text-align: justify;">
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See full text in <a href="https://www.caymanfinancialreview.com/2009/07/07/Lessons-from-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-Netherlands-Antilles/">https://www.caymanfinancialreview.com/2009/07/07/Lessons-from-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-Netherlands-Antilles/</a></div>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Curazao12.16957 -68.9900211.176364 -70.2809135 13.162776000000001 -67.6991265tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-1059406626320806222020-07-06T09:00:00.000-07:002020-07-06T09:00:00.153-07:00George Soros and the Curacao, Cayman-based Quantum Fund<br />
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Peter Schweizer provides in <a href="https://books.google.com.pa/books?id=IsKz-Y3nEbUC&pg=PT114&lpg=PT114&dq=soros+%22netherlands+antilles%22&source=bl&ots=MQp5UApQ8p&sig=ACfU3U0UrgRo-BqY6Qz2VIrNZtslz9y3Vg&hl=es-419&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiwvM7erJHqAhXZRjABHUFpAtcQ6AEwAHoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy</a> a mention of the use of offshore vehicles by George Soros (aka Györg Schwartz), sponsor of the Panama Papers cybertheft: </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jIqVD2aFbTw/Xu6me4H5x6I/AAAAAAAACWs/ri44aK00ozwcUcTmr0-146jGURUY7T-DwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/soros1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="671" height="242" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jIqVD2aFbTw/Xu6me4H5x6I/AAAAAAAACWs/ri44aK00ozwcUcTmr0-146jGURUY7T-DwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/soros1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DT4z4ppdzAQ/Xu6me6f2eeI/AAAAAAAACWo/TFudtwrlkvcYR1CCGRgYiyCZ-5nXkZ0gwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/soros2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="687" height="242" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DT4z4ppdzAQ/Xu6me6f2eeI/AAAAAAAACWo/TFudtwrlkvcYR1CCGRgYiyCZ-5nXkZ0gwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/soros2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HVZk1cQFYsk/Xu6me199LAI/AAAAAAAACWw/Ll4HrjFqgIsEwonD0O1Gk8W0WMXJ_-FGQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Soros3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="683" height="244" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HVZk1cQFYsk/Xu6me199LAI/AAAAAAAACWw/Ll4HrjFqgIsEwonD0O1Gk8W0WMXJ_-FGQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Soros3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">The shareholders of the funds are cloaked in secrecy (like a tax haven) and not publicly disclosed to you or me. </span><a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/96879/0000950123-94-000777.txt" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Schedule 13D</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> for </span><span style="text-align: justify;">Textronix Inc. describes the Quantum funds before the SEC as follows:</span><br />
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<i>The Reporting Persons</i></div>
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<i>Quantum Industrial Partners LDC</i></div>
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<i> This statement relates to Shares originally acquired at the direction of Soros Fund Management ("SFM") for the account of Quantum Fund N.V. ("Quantum Fund"), a mutual fund principally engaged in investment and trading in securities and other assets. As of August 1, 1993, Quantum Fund's entire position in the issue was transferred to a newly-formed operating subsidiary, Quantum Partners LDC, a Cayman Islands limited duration company ("Quantum Partners" and together with Quantum Fund, "Quantum"). As of April 6, 1994, all of the Shares held for the account of Quantum Partners were transferred to QI Partners, a newly-formed Cayman Islands limited duration company of which a majority of the outstanding shares are held by Quantum Industrial Holdings Limited, a newly-formed British Virgin Islands international business company ("Quantum Industrial" and together with QI Partners, the "Quantum Industrial Entities"). The principal business of QI Partners is investment in securities. The principal business of Quantum Industrial is investment and trading in securities and other assets, both directly and indirectly through its investment in QI Partners. The principal office of the Quantum Industrial Entities is located at Kaya Flamboyan 9, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. Current information concerning the identity and background of the directors and officers of the Quantum Industrial Entities is set forth in Annex A hereto, which is incorporated herein by reference in response to this Item 2. </i></div>
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From the Soros Foundation funds were transferred into the Open Society Foundation, formed in 1993 from which a number of globalist causes are funded:</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cgKehDboMN0/Xu6v5sjx8FI/AAAAAAAACXE/3z0DaherxfIbAJUlJwU3WuN4iSo79-G9ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/soros0_HZTMrC0ykxmfgL4g.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1036" data-original-width="1600" height="258" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cgKehDboMN0/Xu6v5sjx8FI/AAAAAAAACXE/3z0DaherxfIbAJUlJwU3WuN4iSo79-G9ACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/soros0_HZTMrC0ykxmfgL4g.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">According to OECD </span><a href="http://www.oecd.org/ctp/exchange-of-tax-information/42232037.pdf" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Report on Abuse of Charities for Money-Laundering and Tax Evasion</a><span style="text-align: justify;">, charities may be targeted by criminals to launder the proceeds of tax crimes and other serious offences.</span><br />
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More about the Soros' use of offshore vehicles in tax havens in:</div>
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<a href="https://mypanamalawyer.blogspot.com/2016/05/how-panama-papers-sponsor-george-soros.html" target="_blank">How Panama Papers' sponsor George Soros made billions offshore</a><br />
<a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4147984-tracking-george-soross-portfolio-q4-2017-update" target="_blank">Tracking George Soros Portfolio</a><br />
<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/lifting-the-lid-of-the-soros-money-machine-in-an-exclusive-journey-through-the-labyrinthine-empire-1427341.html" target="_blank">Lifting the lid of the Soros money machine</a>: In an exclusive journey through the labyrinthine empire of the master speculator, Stephanie Cooke and Charles Raw find gains are 'reallocated' to a charmed circle of associates<br />
Wikipedia <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Group_of_Funds" target="_blank">Quantum Group of Funds</a><br />
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<a href="https://mypanamalawyer.blogspot.com/2016/04/soros-and-cia-behind-panamapapers.html" target="_blank">Soros And CIA Behind #PanamaPapers?</a></div>
<a href="https://alexjonespodcast.com/2016/04/06/alex-jones-2016-apr-05-tuesday/" target="_blank">Leo Zagami</a> on the Panama Papers<br />
<a href="http://www.sorostrading.com/" target="_blank">George Soros and Quantum Fund</a><br />
<a href="https://medium.com/@nickmon1112/the-soros-saga-a487518e2869" target="_blank">The Soros Saga</a> by Nick Monroe<br />
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-85831450612976604102020-06-20T17:10:00.001-07:002020-06-20T17:10:32.551-07:00Panama is not a haven for guns<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<x-tab> </x-tab>If you thought Panama was a place to get a license for transshipment of weapons, regulations are very strict and meant to discourage such activities.</div>
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<b>1. Are there any restrictions on gun parts importation and exports ? What is permissible and what is not?</b></div>
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Panama's legal regulations on exporting and importing Gun parts and (firearms later on) </div>
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Panama has very strict legal regulations on exporting and importing Gun parts and firearms - definitely more strict than the US - which make ownership almost impossible. Prevalence of firearms during the Central American civil wars and the Colombian guerrillas has forced the government to impose strict controls. Law 57 of 2011 regulates holding, carrying, exporting, importing, marketing, storage, brokerage, transportation and trafficking of firearms, ammunition and related materials by individuals and companies pursuant to article 312 of the Constitution.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="sdendnote1anc"></a><sup>i</sup></div>
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Individuals and companies are prohibited from</div>
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1. Carrying or having firearms and war elements such as the AK-47 and AKM.</div>
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2. Carrying or having fragmentation grenades, grases of mechanisms for release of biological, toxic, corrosive or narcotic substances.</div>
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3. Carrying or having offensive or defensive elements, devices, equipment and instruments for exclusively military not considered firearms, nor weapons of mass destruction which are similar to these.</div>
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4. Importing, manufacturing, marketing or installing accessories or modifying weapons of private use in order to silence their detonation upon their being fired.</div>
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5. Collecting weapons or elements of war, even when deactivating them or having one or more of their parts been extracted to make their working impossible.</div>
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6. Modify the firing mechanism of a private weapon transforming it into an automatic firearm, able to fire as a machine gun.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="sdendnote2anc"></a><sup>ii</sup></div>
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<b>2. Are special permits / licenses required for us in order to do transactions with this type of goods ( military supplies, gun parts and firearms later on) </b></div>
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Only companies of Panamanian capital (owned by Panamanians) with registered shares (no bearer shares) may import firearms, their accessories, ammunitions, cartridges, and related materials, upon previous authorization by resolution of the Institutional Directorate of Public Safety Affairs (DIASP) of the Ministry of Security. Importation of weapons prohibited under Article 14 will not be authorized. Authorized shipments may only be destined for sale within the territory of the Republic of Panama. Therefore, subsequent exportation of the shipments imported is also prohibited.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="sdendnote3anc"></a><sup>iii</sup></div>
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In addition the importer must send all weapons imported to DIASP for ballistic testing and when possible must have the serial number engraved with the letters PTY.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="sdendnote4anc"></a><sup>iv</sup></div>
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Requirements for a distributor license include among others:</div>
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1. Filing an application through an attorney before DIASP.</div>
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2. Be Panamanian by birth or naturalization.</div>
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3. Certification by Treasurer showing names of all shareholders.</div>
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4. Certification by accountant showing names of all shareholders and percentage of ownership.</div>
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5. Civil liability insurance from Panama insurer for at least $40,000.</div>
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6. Background police report of all shareholders and directors.</div>
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7. Not having been condemned by a tribunal for crimes against life and safety, freedom, family, economy, collective safety, State or humanity.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="sdendnote5anc"></a><sup>v</sup></div>
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Requirements for the brokerage license are:</div>
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1. Filing an application through an attorney before DIASP.</div>
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2. Be Panamanian by birth or naturalization.</div>
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3. Not having been condemned by a tribunal for crimes against life and individual safety, freedom, family, economy, collective safety, State or humanity.</div>
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4. Pay the $500 government license.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="sdendnote6anc"></a><sup>vi</sup></div>
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Fines for importing or selling firearms or related material without complying with Law 57 are of between $1000 to $20,000, plus imprisonment when provisions of the Criminal Code are infringed.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="sdendnote7anc"></a><sup>vii</sup></div>
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Companies involved in this business must also comply with all Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF-DGI) taxation, Municipal tax, Ministry of Labor and Social Security regulations described in our Doing Business in Panama brochure, like any other business.</div>
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Please also note that all applications are subject to the regulatory bodies' approval. While we are diligent in following regulations in force, government officials may arbitrarily change rules and demand additional documents at any time during the application process.</div>
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<b>3. Tax regulations on importing Gun parts? Import and export duty? </b></div>
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The regulations and permits above mentioned are applicable for importation of gun parts and accessories. Each shipment imported or exported must be previously authorized by DIASP.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="sdendnote8anc"></a><sup>viii</sup></div>
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All imports are subject to a 7% value added tax (ITBMS). An import duty is also levied depending on the item. Customs brokers handle said information and they would require the Brussels item number in order to look up the rate in the government computer or manually which can take more than 1 week.</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">iArt. 1, Law 57 of 2011.</span></div>
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iiArt,14, <i>Id</i>.</div>
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iiiArt. 53, <i>Id</i>.</div>
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ivArt. 64, <i>Id</i>.</div>
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vArt. 26, <i>Id</i>.</div>
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viArt. 70-71, <i>Id</i>.</div>
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viiArt. 91. <i>Id</i>.</div>
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viiiArt. 65, <i>Id</i>.</div>
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</a> </span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4b7ad21f7cf8f8e9" class="addthis_button_compact">Share</a> <a class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a>
|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-8728842898820226772020-05-18T06:00:00.000-07:002020-06-20T18:21:28.470-07:00Tax Havens, Tax Competition and Economic Performance<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<b><span>Tax Havens, Tax Competition and</span></b></div>
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<b><span>Economic Performance</span></b></div>
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<i><span>Low-tax jurisdictions play a valuable role in the global economy. Economic research indicates that so-called tax havens provide a tax-efficient platform for cross-border investments, help boost saving and investment, and thus increase global economic growth. Tax havens also encourage good policy in non-haven countries. In part because of jurisdictional competition, maximum tax rates on personal income have fallen by about 23 percentage points since 1980 and top tax rates on corporate income have fallen by almost 20 percentage points. These policies have boosted growth and job creation.</span></i></div>
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<i><span>The United States is the world's largest beneficiary of tax havens and tax competition, both because the U.S. is a tax haven for foreigners and because tax havens facilitate the flow of capital to the American economy. Foreigners have more than $11 trillion invested in the U.S. economy, including more than $7 trillion invested in America's financial markets. Nearly $1.3 trillion is placed in the U.S. financial system by Caribbean institutions. This money helps finance America's economic growth.</span></i></div>
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<b><span>By Yesim Yilmaz</span></b></div>
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<b>What are tax havens?</b></div>
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<span>Tax havens are countries with very low tax rates set-sometimes as a matter of long-standing policy and sometimes as a recent and deliberate strategy to draw out-of-jurisdiction investment. This definition is imprecise, but for a good reason:</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#1"><span><sup>1</sup></span></a><span> many additional characteristics including the nature of corporate registrations, requirements on beneficial ownership information, rules governing trusts, and the financial privacy companies and individuals enjoy could qualify a jurisdiction as a tax haven. In British Virgin Islands, Delaware, and Panama, one can incorporate a company within a few hours with little information about ownership and nature of work. Switzerland, Singapore and Cayman Islands are among countries that generally do not disclose information on personal financial transactions.</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#2"><span><sup>2</sup></span></a><span> </span></div>
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<span>Interestingly, the United States qualifies as a tax haven for both the federal rules that govern foreigners' income, and the state rules on corporate taxation, registration and privacy. Compared to U.S. taxpayers, non-resident aliens pay low or no taxes on investment income-an important characteristic of tax havens according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an obdurate opponent of tax competition. The federal government generally does not tax the investment income of a foreign corporation if the earnings are unconnected with a U.S. trade or business, and foreigners are not required to pay taxes on their investment income from U.S. businesses unless they reside within the United States [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#mitchell2001"><span>Mitchell, 2001</span></a><span>].</span></div>
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<span>Furthermore, states offer many additional tax benefits designed to attract out-of-state investments, and the federal government generally does not have the authority to override these decisions. Nevada, Texas, Wyoming, and Washington do not tax corporate income; Alaska, Delaware and Nevada do not collect beneficiary information on registered companies; in Wyoming, corporations can take advantage of nominee bank accounts that protect ownership identity; and trusts in Delaware do not have public filings or recordings, and do not generally require accounting [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#itio"><span>ITIO and STEP, 2002</span></a><span>]. Additionally, tax rules are "negotiable" in many states, and many large out-of-state investors are able to get concessions in return for investing within the state.</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#3"><span><sup>3</sup></span></a><span></span></div>
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<span>The presence of tax havens has two important implications for the world economy: First, tax havens reduce the effective marginal tax rate on capital and, as a result, create more incentives to save and invest. Because the cost of doing business in (or through) tax havens is lower, businesses operating in or through these countries can undertake investments with lower expected returns or higher risks than those in high-tax jurisdictions. With these new investment opportunities, individuals will most likely consume less (or keep a smaller share of their wealth in non-income generating assets such as homes, artwork, or commodities), and save and invest more. It is important to note that some portion of increased savings and investment represent funds that would have been paid as taxes in a high-tax jurisdiction, some of the funds are capital people reallocate from other sources in their portfolio to take advantage of investment opportunities that were not previously available, and some of the funds represent a shift from consumption and into new capital.</span></div>
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<span>Second, tax havens curb the size of the public sector, and force governments to cut taxes and improve efficiency in public service delivery. By providing a "low-tax" alternative for mobile taxable resources, tax havens make it difficult for politicians of the world to divert funds from the private sector to the public sector. In fact, since the 1980s, effective corporate income tax rates across the industrialized world have fallen by nearly fifteen percentage points, and statutory tax rates have dropped by almost 20 percentage points [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#hines2005"><span>Hines, 2005</span></a><span>]. During the same period, tax haven activities as a share of world economic output have increased eight-fold. Without tax competition from tax havens, the sweeping reduction in corporate tax rates would not have been possible (see Figure 1). Personal income tax rates also have fallen dramatically, with top rates in industrialized nations dropping by more than twenty percentage points since 1980 (see Figure 2).</span></div>
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<span>To keep their tax bases intact in the presence of competition from low-tax jurisdictions, politicians must reduce public spending, cut taxes on mobile taxable resources, or shift a relatively larger portion of their tax revenues to less destructive forms of taxation imposed on labor and consumption. Needless to say, shifting taxes to immobile bases is a daunting endeavor with high political costs. Taxing immobile sources would make the tax system more "efficient" (and evasion more difficult), but from the politician's perspective, tax hikes on bread, milk, and payrolls are extremely unpalatable. Not surprisingly, faced with jurisdictional tax competition from tax havens, governments have invariably chosen to reduce tax rates on corporate and personal incomes. For example, the reductions in the effective tax rates since 1980s are almost entirely due to tax rate reductions by governments (and a small percent is due to capital moving out). </span></div>
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<b>Do international tax rules matter?</b></div>
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<span>Studies that look at the relation between foreign direct investment and after-tax rates of returns on investment consistently find a strong, positive correlation. Among other things, this relation reflects the extent to which investors respond to tax incentives [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#hines1999"><span>Hines, 1999</span></a><span>]. U.S. multinational firms invest fewer dollars in countries with high tax rates, whether direct taxes on corporate income, or indirect taxes levied on things other than the corporate income-for example payroll taxes, license fees, etc. [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#desai2006"><span>Desai, et al., 2006</span></a><span>]. The use of indirect taxes expanded considerably recently, and businesses have become very sensitive to indirect tax rates in making their investment decisions. One study finds that U.S.-owned affiliates of multinational companies tend to reduce their asset holdings by 7.1 percent in countries with 10-percent higher indirect tax rates (measured across countries). A 10-percent increase in corporate taxes, on the other hand, results in a 6.6 percent decline in the total assets held [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#desai2004"><span>Desai, et al., 2004</span></a><span>].</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#4"><span><sup>4</sup></span></a><span></span></div>
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<span>Other evidence on the relation between international tax rules and business investment decisions includes the financing and structuring of companies, particularly since equity and debt are treated equally in low-tax countries</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#5"><span><sup>5</sup></span></a><span> [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#desai2004"><span>Desai, et al., 2004</span></a><span>], low overall tax liabilities [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#harris"><span>Harris, et al., 1991</span></a><span>] and low tax/sales ratios observed for multinationals with tax haven presence [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#desai2003"><span>Desai, et al., 2003</span></a><span>].</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#6"><span><sup>6</sup></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Because international tax rules matter for business investment decisions, governments cannot ignore the impact of lower taxes in other jurisdictions. Low tax rates elsewhere attract investors and reduce the tax base in the home country, and significant evidence supports the view that countries react to losing "market share" in foreign direct investment by reducing their effective tax rates. For example, the average effective tax rate in manufacturing (measured across 58 countries with significant U.S. multinational presence) has gone down fr</span></div>
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om 33 percent in 1980 to 21 percent in 2000 (Table 1).</div>
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<span>Tax cuts instituted in response to tax competition appear to be the biggest factor behind the reductions between 1992 and 1998 [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#altshuler"><span>Altshuler and Grubert, 2004</span></a><span>]. The evidence shows that countries suffering the greatest loss of capital were most likely to reduce tax rates. Additionally, those nations with high initial average effective tax rates cut tax rates more than the average country.</span></div>
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<span>Effective tax rates in manufacturing exhibited another big dip between 1998 and 2000 and empirical studies suggest that company behavior (and not country behavior) helps explain the decline. In other words, companies took advantage of tax differentials by shifting economic activity among jurisdictions in ways that lowered their overall tax burdens. For this brief period, variables such as initial tax rates, share of foreign direct investment, and country size lose their explanatory power. The prevailing statutory tax rate, however, exhibits strong positive correlation with the declines in the effective tax rates. High statutory tax rates cause changes in company behavior because of incentives to reorganize in ways that reduce effective tax rates.</span></div>
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<span>To take advantage of low effective tax rates elsewhere, companies more frequently organize as hybrid firms (treated as branches from the U.S. point of view but incorporated as entities in the hosting tax haven country), or create ownership chains (which involve foreign affiliates owning other foreign affiliates in tax haven countries). While hybrids shelter payments of interest and royalties to a tax haven company from U.S. taxation [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#altshuler"><span>Altshuler and Grubert, 2004</span></a><span>], ownership chains reduce tax obligations by indefinitely deferring the repatriation of retained earnings [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#desai2006"><span>Desai, et al., 2006</span></a><span>]. Both strategies have become more prominent recently. Setting up of hybrids has been greatly simplified since 1997, and between 1982 and 1998, share of indirectly owned affiliates through ownership chains increased from slightly under twenty percent to almost forty percent of all affiliates [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#desai2003"><span>Desai, et al., 2003</span></a><span>].</span></div>
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<b>How do tax havens perform?</b></div>
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<span>Between 1980 and 2000, foreign direct investment increased from one-half of one percent of world production to four percent of world production. This increase in foreign direct investment has disproportionately benefited tax haven countries and helped lower-tax jurisdictions grow much faster than the rest of the world. The per capita real gross domestic product (GDP) in seventeen tax haven countries (places where U.S. multinationals frequently do business) grew by 3.3 percent between 1982 and 1999, while the average growth rate of per capita real GDP elsewhere was 1.4 percent [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#desai2004"><span>Hines, 2004</span></a><span>].</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#7"><span><sup>7</sup></span></a><span></span></div>
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<span>This calculation could overestimate the growth in tax havens because by definition, GDP is output produced within the borders of a country; in tax havens, this figure possibly includes some reported income (for tax-avoidance purposes) associated with output produced elsewhere. As an alternative, Hines [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#hines2004"><span>2004</span></a><span>] reports the annual growth in per-capita gross national product (GNP), which measures the value of goods and services produced by a county's nationals. Measured this way, tax-haven growth is still significantly higher than world averages: Per capita GNP in the world grew by 1.4 percent while in tax-haven countries it grew by an average of 3 percent every year between 1982 and 1999.</span></div>
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<span>Despite their low tax rates (or perhaps because of them), tax-haven governments are not relying on low levels of tax revenue compared to the rest of the world (see table 2). Governments in tax-haven countries consume a quarter of the total GDP-less than the burden of government in Europe and the United States, but higher than the global average. Empirical analysis of government size and other country variables (such as population, per-capita income) shows that while smaller countries have bigger governments, tax-haven countries have smaller governments controlled for their size and affluence levels. That is, governments of tax havens collect and spend fewer dollars compared to the higher-tax countries of similar size and income level.</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#8"><span><sup>8</sup></span></a></div>
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<b>Are tax havens harmful?</b></div>
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<span>Recent increases in international investment activity and the concomitant shifting of economic activity to tax havens (and other low-tax jurisdictions) have motivated a number of high-tax countries to undertake actions designed to hinder the flow of jobs and capital to jurisdictions with better tax law. For example, the OECD launched a "harmful tax competition" initiative in the 1990s, a scheme designed to penalize so-called tax havens. The OECD justifies its actions by arguing that extensive tax competition "undermines fair competition and public confidence in the tax system" [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#oecd"><span>OECD, 2004</span></a><span>].</span></div>
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<span>In this context, the relevant question is not whether "tax havens reduce confidence in the tax system" but whether the economic success of tax havens comes at the expense of growth elsewhere-presumably in higher-tax countries. There is no doubt that the threat of tax competition compels higher-tax nations to reduce tax rates. However, this does not mean that tax competition is a zero sum game as the OECD appears to argue, or that the gains in the private sector are offset by the losses in the public sector. If tax havens help channel funds towards activities that are more productive than the ways in which governments use funds, then the net gain to the world economy will be positive.</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#9"><span><sup>9</sup></span></a><span> In other words, the presence of tax havens could be complementary to economic gains in neighboring high-tax jurisdictions if tax havens force high-tax jurisdictions to organize more efficiently - or, even more importantly, to lower tax rates.</span></div>
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<span>In a recent empirical study, using firm-level data from U.S. multinational firms, Desai et al. discredit the claim that the existence and use of regional tax havens reduces economic activity in high tax locations [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#desai2006a"><span>Desai, et al., 2006a</span></a><span>]. On the contrary, the authors find evidence that tax havens have positive spillover effects for nearby high-tax jurisdictions by providing a tax-efficient platform for investment. More specifically, they find that a one percent greater likelihood of establishing a tax-haven affiliate is associated with a 0.3 percent greater investment and sales in nearby non-haven countries. Desai et al. point out that:</span></div>
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<i><span>"From the standpoint of host country governments, the ability of foreign investors to use tax havens in the same region has the beneficial effect of stimulating investment, even as it may erode tax revenue collection from any additional investment. For governments that, on efficiency grounds or other grounds, would prefer to reduce tax rates on inbound foreign investment but are constrained from doing so by political or other considerations, encouraging the widespread use of regional tax havens offers a convenient alternative. The fear that the existence and use of regional tax havens might encourage firms to substitute economic activity away from nearby high tax locations receives no empirical support in the behavior of American multinational firms."</span></i></div>
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<span>The finding that tax havens benefit neighboring jurisdictions is a special case of a more general rule: fewer restrictions on capital, through low taxation or removal of other rules, will make existing capital more efficient and facilitate a larger capital stock. The consequent gains in growth and prosperity will benefit everybody. (It is, however, harder to empirically demonstrate the extent of the gains to the rest of the world, especially the indirect gains.) Tax havens constitute an important source of such gains in efficiency because they are the only alternatives to the current "highly imperfect international system for the prevention of double taxation." [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#teather"><span>Teather, 2005, p. 31</span></a><span>] Teather notes that tax havens provide an environment where companies can freely pool international capital, without having to worry about multiple tax rules, and onerous investment regulations. Thus, tax havens increase the efficiency of global capital markets, and the gains in growth benefit not only the tax havens themselves and their neighbors, but also everyone else who eventually receives the fruits of growth through better products, more jobs, or cheaper prices. </span></div>
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<span>In response to the question, "What should a tax system look like?" tax havens would be a good starting point for investigation. A recent paper by Mitchell [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#mitchell2006"><span>2006</span></a><span>] makes the moral case for tax havens, highlighting the relation between oppressive governments and oppressive tax systems. Mitchell notes that tax havens establish environments that are respectful of individual human rights, and offer politically stable environments with strong rule of law, and little corruption. In these ways, tax havens create higher standards of governance to which other countries must eventually adhere to in order to keep their tax bases. This picture is in stark contrast to the frequent description of tax havens as thug-filled countries primarily in the business of money laundering.</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#10"><span><sup>10</sup></span></a></div>
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<b>What do tax havens mean for Americans?</b></div>
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<span>Because the U.S. imposes taxes on foreign-earned income of U.S. based corporations, using tax havens for tax avoidance is relatively costly for American multinationals. Other incentives built into the U.S. tax system discourage tax haven presence for U.S. multinationals: for example, in calculating their U.S. tax obligations, American multinational companies can deduct foreign taxes from their U.S. obligations and can claim credit, over an extended period, for any tax payments they have made in excess of U.S. obligations. Thus, American firms might be reluctant to take advantage of tax havens especially if the consequence is increased U.S. tax liabilities [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#hines2004"><span>Hines, 2004</span></a><span>; </span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#hines1999"><span>Hines, 1999</span></a><span>].</span></div>
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<span>Traditionally, U.S. direct investments abroad have been structured to take advantage of intangible assets like patents and trademarks (or to defer repatriation of income). In recent years, however, U.S. manufacturing companies appear to have become more sensitive to differences in taxes across countries [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#altshuler"><span>Altshuler and Grubert, 2004</span></a><span>]. The location of real manufacturing capital held by U.S. parents appear to correlate more strongly with the local tax rates (of the host country), and the transactions between the U.S. parents and their manufacturing subsidiaries in low-tax jurisdictions have been increasing. Given globalization in trade, and increased competition from low-cost producers, moving capital (and even production) to low-tax countries might eventually become an unavoidable survival strategy for American companies.</span></div>
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<span>What would the relocation of productive activity and capital to tax havens mean for Americans? On the negative side - assuming politicians do not control government outlays, the U.S. government will borrow more to cover short and medium term costs, putting additional financial constraints on current and future generations. Competition from tax havens could also reduce the amount of foreign direct investment into the U.S. if foreign multinationals choose to invest in tax havens for reasons similar to those that influence the U.S. companies.</span></div>
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<span>While low-tax jurisdictions put competitive pressure on the United States, the process of tax competition unarguably generates more benefits than costs for America. The United States is the world's largest repository of global capital. The Commerce Department reports that foreigners have invested more than $11 trillion in America's economy, including more than $7 trillion of financial investment [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#nguyen"><span>Nguyen, 2005</span></a><span>]. Tax havens are a particularly important source of capital for the U.S. economy. The Treasury Department reports that foreigners have more than $3 trillion of capital in U.S. banks and other financial accounts. As of March 2006, tax havens helped funnel nearly $1.3 trillion to U.S. financial markets [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#tic"><span>TIC, 2006</span></a><span>]</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#11"><span><sup>11</sup></span></a><span> (see Table 3). Losing some or all of this capital to other tax havens - which would happen if the U.S. ceased its favorable tax treatment of foreign investors - would have significant negative impact on the U.S. growth and employment </span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#12"><span><sup>12</sup></span></a></div>
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<img align="TOP" alt="" border="0" height="327" hspace="0" id="Picture42" src="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/table3.gif" vspace="0" width="500" /></div>
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<span>On the plus side, firms are likely to pass on savings from low-cost production to consumers. Additionally, as the U.S. government loses some of its tax base, in the long run, it could become smaller and more efficient, and jurisdictional tax competition might force the federal and state governments to reduce corporate tax rates from their current (combined) 39.9 percent-which is the highest rate corporations face among the developed countries [</span><a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.shtml#atkins"><span>Atkins and Hodge, 2005</span></a><span>]. Such reforms would be especially desirable since lower tax rates would eliminate the incentive to shift activity from the U.S. economy.</span></div>
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<b>Conclusion</b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">
<span>This risk of economic failure associated with ineffective competition for funds makes tax havens important sources of economic discipline for the U.S. Tax havens will not be a problem for the U.S. economy, as long as U.S. remains a tax haven itself, with productive and stable investment environment. In other words, presence of tax havens contributes to the long term success of the U.S. economy by making it harder for the U.S. to reduce the "quality" of the investment climate both for domestic and foreign investors. </span></div>
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<b><i><span>Yesim Yilmaz is a research fellow with the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation.</span></i></b></div>
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See full text and footnotes in </div>
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<a href="https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.pdf">https://archive.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxhavens/taxhavens.pdf</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>News Releases:</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
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<strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141021183020/http://itio.org/documents/itio_oecd_final.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Global Transparency, Exchange of Tax Information and Small Nations – Much Has Been Done, But More Needed to Ensure a Level Playing Field</span></a></strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"></span><br /><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">29 May 2006</span></strong></div>
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<strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141021183020/http://itio.org/documents/melbourne_itio_oecd_paper_nov_05.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD Paper by the International Trade and Investment Organization OECD Global Tax Forum Melbourne</span></a></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">15-16 November, 2005</span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141021183020/http://itio.org/documents/ottawa_itio_oecd_oct_2003.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD Proposal by the International Trade and Investment Organization OECD Global Tax Forum, Ottawa</span></a></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">14-15 October 2003</span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141021183020/http://itio.org/NewPressReleases/PR23-10-03.htm">IT’S OFFICIAL: OECD TAX PROJECT DEPENDS ON LEVEL PLAYING FIELD</a></strong><br /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Finance centres expect joint working group to meet soon.</span><span style="color: black;"><br />23 October 2003</span></strong></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141021183020/http://itio.org/NewPressReleases/PR10-10-03.htm"><br /><br />EU CONCESSIONS THREATEN OECD TAX TIMETABLE</a><br />10 October 2003</strong></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><br /></strong></span><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141021183020/http://itio.org/NewPressReleases/PR24-03-03.htm">EUROPE THREATENING OECD'S PLANS TO SWAP TAX INFORMATION</a><br />24 March 2003<br /></span></strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141021183020/http://itio.org/NewPressReleases/PR20-03-03.htm">SMALL STATES TACKLE DISCRIMINATION</a><br />20 March 2003<br /><br /><br />NEWS RELEASE ARCHIVES<br /><br /><img height="9" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20141021183020im_/http://itio.org/images/Bullit.gif" width="8" /> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141021183020/http://itio.org/NewNews_Releases_Archive_2002.htm">2002</a><br /><img height="9" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20141021183020im_/http://itio.org/images/Bullit.gif" width="8" /> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141021183020/http://itio.org/NewNews_Releases_Archive_2001.htm">2001</a></strong></span></div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>ITIO in the News:</b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #009999; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/ITIO_in_the_News_Stories/ITN02-05-07.html">Tax haven London: Small countries seek to gain the financial high ground</a></strong></span><span style="color: #009999;"><strong><br /></strong></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong>Financial Times (EDITORIAL)</strong><br />02 May 2007</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/ITIO_in_the_News_Stories/ITN01-05-07.html">FINANCIAL STANDARDS COME UNDER FIRE</a><br />Financial Times</strong>01 May 2007</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/ITIO_in_the_News_Stories/ITN22-10-03.htm">FINANCIAL CENTRES WORKING TOWARD ‘LEVEL PLAYING FIELD’</a><br />Barbados Advocate.com</strong>22 October 2003<strong><br /><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/ITIO_in_the_News_Stories/ITN15-10-03.htm"><br />SWISS BANKING SECRECY UNDER PRESSURE</a><br />Swissinfo.org</strong>15 October 2003</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/ITIO_in_the_News_Stories/ITN14-10-03.htm">OECD HAVENS PLANS FACING COLLAPSE, SAYS OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTERS LOBBY</a><br />Daily Tax Report, Bureau of National Affairs</strong>14 October 2003<br /><br /><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/ITIO_in_the_News_Stories/ITN10-10-03.htm">OECD TAX PLAN FACES COLLAPSE</a><br />Financial Times (European edition)</strong>10 October 2003<strong><br /><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/ITIO_in_the_News_Stories/ITN11-10-03.htm"><br />UNBEHAGEN DER STEUEROASEN</a><br />Neue Zürcher Zeitung</strong>11 October 2003<strong><br /><br /><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/ITIO_in_the_News_Stories/ITN10-10-03B.htm">DRIVE TO END TAX EVASION RUNS INTO NEW OBSTACLE</a><br />Financial Times (UK edition)</strong><br />10 October 2003<strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/ITIO_in_the_News_Stories/ITN13-07-03.htm"><br /></a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/ITIO_in_the_News_Stories/ITN10-10-03C.htm">OFF-SHORE CENTRES WORRIED BY EU SAVINGS BILL</a><br />Forbes.com</strong>10 October 2003<strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/ITIO_in_the_News_Stories/ITN13-07-03.htm"><br /><br />A QUESTION OF TRUST</a><br />International Money Marketing</strong><br />13 July 2003<br /><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/ITIO_in_the_News_Stories/ITN23-01-03.htm"><br /></a></strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/ITIO_in_the_News_Stories/ITN23-01-03.htm"><strong>CASHING IN ON A PARADISE ISLAND</strong></a><strong><br />Accountancy Age</strong><br />23 January 2003</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><br />"ITIO in the NEWS" ARCHIVES</strong><br /><strong><br /><img height="9" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506im_/http://itio.org/images/Bullit.gif" width="8" /> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/NewITIO_in_the_news_2002.htm">2002</a><br /><img height="9" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506im_/http://itio.org/images/Bullit.gif" width="8" /> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019062506/http://itio.org/NewITIO_in_the_news_2001.htm">2001</a></strong></span></div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Commentary: </b></span><br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019184610/http://itio.org/documents/TaxInfoTPISept20031.pdf" target="_blank">A Level Playing Field for Tax Information Exchange?</a></strong>Richard J Hay, Tax Planning International Review<strong><br /></strong>September 2003<br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019184610/http://itio.org/documents/TDwyerPaper.pdf" target="_blank"><strong><br />Information Exchange and Global Economic Regulation: For Whose Benefit?</strong></a> - Dr Terry Dwyer, Australian National University.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019184610/http://itio.org/documents/ComSec-Biswas.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>Global Competition in Offshore Business Services: Prospects for Developing Countries</strong></a> - Rajiv Biswas, Commonwealth Secretariat</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019184610/http://itio.org/documents/hays_FIN.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>Offshore Financial Centres and the Supranationals: Collision or Cohabitation?</strong></a> - Richard J Hay, Stikeman Elliott (Chase Journal, September 2001)</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019184610/http://itio.org/documents/comsecWTO.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>WTO Compatibility of the OECD 'Defensive Measures' against 'Harmful Tax Competition'</strong></a> - Dr Roman Grynberg and Ms Bridget Chilala, Commonwealth Secretariat, September 2001</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019184610/http://itio.org/documents/BMWTO.pdf" target="_blank"><br /><strong>Potential WTO Claims in Response to Countermeasures under the OECD's Recommendations Applicable to Alleged Tax Havens</strong></a> - Stephen J. Orava, Baker & McKenzie, October 2001</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019184610/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/issue_mayjune_2001/thinkagain.html" target="_blank">Think Again: Money Laundering</a></strong> - Nigel Morris-Cotterill (Foreign Policy, May-June 2001)</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br />The OECD, Harmful Tax Competition And Tax Havens: Towards An Understanding Of The International Legal Context - Professor William Gilmore, Faculty of Law University of Edinburgh. (from <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019184610/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/" target="_blank"><strong>Commonwealth Secretariat </strong></a>website)</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span style="color: black;">The Implications of The OECD Harmful Tax Competition Initiative for Offshore Financial Centres Paper</span> - Commonwealth Secretariat (from<strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019184610/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/" target="_blank">C</a></strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019184610/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/" target="_blank"><strong>ommonwealth Secretariat </strong></a>website)</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br />OECD Curbs on International Financial Centres: a Major Issue for Small States - B Persaud (from <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019184610/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/" target="_blank"><strong>Commonwealth Secretariat</strong></a> website)</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br />The OECD "Harmful Tax Competition" Initiative - Michael P Devereux (from <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141019184610/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/" target="_blank"><strong>Commonwealth Secretariat</strong></a> website)</span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Speeches:</b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<div align="left" style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong>Statements by ITIO members at the opening session of the OECD Global Forum, 14 October 2003</strong></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">• <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150609110251/http://www.itio.org/documents/GF-BVI_statement.pdf" target="_blank">British Virgin Islands</a><br />• <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150609110251/http://www.itio.org/documents/Cook_Islands_Global_Forum_Statement.pdf" target="_blank">Cook Islands</a></span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br />• <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150609110251/http://www.itio.org/documents/GF-Panama-Declaration_Oct-03.pdf" target="_blank">Panama</a></span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br />• <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150609110251/http://www.itio.org/documents/GF-St_Vincent_statement.pdf" target="_blank">St Vincent and the Grenadines</a></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><br />SPEECHES ARCHIVES</strong><br /><br /><img height="9" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150609110251im_/http://www.itio.org/images/Bullit.gif" width="8" /> <strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150609110251/http://www.itio.org/NewSpeeches2002.htm">2002</a></strong><br /><img height="9" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150609110251im_/http://www.itio.org/images/Bullit.gif" width="8" /> <strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150609110251/http://www.itio.org/NewSpeeches2001.htm">2001</a></strong></span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong>Contact Details</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">ITIO Secretariat<br />C/o Ministry of Industry and International Business<br />The Business Centre<br />Upton<br />St Michael<br />Barbados</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Tel: (+246) 430 2200<br />Fax: (+246) 228 6167</span></div>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Upton, Bridgetown, Barbados13.0941712 -59.57448809999998913.0922382 -59.57700959999999 13.0961042 -59.571966599999989tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-6676432183158515822020-03-25T10:07:00.000-07:002020-03-25T10:07:04.751-07:00Getting Paid by Your Panamanian Buyer<br />
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<h1>
<b>Getting Paid by Your Panamanian Buyer</b></h1>
<b>Payment Terms and Financing Options to Maximize Sales While Protecting Against Nonpayment<br /><br /> </b>Despite the size of the Panama market and the fact that Panama uses the U.S. dollar as its currency - many U.S. exporters are unsuccessful in selling to Panama or increasing their exports to Panamanian buyers. Frequently, U.S. exporters lose sales due to the payment terms they demand of their Panamanian buyers.<br />
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U.S. exporters should be aware that Panama's lending rates are far higher than those faced by companies in the U.S. They are losing sales to Panamanian buyers because they are frequently demanding payment either by Confirmed Letter of Credit or Cash In Advance. This can result in the following situations:<br />
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1. U.S. exporter <b><i>fails to win</i></b> new sales contracts or loses existing Panama clients because other foreign competitors are willing to provide the Panama buyer with open account terms. Some Panamanian companies pay more just to get 30 or 60-day open account terms.<br />
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2. U.S. exporter <b><i>sells less</i></b> to a Panamanian client. One Panamanian company interviewed stated that it would purchase four times as much from its U.S. supplier if it were given 90-day terms rather than having to pay cash in advance.<br />
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3. U.S. exporter <b><i>loses</i></b> medium term sales contract because a foreign competitor assists the Panamanian buyer in achieving better financing terms.<br />
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While it is prudent for U.S. exporters to insist on secure payment terms, it pays for them to consider the broad variety of payment terms available to them in order to become as competitive as possible.<br />
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The purpose of this guide is to identify the main financing and payment mechanisms available to support U.S. exporters selling to Latin America in general and to understand the cost, advantages and disadvantages of each mechanism. This guide is an introduction and the reader is encouraged to use it as a starting point in order to become more familiar with the subject. In many instances, the use of expert help is recommended. To that end, the following mechanisms will be examined in this report:<br />
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1. Cash In Advance;<br />
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2. Confirmed Letter of Credit;<br />
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3. Open Account Terms;<br />
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4. Open Account Terms with Export Credit Insurance;<br />
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5. Documents Against Payment (D/P) & Documents Against Acceptance (D/A);<br />
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6. Export Finance by a US Commercial Bank (US$ denominated);<br />
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7. Import Finance by a Latin American Bank (Foreign Currency denominated);<br />
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8. Lines of Credit Available from Latin American-based Development Banks;<br />
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9. Sales to foreign public sector buyers with foreign Central Bank Guarantees are also addressed.<br />
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This guide was authored by the U.S. Commercial Service and funded in part by donations from PNC Bank and FedEx, U.S. Commercial Service Partners.<br />
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The guide is published in English (for U.S. exporters) and in Spanish (for you to share with your Panamanian buyers).<br />
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<b><i>English Version:</i></b> <a href="http://buyusainfo.net/docs/x_1197802.pdf"> http://buyusainfo.net/docs/x_1197802.pdf</a><br />
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<b><i>Spanish Version:</i></b> <a href="http://buyusainfo.net/docs/x_7091554.pdf"> http://buyusainfo.net/docs/x_7091554.pdf</a><br />
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Full text in <a eudora="autourl" href="https://2016.export.gov/panama/financingexporttopanama/index.asp"> https://2016.export.gov/panama/financingexporttopanama/index.asp<br /><br /> </a>See also Debt collection in Panama <a eudora="autourl" href="http://mypanamalawyer.blogspot.com/2014/07/debt-collection-in-panama.html"> http://mypanamalawyer.blogspot.com/2014/07/debt-collection-in-panama.html</a> <br />
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-17614500969470481412020-03-11T16:04:00.000-07:002020-03-11T16:15:46.160-07:00The International Trade and Investment Organization (ITIO) #1<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-muje_8ViDhI/XmluAbX2kwI/AAAAAAAACTM/kGf-8ZBoWao-dQ_VrcuLjjYbeSuMfSwkwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/ITIOLogostraplinejointfinal.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="152" data-original-width="588" height="82" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-muje_8ViDhI/XmluAbX2kwI/AAAAAAAACTM/kGf-8ZBoWao-dQ_VrcuLjjYbeSuMfSwkwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/ITIOLogostraplinejointfinal.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>About the ITIO:</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The International Trade & Investment Organization (ITIO) represents small and developing countries across Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Pacific and Asia.</span><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /><br /><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150323062055/http://www.itio.org/Current%20Issues/Principles_of_a_Level_Playing_Field.htm">We work for a level playing field in the trade in services.</a></strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">We believe that all countries should be involved equally in developing new rules that affect them and should implement these rules to the same timetable, with the same penalties for non-compliance.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Aims:</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The ITIO works for a </span><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213120721/http://itio.org/Current%20Issues/Principles_of_a_Level_Playing_Field.htm">level playing field</a></strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> in the trade in services, particularly in the development and implementation of new regulatory standards.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">This includes, but extends beyond, taxation issues and entails dealing with a wide range of international bodies.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The ITIO is unique among groupings of small and developing economies, being funded entirely by members, which gives it total independence.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">It seeks to take account of members' varying needs and stages of development and to produce results that are of benefit to all.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The ITIO works in partnership with the private sector where appropriate.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Live Issues:</b></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><br /><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020133334/http://itio.org/Current%20Issues/Principles_of_a_Level_Playing_Field.htm">Principles of a level playing field</a><br /><br /><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020133334/http://itio.org/Current%20Issues/Harmful_Tax_Practices.htm">Harmful tax practices</a><br /><br /><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020133334/http://itio.org/Current%20Issues/The_Misuse_of_corporate_entities.htm">The misuse of corporate vehicles</a></strong></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><strong>There is a genuine need to combat the abuse of financial systems. The constant threat of terrorism and ongoing exposure of corporate scandals show this.</strong></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">But action must be based on facts and fairness, not prejudice and preferential treatment.</span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">If criminals are to be tackled effectively, international financial regulation must operate according to</span></strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> <strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020133334/http://itio.org/Current%20Issues/Principles_of_a_Level_Playing_Field.htm">the principles of a level playing field</a></strong>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Small countries with offshore finance centres are concerned at the behaviour of large, developed countries and of the supranational bodies they control, such as the Organisation for <strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020133334/http://itio.org/NewLinks.htm">Economic Cooperation and Development</a></strong> (OECD), <strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020133334/http://itio.org/NewLinks.htm">Financial Action Task Force</a></strong> (FATF), <strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020133334/http://itio.org/NewLinks.htm">European Union</a></strong> (EU) and <strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020133334/http://itio.org/NewLinks.htm">International Monetary Fund</a></strong> (IMF)</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">These too often seek to dictate terms to non-members while treating lightly or overlooking problems in their member countries such as Switzerland and Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Singapore, and Delaware and Nevada in the USA.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The OECD has been particularly guilty of this as it tackles <strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020133334/http://itio.org/Current%20Issues/Harmful_Tax_Practices.htm">harmful tax practices</a></strong> and the <strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020133334/http://itio.org/Current%20Issues/The_Misuse_of_corporate_entities.htm">misuse of corporate entities</a></strong>.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Reports and Key Documents:</b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/pdf/taxhavens_flourish.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>Paper by James Hines of the University of Michigan titled "Do Tax Havens Flourish?", October 2004</strong></a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/pdf/basingerhallerbergapsr.pdf" target="_blank">"Remodelling the Competition for Capital: How Domestic Politics Erases the Race to the Bottom" - an article in the American Political Science Review by Scott Basinger and Mark Hallerberg, May 2004</a></strong></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/pdf/wp0405.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>Rachel Griffith and Alexander Clemm of the Institute for Fiscal Studies report titled "What has been the Tax Competition Experience of the Last 20 Years?", February 2004</strong></a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/pdf/upld-publication303.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>"The Benefits of Tax Competition" - a paper by Richard Teather of the Institute of Economic Affairs, 2005</strong></a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/pdf/taxhavens.pdf" target="_blank">Yesim Yilmaz paper for Prosperitas titled "Tax Havens, Tax Competition and Economic Performance", June 2006</a></span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/pdf/langeroutrageous.pdf" target="_blank">Marshall Langer, writing in Tax Notes International on "The Outrageous History of Caribbean Tax Treaties with OECD Member States", June 2002</a></span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/images/richardhay.pdf" target="_blank">"Offshore Financial Centres: the Supranational Initiatives" - an article by Richard Hay</a></span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/pdf/OECD%20London%20presentation%202005.pdf" target="_blank">Louise Mitchell presentation to the Euromoney Annual Offshore Seminar titled "Reviewing the OECD Harmful Tax Initiative: the St. Vincent & the Grenadines Perspective", May 2005</a></span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/documents/Ottowa_Closing_Statement.htm"></a></strong></span><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/documents/itio_oecd_final.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Global Transparency, Exchange of Tax Information and Small Nations – Much Has Been Done, But More Needed to Ensure a Level Playing Field 26 May 2006</span></a></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/documents/melbourne_itio_oecd_paper_nov_05.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD Paper by the International Trade and Investment Organization OECD Global Tax Forum Melbourne, 15 - 16 November 2005</span></a></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/documents/ottawa_itio_oecd_oct_2003.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD Proposal by the International Trade and Investment Organization OECD Global Tax Forum, Ottawa, 14-15 October 2003</span></a></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/documents/Ottowa_Closing_Statement.htm"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Closing statement by the Co-Chairs: </strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>OECD Global Forum on Taxation, Ottawa, 14-15 October 2003</strong></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong><em><br /></em></strong></span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/documents/Levelling_the_playing_field.htm"><strong><em>Levelling the Playing Field: </em>ITIO paper tabled at OECD Global Forum on Taxation, 14-15 October 2003</strong></a><br /><br /><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/documents/GForum_Agenda.htm">Agenda for OECD Global Forum on Taxation , 14-15 October 2003</a></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/NewTLPF-II.htm"><strong><em>Towards a Level Playing Field</em> - Second Edition</strong></a><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/documents/NewTLPF-II.htm"><br /></a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/documents/TowardsaLevel.pdf"><br /></a></strong></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/documents/letter_to_OECDfeb02.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>ITIO letter to OECD asking for commitment to level playing field, 12 February 2002</strong></a></span><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213085817/http://itio.org/documents/28-02-01.htm"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The 17 fundamental clarifications sought from the OECD on 28 February 2001</span></a></strong></div>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; width: 92%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td height="133" valign="top" width="8%"></td><td valign="top" width="92%"><span style="color: #038e8a; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020055202/http://itio.org/pdf/ITIO_press_release_1_May2007.pdf" target="_blank">LITTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE,</a> </strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020055202/http://itio.org/pdf/ITIO_press_release_1_May2007.pdf"><strong>NEW ANALYSIS OF OECD DATA REVEALS</strong></a><strong></strong></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“End stigmatisation and let us into treaty network”, say small countries<br />Commonwealth calls for fair play</span><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="height: 86px; width: 98%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top" width="92%"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "geneva" , "arial" , "helvetica" ,;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "geneva" , "arial" , "helvetica" ,;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><strong><a href="https://www.step.org/sites/default/files/Comms/Towards_A_Level_Playing_Field2ndEdition.pdf">Towards a Level Playing Field,</a> </strong></em><strong>second edition.</strong><strong><br /></strong>Report undertaken by Stikeman Elliott on behalf of the ITIO and STEP.</span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<strong style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MEMBERS</strong></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br />From an initial 12 members in March 2001, the ITIO now comprises 17 small and developing states as follows:</span></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; width: 78%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td width="42%"><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img height="9" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020055202im_/http://itio.org/images/Bullit.gif" width="8" />Caribbean</span></strong></td><td width="58%"><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.gov.ai/" target="_blank">Anguilla</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ab.gov.ag/" target="_blank">Antigua & Barbuda</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bahamas.gov.bs/bahamasweb/home.nsf" target="_blank">Bahamas</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020055202/http://www.barbadosbusiness.gov.bb/" target="_blank">Barbados</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/http://www.belize.gov.bz/" target="_blank">Belize</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bvi.gov.vg/" target="_blank">British Virgin Islands</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.gov.ky/servlet/page?_pageid=76&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&_mode=3" target="_blank">Cayman Islands</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.stkittsnevis.net/" target="_blank">St Kitts & Nevis</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/http://www.stlucia.gov.lc/" target="_blank">St Lucia</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.gov.vc/" target="_blank">St Vincent & the Grenadines</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.turksandcaicos.tc/index.htm" target="_blank">Turks & Caicos</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td height="12"><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img height="9" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020055202im_/http://itio.org/images/Bullit.gif" width="8" /> Latin America</span></strong></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/http://www.presidencia.gob.pa/" target="_blank">Panama</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img height="9" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020055202im_/http://itio.org/images/Bullit.gif" width="8" /> Pacific</span></strong></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.cook-islands.gov.ck/" target="_blank">Cook Islands</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.govt.ws/" target="_blank">Samoa</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.vanuatugovernment.gov.vu/" target="_blank">Vanuatu</a></span></strong></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><strong><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="Observers"></a>OBSERVERS</strong></span></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; width: 77%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td width="42%"><strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><img height="9" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020055202im_/http://itio.org/images/Bullit.gif" width="8" /> International</span></strong></td><td width="58%"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/" target="_blank"><strong>Commonwealth Secretariat</strong></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td><strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><img height="9" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020055202im_/http://itio.org/images/Bullit.gif" width="8" /> Caribbean</span></strong></td><td><strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.caricom.org/" target="_blank">CARICOM Secretariat</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/http://www.caribank.org/" target="_blank">Caribbean Development Bank</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/http://www.eccb-centralbank.org/" target="_blank">Eastern Caribbean Central Bank</a></span></strong></td></tr>
<tr><td><strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><img height="9" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020055202im_/http://itio.org/images/Bullit.gif" width="8" /> Pacific</span></strong></td><td><strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.forumsec.org.fj/" target="_blank"><strong>Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat</strong></a></span></strong></td></tr>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Upton, Bridgetown, Barbados13.0941712 -59.57448809999998913.0922382 -59.57700959999999 13.0961042 -59.571966599999989tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-14258337733854177072020-02-18T14:40:00.001-08:002020-02-18T14:40:18.676-08:00Europeans remove Panama from black list, then place it again<div style="text-align: justify;">
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2 years after the Council of the European Union removed Panama from its black list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes and a number of compliance laws were approved which destroyed the local casinos, keep hotels with high vacancy rates and lowered the price of real estate, the EU again has included Panama in its list. These laws were imposed by the troika of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the EC- none of which grants Panama voting power on their decisions.</div>
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The list includes now:</div>
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American Samoa</div>
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Cayman Islands</div>
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Fiji</div>
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Guam</div>
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Oman</div>
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Palau</div>
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Panama</div>
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Samoa</div>
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Seychelles</div>
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Trinidad and Tobago</div>
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US Virgin Islands</div>
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Vanuatu</div>
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Ironically, it does not include Iran, Syria or North Korea which are known trade partners of several European countries despite sanctions set up by the U.S. The EU claims this process is meant to establish tax good governance worldwide but fails to contribute any funds to the non-financial entities gathering information for the tax collection efforts they demand from black-listed countries.</div>
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<h1 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f4a52; font-family: "open sans", arial, tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 35px; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify;">
Taxation: Council revises its EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions</h1>
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The Council today adopted revised conclusions on the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.</div>
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In addition to the 8 jurisdictions that were already listed, the EU also decided to include the following jurisdictions in its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions:</div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;">Cayman Islands;</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;">Palau;</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;">Panama;</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;">Seychelles</li>
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These jurisdictions did not implement the tax reforms to which they had committed by the agreed deadline.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f4a52; font-family: "open sans" , "arial" , "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">16 jurisdictions (Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cabo Verde, Cook Islands, Curaçao, Marshall Islands, Montenegro, Nauru, Niue, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Vietnam) managed to implement all the necessary reforms to comply with EU tax good governance principles ahead of the agreed deadline and are therefore removed from Annex II.</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RDnFPp1MPzQ/XkxmR7QuuEI/AAAAAAAACRM/uuOujDhGUYU3JNY0qzVRjbvK40GjbHbyQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/EUBlackList.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="733" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RDnFPp1MPzQ/XkxmR7QuuEI/AAAAAAAACRM/uuOujDhGUYU3JNY0qzVRjbvK40GjbHbyQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/EUBlackList.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Read full text in <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2020/02/18/taxation-council-revises-its-eu-list-of-non-cooperative-jurisdictions/">https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2020/02/18/taxation-council-revises-its-eu-list-of-non-cooperative-jurisdictions/</a></div>
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Economic and Financial Affairs Council, 18 February 2020</h1>
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EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions</h3>
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The Council today adopted revised conclusions on the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.</div>
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Read full text in <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/ecofin/2020/02/18/">https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/ecofin/2020/02/18/</a></div>
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OUTCOME OF PROCEEDINGS</div>
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From: General Secretariat of the Council</div>
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To: Delegations</div>
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No. prev. doc.: 6050/20 FISC 61 ECOFIN 82</div>
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Subject: The Council conclusions on the revised EU list of non-cooperative
jurisdictions for tax purposes</div>
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Delegations will find in the Annex the Council conclusions on the revised EU list of noncooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, adopted by the Council at its meeting held on
18 February 2020</div>
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Council conclusions
on the revised EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes</div>
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<b>ANNEX I</b></div>
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<b>The EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes</b></div>
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<b>7. Panama</b></div>
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<b>Panama does not have a rating of at least “Largely Compliant” by the Global Forum on
Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes for Exchange of Information on
Request and has not resolved this issue yet.</b></div>
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Read full text in <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/42596/st06129-en20.pdf">https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/42596/st06129-en20.pdf</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 35px; font-weight: 700;">Taxation: EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions</span></h2>
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What is the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions?</h2>
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Read full text in <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/eu-list-of-non-cooperative-jurisdictions/">https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/eu-list-of-non-cooperative-jurisdictions/</a></div>
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<b>COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
on new requirements against tax avoidance in EU legislation governing in particular
financing and investment operations</b></div>
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<b>V. Aligning Implementing Partners' internal policies to new EU tax requirements</b></div>
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<b>Identification of beneficial owners</b> </div>
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When reviewing the structure of an operation to determine potential issues in terms of tax
governance, the Implementing Partners generally use a minimum threshold of ownership,
direct or indirect, of the relevant entities, to determine the significance of the presence of an
entity in the shareholding structure. In this context, further consideration should be given to
the proper identification of who ultimately owns or controls the beneficiary or beneficiaries of
the funds, i.e. the ultimate beneficial owners. Consistency with the customer due diligence
requirements from the anti-money laundering directive (Directive 2015/84932) is considered
good practice. In the case of legal entities or legal arrangements, reference should be made to
the beneficial ownership definition stemming from Article 3(6) (a) (b) (c) of Directive
2015/849 which is set on internationally agreed standards. In particular, Implementing
Partners should at least identify the natural persons having a controlling ownership interest in
a legal entity by considering the indicative threshold of 25% direct or indirect ownership - or
having control through other means (i.e. consideration of lower threshold and other means of
control). The Commission recommends that this assessment should be made for corporate
entities even below such 25% threshold and ideally aiming at a 10% minimum threshold.
After having exhausted all possible means and provided there are no grounds for suspicion,
Implementing Partners can consider the natural person holding the position of senior
managing official as the beneficial owner. In any case, Implementing Partners should record
the actions taken in order to identify the beneficial owner. Where there is a remaining risk of
tax avoidance linked to the identification of ultimate beneficial owners, the Commission
recommends that Implementing Partners perform tax avoidance checks on all relevant entities
involved in the project, whereby the relevant entities are defined under section IV (1).</div>
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Read full text in <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/economy-finance/c_2018_1756_en_0.pdf">https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/economy-finance/c_2018_1756_en_0.pdf</a></div>
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ST 15117 2018 INIT04-12-2018</div>
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<b>Panama's Foreign Owned Call Centres (PA005)</b> </div>
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Final description and assessment</div>
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OUTCOME OF PROCEEDINGS</div>
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From: General Secretariat of the Council</div>
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To: Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation)</div>
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Subject: Panama's Foreign Owned Call Centres (PA005)
‒ Final description and assessment</div>
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I/ STANDSTILL REVIEW PROCESS (DECEMBER 2017)</div>
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1
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a. Description</div>
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The Panamanian Call Centre Regulation Law (Law No. 54 of October 25, 2001) provides tax and
other special economic zone benefits to call centres established in Panama by foreign investors.
However, the special tax exemption is limited to foreign companies who have “commercial use”
call centres based in Panama.</div>
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For telecommunications, Law 54 of 2001 offers Call Centres the same incentives granted to export
processing zones by Law 25 of 1992. The most relevant incentives are similar to those granted to
export processing zones:</div>
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- No income tax, sales tax, import duty or any other national taxes levied on call centres export
operations;</div>
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- Special employee stability regime (three years);</div>
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- Market fluctuations as a justified cause for labour contract termination.</div>
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Any person exploiting call centre activities duly authorized by the Panamanian Authority of Public
Services may benefit from the tax benefits granted to companies operating in ‘export processing
zones’. Activities benefiting are those considered ‘export’ services (e.g. the final destination of
telecommunication services provided used outside the Panamanian territory).</div>
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II/ ROLLBACK REVIEW PROCESS2
:</div>
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On 4 September 2018, Panama informed the Code of Conduct Group that the Parliament approved
the draft law to reform the Call Centre regime to ensure compliance with EU Code of Conduct
criteria. The Group agreed that the rollback is sufficient at its meeting of 21 September 2018: see
analysis below of the legislation provided.
The Panama Call Centres reform was signed into Law by Panama's President on 17 October 2018,
and published in the Official Gazette two days later:</div>
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https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.pa/pdfTemp/28637_A/GacetaNo_28637a_20181019.pdf</div>
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Gateway criterion - Significantly lower level of taxation:</div>
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The general tax rate in Panama is 25%. However, pursuant to the new law adopted to regulate the
activity of Call Centre for Commercial Use (Call Centres) a full tax exemption on CIT is granted to
authorised call centres, although other special tax measures apply. Therefore, the measure provides
for a significant lower level of taxation and deserves an assessment under the Code.</div>
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Criterion 1 – Targeting non-residents:
The law adopted on 4 September 2018 does not distinguish between transactions with resident and
non-resident in order for the tax reduction to be granted.
For what concerns the de facto effects of the measure, the information provided by Panama on the
use of the regime before the reform are only partial. Panama explained that more information could
not be provided as it was not requested to companies under the previous regulation.</div>
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Criterion 2 – Ring-fencing:
The law adopted on 4 September 2018 does not exclude residents from the scope of the
beneficiaries of the preferential tax treatment.</div>
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Overall Assessment</div>
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In the light of the assessment made under all Code criteria, the regime is considered as overall not
harmful.</div>
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Read full text in <a href="https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-15117-2018-INIT/en/pdf">https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-15117-2018-INIT/en/pdf</a></div>
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See other assessments in <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/register/en/content/out?typ=SET&i=ADV&RESULTSET=1&DOC_TITLE=Final+description+and+assessment&DOC_SUBTYPE=%22OUTCOME+OF+PROCEEDINGS%22&DOC_LANCD=EN&ROWSPP=25&NRROWS=500&ORDERBY=DOC_DATE+DESC">https://www.consilium.europa.eu/register/en/content/out?typ=SET&i=ADV&RESULTSET=1&DOC_TITLE=Final+description+and+assessment&DOC_SUBTYPE=%22OUTCOME+OF+PROCEEDINGS%22&DOC_LANCD=EN&ROWSPP=25&NRROWS=500&ORDERBY=DOC_DATE+DESC</a></div>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Rue de la Loi 41, 1000 Bruxelles, Bélgica50.8446796 4.371830400000021725.3226451 -36.936763599999978 76.3667141 45.680424400000021tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-42566737955697246422019-11-01T18:26:00.001-07:002019-11-01T18:26:57.571-07:00Corporate franchise tax in Panama<div style="text-align: justify;">
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It may be a surprise to many but Panama is not a tax haven and even companies with no income earned locally must pay an annual tax known as <i>Tasa Unica</i>. The tax and surcharges are described in Article 318-A in <a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales" target="_blank">Wikisource</a> and translated as draft as follows:</div>
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<span id="Art_318-A"><b>Article 318-A. </b></span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_note-2" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">[2]</span></span></a></sup><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Corporations, limited liability companies and any other legal entities, national or foreign, will pay at the time of registration and in subsequent years a single annual fee of three hundred balboas (B / .300.00) to maintain full validity. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Private interest foundations will pay at the time of registration a first single annual fee of three hundred and fifty Balboas (B / .350.00). </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">In subsequent years, the payment for that concept will be four hundred balboas (B / .400.00) to maintain the full validity of the foundation. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">For legal purposes, full registration will be understood as valid in the Public Registry of Panama. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">The obligation to pay the annual single rate is not extended to non-profit organizations, cooperatives and civil societies.</span></span></div>
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<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-0" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_note-Ley49_2009-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">[3]</span></span></a></sup><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">The first annual single fee referred to in this article shall be paid at the time of registration of the legal entity together with the respective registration rights, as if it were part of the Registration Rights. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Once the first single fee has been charged, the Public Registry of Panama will remit said amount to the General Directorate of Revenue on the first business day of the week following the date of its collection and will report the name and registration number of the respective company or foundation .</span></span></div>
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The second and following annual single rates will be paid as follows:</div>
</span><br />
<dl style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.2em;"><dd style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 1.6em; margin-right: 0px;"><table style="font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">to.</span></span></td><td><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Until July 15 of each year, by the legal person whose date of registration of the social pact or constitutive document in the Public Registry of Panama corresponds to the months from January to June, inclusive.</span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">b.</span></span></td><td><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Until January 15 of each year, by the legal person whose date of registration of the social pact or constituent document in the Public Registry of Panama corresponds to the months from July to December, inclusive.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</dd></dl>
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These payments will be made through the legal representative or the registered agent or resident of the legal person.</div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> At the time of payment, the legal representative or registered or resident agent must declare the date on which the articles of incorporation or constitutive document has been registered in the Public Registry. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">This affidavit will be made in a form that, for this purpose, will be provided by the General Directorate of Revenue </span></span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_note-4" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">[4]</span></span></a></sup></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Payment of this out-of-term fee will cause the single surcharge of fifty balboas (B / .50.00) per year or fraction of the year. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">For these purposes, the provisions of articles 1 and 2 of </span></span><a class="external text" href="http://www.asamblea.gob.pa/APPS/LEGISPAN/PDF_NORMAS/1970/1973/1973_027_1858.PDF" rel="nofollow" style="background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("/w/skins/Vector/images/external-link-ltr-icon.svg?b4b84"); color: #663366; padding-right: 13px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Law 60 of 1973 shall</span></span></a><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> not apply </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">.</span></span></div>
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Taxpayers may pay this fee in advance, in which case such payment shall be deemed final for the periods covered.</div>
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<span id="Art_318-A_Pg1"><b>Paragraph 1. </b></span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-1" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_note-Ley49_2009-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">[3]</span></span></a></sup><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Failure to pay the fee in the period in which it is caused will have the effect of not registering any act, document or agreement and the non-issuance of certifications related to national and foreign legal persons, except ordered by competent authority or those requested by third parties for the specific purpose of enforcing their rights, in which case the certification will be issued exclusively in a different format for these purposes, indicating that it is in default.</span></div>
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<span id="Art_318-A_Pg2"><b>Paragraph 2. </b></span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-2" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_note-Ley49_2009-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">[3]</span></span></a></sup><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> For the purposes of the suspension of registrations and the non-issuance of the certifications referred to in the preceding Paragraph, the General Directorate of the Public Registry of Panama will consult in each case the information made available to the Directorate General Income, on national and foreign legal persons who are up to date in the payment of the single rate.</span></div>
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<span id="Art_318-A_Pg3"><b>Paragraph 3. </b></span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_note-5" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">[5]</span></span></a></sup><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Each time the taxpayer incurrs in the non-payment of the annual single rate for two consecutive or alternate periods will have, in addition to the surcharge, the application of a fine of three hundred balboas (B / .300.00) and the annotation of a marginal indicating that it is in a state of delinquency. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">When the taxpayer pays the delinquent fees with their respective surcharges and the amount of the referred fine, the restoration of the services of the Public Registry of Panama and the lifting of the marginal entry will take place.</span></span></div>
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<span id="Art_318-A_Pg4"><b>Paragraph 4. </b></span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-3" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_note-Ley49_2009-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">[3]</span></span></a></sup><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Failure to pay the single rate for ten (10) consecutive periods will have the effect of definitive withdrawal of the legal entity from the Public Registry. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">As a consequence, it will be considered dissolved, with all the legal effects that this entails.</span></span></div>
<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
The natural or legal person, national or foreign, who has received from third money for the purpose of making the payments of this rate and does not enter them in favor of these to the National Treasury will be sanctioned with a fine not less than five (5) times nor greater than ten (10) times the amount not paid.</div>
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<span id="Art_318-A_Pg5"><b>Paragraph 5. </b></span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-4" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_note-Ley49_2009-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">[3]</span></span></a></sup><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Dissolved the legal person for non-payment of the annual fee for an uninterrupted period of ten (10) years, which will take effect from the entry into force of Law 6 of 2005, the period will begin of dissolution of three (3) years.</span></div>
<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="vertical-align: inherit;">During that period any director, dignitary, member of the founding council, resident agent, partner or an interested creditor may carry out their rehabilitation, paying all amounts owed as a fee plus a fine of one thousand Balboas (B / .1,000.00). </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">The rates of the expired years during the three-year dissolution period will be included in the payment.</span></div>
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Once rehabilitated, the legal entity will recover its existence and may resume its activities.</div>
</span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
After the expiration of the three (3) year period indicated above without its rehabilitation having occurred, the Public Registry, after verifying that fact, will cancel the registration of the legal entity and its name may be used by any interested party.</div>
</span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
The General Directorate of Revenue will prepare a list of legal persons with a delinquency of ten (10) years and promote their wide dissemination and publication, for the purpose of:</div>
</span><br />
<dl style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.2em;"><dd style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 1.6em; margin-right: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">1. That the Public Registry write down the marginal dissolution for non-payment of a single rate.</span></dd><dd style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 1.6em; margin-right: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">2. That those interested can promote their rehabilitation.</span></dd></dl>
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<span id="Art_318-A_Pg6"><b>Paragraph 6. </b></span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-5" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_note-Ley49_2009-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">[3]</span></span></a></sup><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> The annual single-rate payment obligations, declared until December 31, 1990, are declared prescribed, provided there is concurrence with the following facts:</span></div>
<dl style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.2em;"><dd style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 1.6em; margin-right: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">to. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">That they have a prescribed prescription period exceeding fifteen (15) years or more.</span></span></dd><dd style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 1.6em; margin-right: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">b. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">That the taxpayer has not carried out or executed any own management of recognition of the obligation.</span></span></dd><dd style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 1.6em; margin-right: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">C. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">That the tax administration has not issued, at the date of entry into force of this Law, any suitable administrative act of interruption of the prescription.</span></span></dd></dl>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;">In the event that a case of alleged prescription of the debt is declared or filed by mistake, it will be deemed interrupted, without prejudice to the administrative sanctions that are merited, and the period of its configuration will be restarted from the date of the alleged declaration or of your file if necessary.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span id="Art_318-A_Pgt1"><b>Transitional Paragraph </b></span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-6" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_note-Ley49_2009-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">[3]</span></span></a></sup><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Payments entered in official receipts are considered made by taxpayers, even if they had not been effectively entered into the National Treasury for reasons not attributable to the taxpayer, his legal representative or the resident agent. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">The collection of late payments and surcharges originated in the non-payment of the single rate to legal persons, whose delinquencies are attributable to the incorrect migration of data or inconsistencies in their update, and to those who verify, through receipts officers, have made the corresponding payments.</span></span></div>
<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
The increase in the amount of the second single rate onwards to three hundred balboas (B / .300.00) will be effective as of January 1, 2006.</div>
</span><br />
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<span id="Art_318-A_Pgt2"><b>Transitional Paragraph </b></span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_note-6" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">[6]</span></span></a></sup><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> For the purposes of the entry into force of the new single rates indicated in this article, as amended by Law 28 of 2012, corresponding to the annual renewals of private interest foundations, it will be understood that they govern from from January 1, 2013; </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">that is, they take effect for those payments that correspond to the rates applicable to fiscal 2013 and subsequent periods.</span></span></div>
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<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-family: "Linux Libertine", Georgia, Times, serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<span class="mw-headline" id="Referencias">References</span></h2>
<div class="reflist" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; column-count: 3; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.62px; list-style-type: decimal;">
<ol class="references" style="list-style-image: none; list-style-type: inherit; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 3.2em; padding: 0px;">
<li id="cite_note-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="user-select: none;"><a aria-label="go back up" href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_ref-1" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="go back up">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">National Assembly (Panama) (June 29, 1956) [ </span></span><a class="external text" href="http://www.asamblea.gob.pa/APPS/LEGISPAN/PDF_NORMAS/1950/1956/1956_049_1803.PDF" rel="nofollow" style="background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("/w/skins/Vector/images/external-link-ltr-icon.svg?b4b84"); color: #663366; padding-right: 13px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Law 8 of January 27, 1956</span></span></a><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> ] by which the Fiscal Code of the Republic is approved. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Official Gazette (12,995) p.127</span></span></span></li>
<li id="cite_note-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="user-select: none;"><a aria-label="go back up" href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_ref-2" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="go back up">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Article 318-A was modified by article 1 of </span></span><a class="external text" href="http://www.asamblea.gob.pa/APPS/LEGISPAN/PDF_NORMAS/2010/2012/2012_593_1475.PDF" rel="nofollow" style="background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("/w/skins/Vector/images/external-link-ltr-icon.svg?b4b84"); color: #663366; padding-right: 13px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Law 28 of 2012</span></span></a><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> , promulgated in Official Gazette 27029-C on May 8, 2012.</span></span></span></li>
<li id="cite_note-Ley49_2009-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="user-select: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">↑ </span></span><sup style="line-height: 1;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-0" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="border: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px); height: 1px !important; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; top: -99999px; user-select: none; width: 1px !important;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Jump to:</span></span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">3.0 </span></span></a></sup><sup style="line-height: 1;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-1" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">3.1 </span></span></a></sup><sup style="line-height: 1;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-2" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">3.2 </span></span></a></sup><sup style="line-height: 1;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">3.3 </span></span></a></sup><sup style="line-height: 1;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-4" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">3.4 </span></span></a></sup><sup style="line-height: 1;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-5" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">3.5 </span></span></a></sup><sup style="line-height: 1;"><a href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_ref-Ley49_2009_3-6" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">3.6</span></span></a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Article 318-A was modified by article 1 of </span></span><a class="external text" href="http://www.asamblea.gob.pa/APPS/LEGISPAN/PDF_NORMAS/2000/2009/2009_567_1835.PDF" rel="nofollow" style="background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("/w/skins/Vector/images/external-link-ltr-icon.svg?b4b84"); color: #663366; padding-right: 13px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Law 49 of 2009</span></span></a><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">, promulgated in Official Gazette 26370-C on September 17, 2009.</span></span></span></li>
<li id="cite_note-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="user-select: none;"><a aria-label="go back up" href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_ref-4" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="go back up">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">With </span></span><a class="external text" href="http://www.asamblea.gob.pa/APPS/LEGISPAN/PDF_NORMAS/2010/2013/2013_601_4914.PDF" rel="nofollow" style="background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("/w/skins/Vector/images/external-link-ltr-icon.svg?b4b84"); color: #663366; padding-right: 13px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Law 24 of 2013</span></span></a><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> , article 34 specifies that in any legal norm, document or ongoing process in which the General Directorate of Revenue is designated or formed, it will be understood as referring to the National Public Revenue Authority.</span></span></span></li>
<li id="cite_note-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="user-select: none;"><a aria-label="go back up" href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_ref-5" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="go back up">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">As amended by article 1 of </span></span><a class="external text" href="http://www.asamblea.gob.pa/APPS/LEGISPAN/PDF_NORMAS/2010/2012/2012_593_1475.PDF" rel="nofollow" style="background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("/w/skins/Vector/images/external-link-ltr-icon.svg?b4b84"); color: #663366; padding-right: 13px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Law 28 of 2012</span></span></a><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> , promulgated in Official Gazette 27029-C on May 8, 2012.</span></span></span></li>
<li id="cite_note-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="user-select: none;"><a aria-label="go back up" href="https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%B3digo_Fiscal_de_Panam%C3%A1/Libro_II:_De_los_servicios_nacionales#cite_ref-6" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="go back up">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">As it was with </span></span><a class="external text" href="http://www.asamblea.gob.pa/APPS/LEGISPAN/PDF_NORMAS/2010/2012/2012_597_0086.PDF" rel="nofollow" style="background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("/w/skins/Vector/images/external-link-ltr-icon.svg?b4b84"); color: #663366; padding-right: 13px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Law 52 of 2012.</span></span></a></span></li>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-36878750810917055812019-06-12T17:54:00.000-07:002019-06-12T17:54:34.510-07:00French court declares trust registry of beneficiaries as unconstitutional<div style="text-align: justify;">
While the French administration has declared that Panama is everything but a stain on civilization because of its privacy laws, its Constitutional Court - chaired by Laurent Fabius - has deemed the public registry of beneficiaries to be unconstitutional violation of rights enshriend in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.</div>
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<h1 class="title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #302e2d; font-family: Tiempos, serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Decision no. 2016-591 QPC of October 21, 2016</span></h1>
<div class="field field--name-field-titre-complet field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #777574; font-family: Tiempos, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 15px; text-align: justify;">
Ms. Helen S. [Public Registry of Trusts]</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bp6Bd6O59qo/XQGSYFxIlhI/AAAAAAAACJo/xIJdQd5pS4Eakq8c5bu5_oarbLV-KXzwACLcBGAs/s1600/Cour20190312_college_membres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1170" height="172" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bp6Bd6O59qo/XQGSYFxIlhI/AAAAAAAACJo/xIJdQd5pS4Eakq8c5bu5_oarbLV-KXzwACLcBGAs/s320/Cour20190312_college_membres.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #606060; font-family: Tiempos, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: justify;">
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL WAS ASKED TO DECIDE UPON a priority matter of constitutionality on 25 July 2016 by the Conseil d'État (decision no. 400913 of 22 July 2016), under the conditions set out in Article 61-1 of the Constitution. This matter was put forth for Ms. Helen S., by Stéphanie Auféril Esq., Marine Dupas Esq. and Stanislas Pannetier Esq., attorneys admitted to the Paris bar. It was recorded by the General Secretariat of the Constitutional Council under number 2016-591 QPC. It relates to compliance with the rights and freedoms that the Constitution guarantees in the second paragraph of Article 1649 AB of the General Tax Code in its report from Law number 2013-1117 of 6 December 2013 relating to the fight against tax fraud and serious economic and financial crime.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #606060; font-family: Tiempos, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;">
In light of the following texts:</div>
<ul style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #515150; font-family: Tiempos, serif; font-size: 16px; list-style: none; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 20px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">the Constitution;</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 20px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">Ordinance no. 58-1067 of 7 November 1958 as amended, concerning the basic law on the Constitutional Council;</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 20px; position: relative;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
the General Tax Code;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
-Law number 2013-1117 of 6 December 2013 relating to the fight against tax fraud and serious economic and financial crime;</div>
</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 20px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">The Regulation of 4 February 2010 on the procedure applicable before the Constitutional Council with respect to applications for priority preliminary rulings on the issue of constitutionality;</li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #606060; font-family: Tiempos, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;">
In light of the following items:</div>
<ul style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #515150; font-family: Tiempos, serif; font-size: 16px; list-style: none; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 20px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">the observations made on behalf of the applicant by SCP Matuchansky-Poupot-Valdelievre, Attorney at the Conseil d'État and the Cour de Cassation, registered on 22 August 2016;</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 20px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">the observations of the Prime Minister, registered on 22 August 2016;</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 20px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">the documents produced and appended to the case file;</li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #606060; font-family: Tiempos, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;">
Having heard Olivier Matuchansky Esq., attorney at the Conseil d'État and the Cour de cassation, and Ms. Auféril Esq. for the applicant, and Mr. Xavier Pottier, appointed by the Prime Minister, at the public hearing of 11 October 2016;</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #606060; font-family: Tiempos, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;">
And having heard the Rapporteur;</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #606060; font-family: Tiempos, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;">
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL DECIDED ON THE FOLLOWING:</div>
<ol style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #515150; counter-reset: lis 0; font-family: Tiempos, serif; font-size: 16px; list-style: none; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: lis 1; margin-bottom: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #606060; display: inline; line-height: 1.9;">
The second paragraph of Article 1649 AB of the General Tax Code, in its report from Law number 2013-1117 of 6 December 2013 mentioned herein above, states: "A Public Registry of Trusts has been instituted. It mandatorily lists the trusts registered, the name of the administrator, the name of the settlor, <b>the name of the beneficiaries</b> and the date the trust was formed".</div>
</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: lis 1; margin-bottom: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #606060; display: inline; line-height: 1.9;">
The applicant claims that these provisions fail to take into account the law in regard to private life and are tarnished by incompetence under the conditions of this right insofar as they allow the public free and unrestricted access to confidential information related to the composition of a trust. These provisions also fail to take into account the principle of equality before the law.</div>
</li>
</ol>
<ul style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #515150; font-family: Tiempos, serif; font-size: 16px; list-style: none; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 20px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">On the merits:</li>
</ul>
<ol start="3" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #515150; counter-reset: lis 2; font-family: Tiempos, serif; font-size: 16px; list-style: none; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: lis 1; margin-bottom: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #606060; display: inline; line-height: 1.9;">
The freedom proclaimed by <b>Article 2 of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen implies the right to respect for private life; Owing to this, collecting, recording, keeping, consulting and communicating information of a personal nature shall be justified by general interest and implemented in an adequate and proportional manner.</b></div>
</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: lis 1; margin-bottom: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #606060; display: inline; line-height: 1.9;">
The Public Registry of Trusts instituted by the second paragraph of Article 1649 AB of the General Tax Code identifies all trusts, under Article 792-0 bis of this Code, and declaring them is made obligatory by the first and fifth paragraphs of this Article. These are trusts which the administrator, the settlor, or at least one of the beneficiaries has its fiscal domicile in France or which include a good or a right located here. For each trust, the registry includes the date the trust was formed as well as the name of the administrator, the settlor, and its beneficiaries. The fourth paragraph of Article 1649 AB refers to a decree in the Conseil d'État and the right to specify the means to consult this Public Registry.</div>
</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: lis 1; margin-bottom: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #606060; display: inline; line-height: 1.9;">
By these disputed provisions, through emphasising transparency of the trusts, the legislature intended to prohibit their use for the purpose of tax evasion and money laundering. It also sought the objectives enshrined in the constitution of the fight against fraud and tax evasion.</div>
</li>
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Listing,<b> in a registry accessible to the public, the names of the settlor, the beneficiaries and the administrator of a trust provides information on the manner in which a person intends to manage his or her estate. The result is an infringement on the right of respect for private life.</b> However, the legislature, which did not specify the quality nor the motives that justify consulting the registry, did not limit the people that have access to the information in this registry, placed under the responsibility of the tax administration. Therefore, these disputed provisions have a clearly disproportionate effect on the right of respect for private life in regard to the objectives sought. As a result, without reviewing other grievances, the second paragraph of Article 1649 AB of the General Tax Code should be declared counter to the Constitution.</div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 20px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">On the Effects of the Ruling of Unconstitutionality:</li>
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According to the second paragraph of Article 62 of the Constitution: “A provision declared unconstitutional on the basis of Article 61-1 is revoked as from the publication of the decision of the Constitutional Council or at a later date stipulated in the decision. The Constitutional Council determines the conditions and the limits according to which the effects produced by the provision shall be liable to be challenged". In principle, the declaration of unconstitutionality should benefit the individual who brought up this priority matter, and the provision declared unconstitutional may not be applied in proceedings pending on the date of publication of the decision of the Constitutional Council. However, the provisions of Article 62 of the Constitution provide the latter with the power to set the date of repeal and to delay its effects in time and to reconsider the effects that the provision may produce before this declaration takes effect.</div>
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In this case, no motive should justify a delay of its effects of unconstitutionality. This should take effect from the date of the publication of this decision.</div>
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HELD:</div>
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Article 1. - The second paragraph of Article 1649 AB of the General Tax Code in its report from Law number 2013-1117 of 6 December 2013 relating to the fight against tax fraud and serious economic and financial crime is unconstitutional.</div>
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Article 2. - The declaration of unconstitutionality of Article 1 shall take effect under the conditions set out in paragraph 8 of this decision.</div>
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Article 3. - This decision shall be published in the Journal officiel of the French Republic and notified in the conditions provided for in Section 23-11 of the Ordinance of 7 November 1958 referred to hereinabove.</div>
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Ver texto en: <a href="https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/decision/2016/2016591QPC.htm">https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/decision/2016/2016591QPC.htm</a></div>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com02 Rue de Montpensier, 75001 Paris, Francia48.863849599999988 2.336474500000008423.341815099999987 -38.972119499999991 74.385884099999984 43.645068500000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-50615271317340489492018-10-18T18:25:00.000-07:002019-02-03T18:28:45.203-08:00Europe Can't Get a Grip On Its Dirty Money, but Panama is Always to Blame<br />
After reading the newspapers of International Consortium of Journalists, one would have the impression that Panama is the main launderer of the world. However, funds of the transactions described in the Panama Papers story rarely used Panama banks and they are dwarfed by the trillions already being laundered in the European Union by its banks.<br />
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Europe Can't Get a Grip On Its Dirty Money</h1>
<div class="lede-text-v2__dek" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-family: PublicoHeadline-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.13; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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Though regulators are getting tougher, European banks are still too willing to overlook suspicious transactions by dodgy clients.</div>
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<a class="author-v2__byline" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/authors/AQuRIoVsdeM/leonid-bershidsky" rel="author" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.2s ease-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Leonid Bershidsky</a></div>
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<time class="article-timestamp" data-status="localized" data-type="updated" datetime="2018-10-17T11:15:14.647Z" itemprop="datePublished" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">October 17, 2018, 6:15 AM EST</time></div>
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As another top Scandinavian bank faces money-laundering accusations, it’s clear that the rules are changing for European lenders under intense U.S. pressure. A closer scrutiny of clients with links to the former Soviet Union and other high-corruption regions is fast becoming a necessity. Though the motives behind the pressure can be questioned, the outcome is mostly positive for Europe. Its role as a haven for dirty money hasn’t fit its declared values well.</div>
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Helsinki-based <b>Nordea Bank Abp, Scandinavia’s biggest bank, has been <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-16/browder-asks-nordic-prosecutors-to-look-into-nordea-money-flows" itemprop="StoryLink" itemscope="itemscope" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">accused</a> of laundering money for shell companies registered in Estonia and Lithuania and holding accounts with the notorious Estonian branch of Danske Bank A/S and Lithuania-based Ukio Bank</b>. If this proves true, Nordea will be dragged into a laundering scandal that has rocked Danske. So will the Lithuanian banking system, which has so far skirted the kind of trouble suffered by its neighbors, Estonia and especially Latvia, caused by nefarious non-resident activities in their banking systems.</div>
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The accuser, Bill Browder, is a controversial figure. An investor who made a fortune in Russia and an early booster of President Vladimir Putin, he lost his Russian business to what he describes as a massive tax scam by well-connected officials. A Browder associate, Sergey Magnitsky, died in prison after trying to investigate it. Browder has since <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Red-Notice-Became-Putins-Enemy-ebook/dp/B00O30HFT2" itemprop="StoryLink" itemscope="itemscope" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">branded</a> himself Putin’s “Enemy Number One” and lobbied successfully in multiple countries for the passage of “Magnitsky laws” sanctioning foreign human rights violators. His latest campaign involves tracking Russian dirty money, and he has played an important role in the Danske scandal.</div>
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Browder’s Russian experience and his singular focus on the Putin regime’s wrongdoing make him well-qualified for the job of revealing dodgy financial flows from Russia. But his example shows that, with a little determination, regulators could find out much more by themselves about money laundering, and not just by Russian actors. They know where to look, too.</div>
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In recent years, but especially in 2018, Europe has seen a growing number of high-profile money laundering cases involving banks. <b>The most notable were listed in a <a href="https://www.allnews.ch/sites/default/files/RatingsDirect_D%C3%A9j%C3%A0VuAllOverAgainMoneyLaunderingAndSanctionsWoesContinueToHauntEuropesBanks_39968877_Oct-16-2018.PDF" itemprop="StoryLink" itemscope="itemscope" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">report</a> published by the ratings agency S&P on Tuesday, which points out that while laundering problems aren’t unique to Europe, the continent’s banks are “over-represented in such cases.” </b></div>
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This year alone, Netherlands-based <b>ING Bank</b> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-04/ing-to-pay-784-million-in-fines-to-settle-dutch-criminal-case" itemprop="StoryLink" itemscope="itemscope" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">agreed</a> to pay $900 million to settle a Dutch probe into facilitating apparent bribes from a telecoms company with Russian roots to a government official in Uzbekistan; France’s<b> Societe Generale SA</b> was <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-04/socgen-reaches-agreements-on-benchmarks-libya-investigations" itemprop="StoryLink" itemscope="itemscope" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">forced</a> to pay $585 million after a French-U.S. probe into a Libyan bribery scheme; <b>Pilatus Bank</b> in Malta had its assets frozen for running a U.S. sanctions-busting scheme with Venezuela and Iran; in Estonia, <b>Versobank</b>, owned by secretive Ukrainian tycoon Vadim Ermolaev, was closed down overnight for providing laundry services to various post-Soviet players; in Latvia, <b>ABLV</b> was shut down after the U.S. cracked down on suspicious non-resident activities; and, again in the Netherlands, <b>Rabobank</b> paid $369 million for its role in hiding Mexican drug cartels’ cash. Then there’s Danske.</div>
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While the cases appear diverse and unrelated, there are three similarities most of them share. All of the banks except Societe Generale operate in countries that actively participate in tax competition and make it relatively easy for non-residents to do offshore business. In every case, the problem clients come from countries with high corruption. In most cases, U.S. involvement has played a critical role in policing the banks.</div>
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The latter isn’t necessarily a good thing. Extraterritorial U.S. sanctions are a naked power play that enjoys little support in Europe, as evidenced by recent EU <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-09-25/europe-finally-has-an-excuse-to-challenge-the-dollar" itemprop="StoryLink" itemscope="itemscope" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">efforts</a> to save the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. U.S.-Russia tensions also contribute to the heightened American attention to Russian transactions, an atmosphere that benefits Browder’s anti-Putin campaign. But Europe does have a lot to learn from the U.S. when it comes to tracking down suspicious transactions and making it impossible for banks to escape punishment.</div>
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The S&P report notes that Europe is learning, noting the success of the Dutch probe into ING and the German financial regulator’s appointment of an external auditor to supervise Deutsche Bank AG’s progress in fixing its anti-money laundering controls. In the Danske case, too, the national regulator appears to be on the ball.</div>
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That’s a start. Europe shouldn’t just bow to U.S. demands when fighting dirty money. If the EU wants to occupy the moral high ground given up by the U.S. during the Trump presidency, it cannot allow the European economy to serve as a comfortable destination for dirty money – whether post-Soviet, African or Latin American – as it has done for decades. This explains the recent European anti-money laundering push. It includes a <a href="https://sven-giegold.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/COM-Reflection-paper-on-elements-of-a-Roadmap-for-seamless-cooperation_Sept-2018.pdf" itemprop="StoryLink" itemscope="itemscope" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">directive</a> passed earlier this year that enhanced controls over digital currencies and other anonymous forms of payment and called for a united database of companies and their beneficial owners. The EU has also <a href="https://sven-giegold.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/COM-Reflection-paper-on-elements-of-a-Roadmap-for-seamless-cooperation_Sept-2018.pdf" itemprop="StoryLink" itemscope="itemscope" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">called</a> for more powers in using supranational agencies to fight money-laundering, overcoming the reluctance of national regulators in the more offshore-friendly countries.</div>
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The current high-profile probes and fines won’t stop money-laundering, though. As long as shell companies can be set up – the S&P report singled out <b>U.K.-registered limited liability partnerships as “a key conduit for financial crime” </b>– the financial infrastructure will remain, if only in the shape of small banks that can fly under the radar. But a concerted effort to look in all the obvious places could shrink the dirty money flows considerably.</div>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-68406043626306812372018-08-17T15:25:00.001-07:002018-08-17T15:25:55.217-07:00Canadian brokers are not in Panama<div style="text-align: justify;">
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The Nova Scotia Securities Commission in Canada issued an alert for a firm advertising in 1sttradeoptions.com :</div>
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<span style="color: #666655;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Investor
Alert for 1st Trade Options/First Trade Options</span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;">Nova Scotia
Securities Commission</span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">May
2, 2018 10:07 AM</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Courier, Courier New, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">The
Nova Scotia Securities Commission is alerting investors that 1st
Trade Options/First Trade Options is not registered to sell
securities in Nova Scotia.<br /><br />1st Trade Options claims to be a
full-service options trading company located in Panama City, Panama.
1st Trade Options and its representatives solicited at least one
Nova Scotia resident by telephone to invest. The investor lost money
as a result. It also advertises on its
website, </span></span></span><a href="https://www.1sttradeoptions.com/"><span style="color: #28628c;"><span style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Courier, Courier New, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">https://www.1sttradeoptions.com/</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Courier, Courier New, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> . </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;"> <span style="font-family: Courier, Courier New, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">If
you have been contacted by a representative from First Trade
Options, please contact the commission.<br /><br />-30-<br /><br />Media
Contact: David Harrison<br />
902-424-8586<br />
Email: david.harrison@novascotia.ca </span></span></span>
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https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20180502002</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MqB5Am93zcY/W3dIFX7bl5I/AAAAAAAACF4/G-jw2Bmxf2w_DSoTRnxoGc0aE_0MfQGLACLcBGAs/s1600/delete1sttradeoptions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="1024" height="286" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MqB5Am93zcY/W3dIFX7bl5I/AAAAAAAACF4/G-jw2Bmxf2w_DSoTRnxoGc0aE_0MfQGLACLcBGAs/s400/delete1sttradeoptions.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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No company is registered in the Panama Public Registry, the Panamaemprende Business Registry or the Securities Commission with the name 1st Trade Options or similar. A report mentions that the outfit has a Panama office at 1st floor Commercial Area of Oceania Business Plaza (which office staff have never seen them) and telephone +5078389514 (which has recording as disconnected). Another report states that they have a payout company in San Jose Costa Rica international optional Investments (which address is that of a convent https://yellow.place/it/monasterio-san-jos%C3%A9-madres-carmelitas-descalzas-barrio-los-laureles-escaz%C3%BA-costarica )</div>
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The Panama Superintendent of Securities has a list of regulated brokerage firms serving locals and foreigners alike in <a href="http://www.supervalores.gob.pa/iper-smv/informacion-de-personas-juridicas-o-entes-regulados">http://www.supervalores.gob.pa/iper-smv/informacion-de-personas-juridicas-o-entes-regulados</a>. Some of the firms are more than 50 years old and the best ones are supported by banks with paid-in capital above $10 million. A prospective investor should consult local experts before investing.</div>
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Canadian and Panamanian citizens can resolve investment disputes under the protection of the Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement of 2009.</div>
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More information in:</div>
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FTA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada%E2%80%93Panama_Free_Trade_Agreement</div>
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1st Trade Options http://trader.help/question/1sttradeoptions/ https://www.biedex.nl/nssc-warns-against-cold-calling-firm-first-trade-options-tradebuddy-online-financial-news-trade-the-markets-now/ https://thebestbinaryoptionsbrokers.net/1st-trade-options-is-not-regulated-warning </div>
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Making your Panama investment safer <a href="http://mypanamalawyer.blogspot.com/2008/12/making-your-panama-investment-safer.html">http://mypanamalawyer.blogspot.com/2008/12/making-your-panama-investment-safer.html</a></div>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-88342716864457092482017-09-03T14:25:00.000-07:002020-06-28T08:44:30.070-07:00Apartment in residential zone of Panama City with easy access<div style="text-align: justify;">
7400 - San Francisco, Panama City - The Location</div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">San Francisco is truly the best area to live in Panama City. It is a peaceful area, surrounded by </span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3AQ-JSoOu58/Waxx9LhY_9I/AAAAAAAAB4k/uvWhsQlFmFYu26A4yaP8N-1E9WOkv36bwCLcBGAs/s1600/7400sfprimerplano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="838" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3AQ-JSoOu58/Waxx9LhY_9I/AAAAAAAAB4k/uvWhsQlFmFYu26A4yaP8N-1E9WOkv36bwCLcBGAs/s320/7400sfprimerplano.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
beautiful houses of impressive architecture, an inimitable exclusive and residential zone, close to the ocean but in the center of the city, which allows you to enjoy an incredible view of the ocean or of the city. Everything you need you will find close by: restaurants, schools, supermarkets, video rental stores, pharmacies and just a few streets away, one of the biggest shopping malls of Central America boasting stores selling international brands, at terrific prices, movie theaters and more. San Francisco is also one of the most accessible zones of the city, so it will only take a few minutes to arrive at your destination.<br />
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Maintenance fee includes: Maintenance of common areas, 24/7 security, broadband internet, gas.</div>
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7400 - San Francisco, Panama City - Key Features</div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Prime Panama City Location</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Close to airport, Panama Canal and Bay of Panama (Pacific Ocean) etc.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Family-owned developer with 35 years experience</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> 20 year exoneration from property tax</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Prices from just $270,000 based upon current availability</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Anticipated rental yield of 7-8%</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> 15% capital gains tax rate</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> 70-80% borrowing available</li>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6yWBp6dqxSk/Waxy69_kyQI/AAAAAAAAB4w/ZOEo8Jdl1P8TYeM4r0tvevTs-EHNnsULACLcBGAs/s1600/7400sfsan-francisco-panam-10-638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="638" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6yWBp6dqxSk/Waxy69_kyQI/AAAAAAAAB4w/ZOEo8Jdl1P8TYeM4r0tvevTs-EHNnsULACLcBGAs/s320/7400sfsan-francisco-panam-10-638.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
LA EXPERIENCIA QUE BUSCABAS PARA VIVIR A TU ESTILO! UBICACION: San Francisco es realmente el mejor lugar para vivir en la Ciudad de Panamá un área tranquila rodeada de hermosas residencias con una impresionante arquitectura una zona exclusiva y residencial por excelencia muy cerca del mar pero en el centro de la ciudad lo que le permite disfrutar de una vista increíble al mar o a la ciudad. Con todo lo que usted necesita cerca del área encontrará: restaurantes escuelas supermercados video clubes farmacias y a pocas calles centros comerciales cines y más.</div>
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EL PROYECTO: Con un estilo fresco moderno y relajado 7400 San Francisco encuentras las imponentes East Tower y West Tower. Estarás cautivado por su impresionante fachada con un estilo totalmente original ambas con elegantes lobbies entradas individuales desde sus múltiples vías de acceso y un diseño arquitectónico vanguardista que te hará sentir la experiencia 7400 desde el primer instante.</div>
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AMENIDADES: 7400 San Francisco te permitirá disfrutar a diario sin que te cueste más y sin salir de tu entorno 2400mts2. de amenidades como media cancha de basketball cancha de raquetball y áreas verdes para practicar deportes al aire libre.para relajarte cada día te espera un delicioso spa con sauna duchas completas y para ejercitarte un moderno gimnasio completamente equipadoun lujo que tienes con solo tomar la decisión inteligente de vivir en 7400 San Francisco. Cada torre cuenta con su propia área de esparcimiento para chicos y grandes con piscina área de juegos para niños terraza techada terraza abierta y una completa área social con salón de fiestas con cocina área para barbacoa terrazas baños y más para que celebres con toda comodidad y sorprendas a tus invitados.</div>
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LOS APARTAMENTOS: WEST TOWER con apartamentos de 153m es ideal para tu estilo de vida porque cada elemento en tu apartamento ha sido seleccionado pensando en que sea único e individual para que cada rincón tenga su propia personalidad y a la vez puedas adaptarlo a tu gusto. Acabados modernos y de buen gusto materiales importados de España de excelente calidad y que siguen las últimas tendencias en decoración: una hermosa cocina con sobre de granito y modulares estilo italiano elegantes baños con sobres de mármol modernos y lustrosos pisos de porcelanato de 60cms azulejos importados ventanas de piso a techo detalles que hemos incorporado para tí porque son parte del concepto 7400 San Francisco.</div>
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For more information contact by <b><span style="font-size: large;">Whatsapp +5076617321</span></b></div>
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rPG4wqE4knU" width="560"></iframe>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-18347112313905632942017-08-08T14:30:00.000-07:002017-09-08T14:34:30.072-07:00Anguilla provides advantages for hedge funds<div class="mobile-photo">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I1_QjyRr1PE/WYhtUdFaUqI/AAAAAAAAB3g/1oWYdcSxm0sjZvl1Zp_IrinY4kkKaVasgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/anguillamapskyviewsmap320-704583.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6451526664380371618" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I1_QjyRr1PE/WYhtUdFaUqI/AAAAAAAAB3g/1oWYdcSxm0sjZvl1Zp_IrinY4kkKaVasgCK4BGAYYCw/s320/anguillamapskyviewsmap320-704583.png" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Anguilla provides advantages for Hedge Funds and IBCs</span><br /> </b><br />
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In 2004, Anguilla added legislation that provided for mutual funds, captive insurance and protected cell companies. The IBC (International Business Company) Act provides all the necessary features of this entity with enhanced shareholder protections.</div>
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INCORPORATION</div>
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Anguilla has an online company formation system, ACORN, which allows for the incorporation of IBCs, and other corporate entities, as well as the filing of annual returns and all other statutory documents over the internet. Only licensed practitioners i.e. holders of a company management (registered agent), trust or offshore banking license or their approved overseas agents, are allowed access to the system. At the end of the incorporation process, the incorporator receives a digital certificate of incorporation which can be used to open bank accounts. There is no need to take any documents to the Companies Registry for stamping. These are automatically generated by the ACORN system and service providers simply have to collect the hard copy of the articles of incorporation bylaws which will all bear the Registrar's stamp, from the Registry.</div>
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Shares and share capital</div>
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Shares may be issued as registered shares or bearer shares or both and may be issued to corporations or natural persons. IBCs can be formed with any authorized share capital and in any currency approved by the Registrar. The government fees do not increase based on share capital and shares may be issued with no par value. Shares may also be issued in fractions.</div>
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Share registers</div>
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IBCs must maintain registers of shareholders and directors. However, there is no requirement to file them with the Registrar.</div>
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Registered office/registered agent</div>
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Each IBC must have a registered office and registered agent. Only licensed practitioners can provide this service.</div>
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Directors and company secretary</div>
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An IBC must have at least one director but there is no residency requirement. Directors have all powers provided for in the bylaws except those reserved to the shareholders by the Act. Directors may be corporations or natural persons. There is also no requirement for a company secretary.</div>
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Shareholders� meetings</div>
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Meetings may occur outside of Anguilla, wherever and in whatever manner determined by the shareholders. Meetings may occur by telephone or other electronic means.</div>
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In practice, all companies formed in Anguilla are ordinarily incorporated by a trust company. Because all companies are required to have a licensed registered agent, and only trust companies are so licensed, in practice they control the incorporation procedure.</div>
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Technically any person may incorporate an IBC or a CAC by subscribing and filing the Articles of Incorporation, but as all IBCs and CACs are required by law to maintain a registered agent at all times, in practice the registered agent will invariably deal with the incorporation procedure. Similarly any person may form an LLC by subscribing the Articles of Formation, but because all LLCs are required at all times to have a registered agent, this process is usually undertaken by that agent.</div>
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All IBCs must be incorporated as companies limited by shares. A CAC may be incorporated as either (1) a company limited by shares, (2) a company limited by guarantee, or (3) a company limited by shares and by guarantee.</div>
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The corporate constitution of an Anguillan company depends upon which statute it is incorporated under.</div>
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For an International Business Company, they are the Articles of Incorporation and the by-laws. The Articles of Incorporation are publicly filed upon incorporation, but they are a relatively perfunctory document containing very little information beyond the name of the company, the registered office and registered agent, and particulars of the authorised share capital. The regulation of the company's affairs is primarily delegated to the by-laws which are a private document not accessible by the public which are maintained at the company's registered office.</div>
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For a private company registered under the Companies Act, they also consist of the Articles of Incorporation and by-laws.</div>
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For a limited liability company, they are the Articles of Formation and the LLC agreement. Similar to IBCs, the Articles of Formation are publicly filed upon registration, but they are a relatively perfunctory document containing very little information beyond the name of the company, the registered office and registered agent. The principal regulation of the company's affairs is primarily delegated to the LLC agreement which is a private document not accessible by the public which are maintained at the company's registered office.</div>
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The Articles of Incorporation (or Formation) of a company are filed with the Companies Registry but are not available for public inspection. However, the by-laws or LLC agreement are private, and not available to the public. In each case, the constitutional documents may be amended without a court application, but where the document is publicly filed, the amendment will normally need to also be publicly filed before it becomes effective.</div>
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For IBCs and CACs the Articles of incorporation and by-laws will bind the company and each member of the company as if they had been executed by them personally. There is no equivalent provision for LLCs.</div>
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In addition to raising capital from their members by way of equity, Anguillan companies may raise capital by way of debt, either in the form of loans or by issuing debt securities. Companies are not required to file financing statements in Anguilla when borrowing money.</div>
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Anguilla offers a low cost and efficient regulatory fund environment for private investment funds. 3 types of funds allowed, the two of interest to small offshore fund operators being Private and Professional Funds. A fund may be in the form of Anguillan company, Intl business company, LLC, limited partnership, partnership, unit trust or protected cell company, protected cell accounts, segregated portfolio company, or segregated portfolio accounts. This allows for the issuance of series or classes of shares with different rights, thus allowing for the creation of umbrella funds and master/feeder structures. </div>
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Private Funds</div>
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This refers to a mutual fund whose constitutional documents specify that it will have no more than 99 members. Private funds are recognised under the Act. The documents must also specify that the making of an invitation to subscribe for or purchase shares issued by the mutual fund are not offered to the public. Exemption from recognition is given to a family trust fund as defined in the Act.</div>
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There is no restriction on the amount of investment by individuals who may constitute a private fund.</div>
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Professional Funds</div>
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This refers to a mutual fund whose shares are made available only to professional investors and the initial investment in which, in respect of each of the persons constituting a majority of such investors, is not less than US$100,000 or its equivalent in any other currency. Professional funds are recognised under the Act. Professional investors are required to state in writing that they consent to being treated as a professional investor.</div>
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There is no restriction on the number of investors who may constitute a professional fund.</div>
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A mutual fund may also be recognised as a professional fund if it was carrying on business or engaged in an activity as a mutual fund on the date of the coming into force of the Act; the initial investments in respect of the majority of each of the investors in the mutual fund have been not less than US$100,000 or its equivalent in any other currency. Furthermore, the shares of the mutual fund are, after the date of the coming into force of the Act, made available only to professional investors.</div>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0The Valley AI-2640, Anguilla18.2148129 -63.05744060000000718.184646899999997 -63.097781100000006 18.2449789 -63.017100100000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-12541065366163735912017-03-01T10:00:00.000-08:002017-03-15T16:42:19.363-07:00Are you a client of SMH / Swiss Metal Assets?For those asking about a company called Swiss Metals claiming to operate in Panama, an article in PanamaGuide.com reads :<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; margin-top: 5px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Swiss Metal Assets S.A. (SMA), the Panamanian branch of Schweizerische Metallhandels AG, with offices in Switzerland and the Republic of Panama now offers you solutions for the protection of your wealth. Protection of your wealth can be achieved through purchasing physical ownership of rare industrial metals and industrial silver granulates. SMA products allows you to convert your currency into High Demand Rare Industrial Metals, TAX FREE.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.panama-guide.com/links/portal.php/link/20110112093246784" style="background: transparent; color: purple;">Swiss Metal Assets, S.A., (SMA)</a>, and its trading partner Schweizerische Metallhandel AG, (SMH) are operating together throughout Europe and the Americas focusing on the trade and distribution of rare industrial and precious metals. *_Our business is not Stocks, Bonds, Shares Certificates, or Futures_* Five years ago <b>three German entrepreneurs</b> realized that there was a need for people to exchange the paper cash into real assets such as metals. They began selling Silver and Gold only, but after speaking with the owner of Haines & Maassen, one of the top traders in the world in rare industrial metals they made an agreement to offer Rare Industrial Metals to the general public for the first time as a contingency to secure and preserve wealth. Together they set up a company where you can invest in these metals and store them in the Swiss duty free zone, Zürcher Freilager AG, a Swiss Warehouse Operator since 1923. Since then we have converted cash into real metals assets worth millions of dollars for Germans and many other Europeans. Now for the first time this is available in the Americas. (more)</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tfTnCbsPgW0/WK-DvBB3XJI/AAAAAAAAByY/ziaTBhPv-FQPwpcSAapcWksf_sKZ_GHegCLcB/s1600/smh_0014brochure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tfTnCbsPgW0/WK-DvBB3XJI/AAAAAAAAByY/ziaTBhPv-FQPwpcSAapcWksf_sKZ_GHegCLcB/s320/smh_0014brochure.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The following process is supposed to be followed:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; margin-top: 5px;">
<b>Purchase Process:</b><br />
<ul style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<li>1. Sign Purchase and Storage Contracts</li>
</ul>
<ul style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<li>2. Receipt of Client’s funds by Swiss Metal Assets</li>
</ul>
<ul style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<li>3. Transport of Metal Asset to the Entrepot Warehouse</li>
</ul>
<ul style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<li>4. Assets are assigned a Charge Number and an Invoice Generated</li>
</ul>
<ul style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<li>5. Client receives Invoice and Ownership Certificate</li>
</ul>
<ul style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<li>6. Time line is generally three weeks from receipt of funds</li>
</ul>
<b>Resale Process:</b><br />
<ul style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<li>1. Two Options Client Request for ReSale or Industry Request for Purchase</li>
</ul>
<ul style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<li>2. With Client Request we will ask our Metal Trader for the daily price of each metal and advise client</li>
</ul>
<ul style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<li>3. With Industry Request our Metal Trader will provide the purchase price to the seller</li>
</ul>
<ul style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<li>4. Funds will be transferred to any Bank Account world wide</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-svFNsp36Yes/WK-CaWwIixI/AAAAAAAAByI/Lofj3lvAfzIYgBn3PTlRtRlwWU5Y6DwOACLcB/s1600/IMG_20170220_1055168%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-svFNsp36Yes/WK-CaWwIixI/AAAAAAAAByI/Lofj3lvAfzIYgBn3PTlRtRlwWU5Y6DwOACLcB/s320/IMG_20170220_1055168%255B1%255D.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Floor 18, Office O of the Aseguradora Ancon tower, <br />
presumably the office of Swissmetal, Inc. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
More recently, the SMH website announces that:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Panama City, Panama – Strong demand and rapid growth of Schweizerische Metallhandels A.G. (SMH AG), and their partner in the Americas Schweizerische Metallhandel Panama S.A. (SMH Panama) , a Panama based supplier of rare strategic metals, has allowed them to welcome Swissmetal Inc (SMI), as their second service provider. Knut Andersen, previously the sales manager of Swiss Metal Assets (SMA), their first provider, is spear-heading the new venture. SMI has been running at full capacity from their new Panama location in Costa Del Este since October 2012.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dzCpl8bMZx8/WK-DuuACO-I/AAAAAAAAByU/VY8EjuBpZSExpByIjRFzipz1IIFRZXskgCLcB/s1600/smh_0016liquidator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dzCpl8bMZx8/WK-DuuACO-I/AAAAAAAAByU/VY8EjuBpZSExpByIjRFzipz1IIFRZXskgCLcB/s320/smh_0016liquidator.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clients of SMH are asked to sign this waiver of rights</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Several clients who hired lawyers found to their surprise that:<br />
<ul>
<li>SMH SCHWEIZERISCHE METALLHANDEL PANAMA,S.A., had as first directors:</li>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
DIRECTOR: ULRICH SCHWARK<br />
PRESIDENTE: PETER BERND STEHLING<br />
TESORERO: CATHERINE VERBEL<br />
SECRETARIO: BIRGIT RUNGE</blockquote>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">SMH SCHWEIZERISCHE METALLHANDEL PANAMA, S.A., never had a business license. The company was dissolved on October 16, 2016. This means that a period of 3 years is open for liquidation of its assets with their last directors as trustees liable for its debts.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<li>No Panama company called Swiss Metal Assets S.A. exists in the Public Registry but a New York LLC was registered in New York by Juliette Passer since July 21, 2011 https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ny/4121004</li>
<li>The Panama Ministry of Commerce lists a company called Swissmetal Inc. with offices in Costa del Este, Panama City:</li>
</ul>
<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; width: 90%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td align="left" valign="middle" width="39%"><strong>Número de Aviso de Operación:</strong></td><td align="left" valign="middle" width="61%">2276052-1-786004-2014-407589 </td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="middle"><strong>Nombre Comercial:</strong></td><td align="left" valign="middle">SWISSMETAL INC.</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="middle"></td><td align="left" valign="middle"><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="middle"><strong>RUC:</strong></td><td align="left" valign="middle">2276052-1-786004 DV 23</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="middle"><strong>Fecha de Generación:</strong></td><td align="left" valign="middle">10-Feb-2014</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="middle"><strong>Representante Legal:</strong></td><td align="left" valign="middle">KNUT EGIL ANDERSEN</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="middle"><strong>Ubicación:</strong></td><td align="left" valign="middle">PANAMÁ, PANAMA, JUAN DIAZ</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="middle"><strong>Urbanización:</strong></td><td align="left" valign="middle">COSTA DEL ESTE</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="middle"><br /></td><td align="left" valign="middle"><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="middle"><strong>Edificio:</strong></td><td align="left" valign="middle">PH TORRE ASEGURADORA ANCON</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="middle"><strong>Apartamento:</strong></td><td align="left" valign="middle">PISO 18 LOCAL O</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top"><strong>Actividad Comercial:</strong></td><td align="left" valign="middle">SERVICIO DE PROMOVER Y MERCADEAR LAS VENTAS DE METALES Y OTROS SIMILARES</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This office is now part of an unrelated French company.<br />
<br />
Investors should ask a lawyer to review a contract or conduct due diligence of its directors before sending funds to accounts related to any investment. Your suggesitons or corrections to this data are welcome and may be posted anonymously in the comments.<br />
<br />
See also:<br />
http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20110107163500673<br />
http://smhpa.com/contact/<br />
https://www.panamaemprende.gob.pa/publico.php?pag=certificAO&anio=2014&ao=11692&Suc=655436&a_buscar=__swiss_______on_on&np=1<br />
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/smh-schweizerische-metallhandel-panama-s-a/panama-city-other/smh-schweizerische-metallhandel-panama-s-a-smi-swissmetal-inc-i-have-also-invested-i-1355113<br />
<br />
<br />
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-21973277556393521832017-02-20T07:00:00.000-08:002017-02-20T07:00:25.713-08:00Bermuda Deputy PM: "The UK is a Tax Haven"<div style="text-align: justify;">
Bermuda Deputy PM and Finance Minister said it the way it is: OECD founder UK is actually a tax haven. And Richards is no parochial nationalist: he has experience working at a pension fund, courses at the IMF and an MBA in Canada.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<hr />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<b style="font-size: x-large;">'The UK is a tax haven' – Bermuda attacks plan to end financial secrecy </b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Juliette Garside </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Monday 6 February 2017 15.32 GMT Last modified on Monday 6 February 2017 22.00 GMT</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The government of Bermuda has hit back at British efforts to end offshore financial secrecy, claiming the UK itself is a “tax haven”.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Speaking ahead of a meeting on Wednesday between Theresa May and the leaders of Britain’s overseas territories, Bermuda’s deputy premier and finance minister, Bob Richards, pushed back against proposed legislation that would create public registers naming the owners of offshore companies.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Richards said the UK should get its own house in order before making demands from its dependencies.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The UK is a tax haven,” he said, citing non-dom laws that allow foreign nationals to live in Britain without paying tax on overseas income.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“You have more billionaires resident in London than any place on earth. They are not here for the weather, they are here for the tax climate. We have a double standard going on here.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We have a much more transparent, much cleaner system than the countries that promulgate these rules in the first place. The popular notion that somehow there is something nefarious going on in a small island that is relatively successful is false.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
From April 2017, however, non-doms will lose some of their advantages and foreign nationals will no longer be able to enjoy tax breaks indefinitely in the UK. Those resident in the UK for 15 out of the previous 20 years will be liable for inheritance, capital gains and income tax on their worldwide assets.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A cross-party group of 88 MPs, led by the tax campaigner Margaret Hodge, is backing an amendment to the government’s criminal finances bill that would force British territories to follow the UK in making public their company ownership registers by 2020.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“There is a thing in this world called privacy and at least in my island privacy still exists,” added Richards. “There is no public right to know anybody’s private business.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Panama Papers exposed how thousands of offshore companies have been used to help hide the proceeds of fraud, political corruption and tax evasion.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Unlike most tax havens, Bermuda does keep a central government record of who owns its offshore entities. This information is available to other governments on request, but not to the general public.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ut_rokoHpVA/WKXqgmsfFFI/AAAAAAAABxU/sgw2DEWbkDseutI7YrYkwS-k5rH5t-8bgCLcB/s1600/RICHARDS%2BET.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ut_rokoHpVA/WKXqgmsfFFI/AAAAAAAABxU/sgw2DEWbkDseutI7YrYkwS-k5rH5t-8bgCLcB/s200/RICHARDS%2BET.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deputy PM Richards</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Richards told the Guardian he would resist calls, first made by David Cameron in 2013, to open up the register. “The register in Bermuda is there to protect the government’s reputation ... It is not the public’s business. We are not here to tell you who is doing business in Bermuda,” he said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“There is a thing in this world called privacy and at least in my island privacy still exists,” added Richards. “There is no public right to know anybody’s private business.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Panama Papers exposed how thousands of offshore companies have been used to help hide the proceeds of fraud, political corruption and tax evasion.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Unlike most tax havens, Bermuda does keep a central government record of who owns its offshore entities. This information is available to other governments on request, but not to the general public.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Richards told the Guardian he would resist calls, first made by David Cameron in 2013, to open up the register. “The register in Bermuda is there to protect the government’s reputation ... It is not the public’s business. We are not here to tell you who is doing business in Bermuda,” he said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The mid-Atlantic nation is a major centre of tax avoidance, with Google and other multinationals attracted by a zero corporation tax rate. Oxfam found that US corporations reported $80bn (£64bn) in profits in Bermuda in 2012 – more than their combined reported profits in Japan, China, Germany and France.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8nc-kTLJrQM/WKXqggkpV5I/AAAAAAAABxY/7ayBTKdv4agWhiejh984vDGOfONMFaMuQCEw/s1600/Bermudasfuture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8nc-kTLJrQM/WKXqggkpV5I/AAAAAAAABxY/7ayBTKdv4agWhiejh984vDGOfONMFaMuQCEw/s320/Bermudasfuture.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bermuda should do what guarantees the future of its next generation. <br />Destroying its financial center will not provide jobs for the future.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
“People are pressuring overseas territories because they feel we are defenceless, in some way easy pickings,” said Richards. “They are moving the goalposts on us almost every three weeks.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Bermudian premier, Michael Dunkley, has joined Richards in London this week for a series of briefings with UK ministers, with Brexit top of the agenda. Richards said his government was in listening mode but, if pushed, it would not hesitate to protect its interests.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said last year he “would not hesitate to go for independence” if his country were threatened by Brexit. Bermuda’s last push for independence was in a 1995 referendum.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Richards said: “At the moment our interests are aligned but if that changes then we will have to think of ourselves. We must protect Bermuda’s interests. This amendment being proposed [by Hodge] is not in the interests of Bermuda.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
See full text in https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/06/uk-tax-haven-bermuda-financial-secrecy-offshore-companies</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
See also:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Bermuda Ministry of Finance <a href="https://www.gov.bm/ministry/finance">https://www.gov.bm/ministry/finance</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Bob Richards' bio <a href="http://www.parliament.bm/Bob_Richards.aspx">http://www.parliament.bm/Bob_Richards.aspx</a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Hamilton, Bermuda32.2945837 -64.78588869999998732.2811612 -64.80605869999998 32.308006199999994 -64.7657187tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-69646559287941212772017-02-16T08:59:00.001-08:002017-02-16T09:10:52.775-08:00LIVE Streaming - Conference on Tax Competition Feb 15-17<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xXc0roItps4" width="560"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Speakers from US, Latin America, Germany, UK, France and other OECD countries speaking in Panama about tax competition and individual freedom at Widening Pathways to Open Societies conference</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
See also:<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=widening%20pathway">https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=widening%20pathway</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/WideningPathway/">https://www.facebook.com/WideningPathway/</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://goethalsconsulting.com/pathways/program-tab-style-2/">http://goethalsconsulting.com/pathways/program-tab-style-2/</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
https://www.acast.com/docthompson/short-stack-adolfo-linares-from-widening-the-pathways-to-open-societies-tmb</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-77643187607527307602016-08-29T06:00:00.000-07:002016-08-29T07:24:42.967-07:00Panama City property auction seeks qualified buyers<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eBy4u6vYduU/V8RFM-CQzhI/AAAAAAAABvU/HwWyqdWeqOw1BiTIrVKiPaZ5Yctw0R4vgCLcB/s1600/UHR6-Unicorn-Localizacion21-1024x664556dd10a1b319-150x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eBy4u6vYduU/V8RFM-CQzhI/AAAAAAAABvU/HwWyqdWeqOw1BiTIrVKiPaZ5Yctw0R4vgCLcB/s1600/UHR6-Unicorn-Localizacion21-1024x664556dd10a1b319-150x150.jpg" /></a></div>
The Panama Stock Exchange reported that an auction will be held for the lot of land and improvements for the Hotel Unicorn (Park Inn by Radisson under construction on Finca 1025) in 44 Street and Justo Arosemena Av., in Bella Vista, one of the prime neighborhoods of downtown Panama City.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Corporate bonds were issued of which about $ 2.7 million were placed on the market for the issuer UHR Development (BVP: <a href="http://www.panabolsa.com/es/emisor/uhrd" target="_blank">UHRD</a>). The property will be auctioned by the bond trustee to interested qualified buyers under the terms and conditions of said issue.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VNyLrIxWQfQ/V8RFV27Is3I/AAAAAAAABvY/rONINoNByVAOVZSmFi7Im93rL5W977t3ACLcB/s1600/UHRUbication-map-150x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VNyLrIxWQfQ/V8RFV27Is3I/AAAAAAAABvY/rONINoNByVAOVZSmFi7Im93rL5W977t3ACLcB/s1600/UHRUbication-map-150x150.jpg" /></a></div>
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For more information contact <a href="http://www.lagrealty.com/" target="_blank">lagrealty @ laglex.com</a></div>
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The appraisal of the property is available in:</div>
Panama Stock Exchange website <a href="http://www.panabolsa.com/PDFs/Informacion%20Corporativa/UHRD/informe%20inspeccion%20avaluo%20abr2016.pdf">http://www.panabolsa.com/PDFs/Informacion%20Corporativa/UHRD/informe%20inspeccion%20avaluo%20abr2016.pdf</a><br />
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Calle 44 Este, Panamá, Panama8.9761399 -79.5314058.9722189 -79.536447500000008 8.9800609 -79.5263625tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-32401602395749680942016-05-09T02:00:00.000-07:002016-05-09T02:00:14.598-07:00How Panama Papers' sponsor George Soros made billions offshore<div style="text-align: justify;">
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The Independent provided this 1994 glimpse into how George Soros made billions with an offshore Netherlands Antilles fund using tax breaks which are now villified under the Panama Papers by the International Consortium of Journalists he sponsors. The Quantum fund was formed by Citco (Curacao Investment Trust Co) instead of a Panama law firm.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Lifting the lid of the Soros money machine: </span></b></div>
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In an exclusive journey through the labyrinthine empire of the master speculator, Stephanie Cooke and Charles Raw find gains are 'reallocated' to a charmed circle of associates</div>
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STEPHANIE COOKE and CHARLES RAW Saturday 5 March 1994</div>
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'I STILL consider myself selfish and greedy,' says George Soros. 'I am not putting myself forward as any kind of saint. I have very healthy appetites and I put myself first.'</div>
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Mr Soros is the man who made dollars 1bn when Britain left the European exchange rate mechanism in September 1992, earning him the status of a legendary investor. But that status was tarnished last month, when he lost a similar sum on the yen.</div>
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Nevertheless, he has set the tone for a new generation of large-scale professional investors who run so-called hedge funds on behalf of wealthy private clients. Markets regularly hang on his predictions for the course of gold, currencies and shares.</div>
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The size of these hedge funds means they are regularly singled out as the cause of seismic shifts in financial markets. That is putting Mr Soros into sharper focus, simply because he is the leader of the pack. If he should falter, the knock-on effect could be widespread.</div>
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That is why central banks have started to ask questions about unregulated offshore operations such as his.</div>
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Ever the master of public relations, Mr Soros welcomed the central banks' probe. 'I feel there is an innate instability in unregulated markets,' he told the Reuters news agency.</div>
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Until now, however, remarkably little has been known about how the Soros financial empire is organised.</div>
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The first detailed analysis of the funds' published documents reveals that he has created a complex and bizarre financial creature in which the interests of Mr Soros, his family, close friends and key executives in the business are incestuously intertwined with those of his public investors.</div>
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Some of those investors may not have noticed that in the past few years Mr Soros has altered the structure of the organisation so as to reallocate some of the profits in favour of his private circle.</div>
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Mr Soros started his offshore fund operation with dollars 4m in 1969, at the age of 39, after learning the arbitrage and investment business in London and New York.</div>
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He appears from the start to have aimed at wealthy individuals and professional European investors. He told prospective clients that the purpose of his key Quantum fund was 'to enable sophisticated investors to participate in an internationally diversified investment portfolio'. The Quantum fund is active in currency, commodity and interest- rate markets as well as equities and fixed-interest securities.</div>
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Later, in the early 1980s, Soros honed to perfection the technique of charging buyers a premium based on the supply and demand of fund shares.</div>
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Normally an open-ended investment fund is sold or redeemed at net asset value, with a sales charge added or an administrative charge deducted. But the Quantum fund can issue shares at a premium to its net asset value. The premium, however, is not based on an open market value.</div>
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Instead it is set by the<b> fund's managing director, Citco (Curacao Investment Trust Co) in Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles. This is declared to be 'by or at the direction of the fund's board of supervisory directors', which is chaired by Alberto Foglia of the Banca del Ceresio in Lugano, Switzerland. Its seven other members are mainly European bankers and brokers, including in London the renowned fund manager Nils Taube of Lord Rothschild's St James's Place Capital.</b></div>
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In the late 1980s the Quantum fund's documents stated that the premium would not rise above 25 per cent. As the premium for buying the fund was as low as 1 per cent during that period, it was not an unduly onerous restriction. But in the past few years, as the fund's fortunes have risen, the restriction has been quietly dropped and the premium soared at one point to nearly 40 per cent. After the Japanese loss last month, it dropped four points to 35 per cent, but is now back to 36 per cent.</div>
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Possibly to avoid problems with the US authorities, Soros states that his funds are barred to Americans - whether in the US or abroad. At least one exception to this is Soros himself, who became a US citizen in 1961.</div>
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By 1972 the fund was worth dollars 20m. For reasons not made clear in recent documents, the operation was relaunched under the Quantum name in 1973.<b> The fund was registered in the Netherlands Antilles, but Soros ran it from New York through Soros Fund Management</b>. No information is given about this firm's precise corporate status, other than that it has always been wholly owned by him personally.</div>
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Although Soros now leaves the running of SFM to his executives, the documents state that in his 'personal capacity, he manages a securities trading partnership formed for the benefit of members of the Soros family and several other family accounts'.</div>
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By the end of 1980 the fund was worth more than dollars 380m and the net asset value of each share had risen by almost 4,400 per cent. In 1981 Quantum shares fell by 23 per cent, their first drop in value, and the fund nearly halved to dollars 193m. The following year a new category of share was created - the B share - in which Soros placed money invested by himself and his trusts and charities. His own main investment in the fund is now via these shares. It is through them that he apparently exercises control over the fund, although the voting rights of these shares are not explained in more recent documents. He can and does convert B into A shares from time to time, but these are primarily held by outsiders. No single external investor is allowed to exercise more than 4.9 per cent of the votes.</div>
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Although the fund recovered and grew once more, it hit another rocky patch in the late 1980s when more investors were selling Quantum shares than were buying. Around this time Soros made serious efforts to expand his operation.</div>
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In 1989, in spite of the fact that very few investors came into the fund, the net asset value of Quantum increased by 31.6 per cent.</div>
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Mr Soros had demonstrated the magical effect of simple mathematics, something not immediately apparent to laymen. Because of the high number of redemptions during 1989, the benefits were divided among fewer shares, so the net asset value still rose.</div>
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By then the operation was working as follows. Under an agreement approved by shareholders in 1988, Soros Fund Management is paid a basic investment advisory fee of 1 per cent a year, payable monthly. But the real cash cow is the annual performance fee. The fee is mainly composed of a sum equal to 15 per cent of any increase in net assets resulting from the fund's operation - before the deduction of the performance fee itself, of course.</div>
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There is another element in the fee - 15 per cent 'in net assets resulting from premiums realised on fund share subscriptions and premiums or discounts realised on fund share redemptions'.</div>
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Although the fund can issue shares at a premium direct to investors and - as is normal with open-ended funds - redeem them, in practice Quantum acts differently.</div>
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It has a subsidiary called Quasco which sells Quantum shares at a premium and buys them back either at a smaller premium or, should the situation arise, a discount of up to 1 per cent. Quasco makes a profit from the margin between the premiums charged to buyers and the price offered to sellers. In recent years the margin has been around 4-5 per cent.</div>
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Quasco's accounts are not available, but it is clear it makes a substantial amount of money through these dealings. This money has historically been reinvested in the fund and SFM has taken its 15 per cent cut.</div>
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Indeed, the very fact that the money was ploughed back has been used as a strong promotional point by brokers selling the funds.</div>
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But in 1991 things started to change. In a significant restructuring of the operation that included the launch of new funds, Mr Soros began the 'reallocation' of some of the gain for 'selected persons associated with SFM'.</div>
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By then Mr Soros had apparently finally decided that Quantum's growth had to be curtailed. In February of that year he announced the biggest distribution so far: dollars 4,000 per share, a total of dollars 611m. To satisfy investors who did not want cash, he offered shares in a new fund, Quasar International.</div>
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Quasar was a different animal to Quantum. Instead of investing directly in securities, it would invest only in one entity - Quasar International Partners. That in turn would carry out investment activities under advice from SFM. But Quasar, like Quantum, had a dealing subsidiary, Quinter.</div>
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The fund was not the only investor in the partnership, however. Mr Soros, 'certain members of his family and other selected persons associated with the partnership's management' also joined the club.</div>
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The Quasar fund has had a very successful run. In only its second year of operation it showed an increase in net asset value per share of 56.2 per cent, following a 44.9 per cent rise the previous year.</div>
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The accounts for the year ending 31 January 1993 show that of the dollars 18.2m netted on premiums, dollars 5.6m was 'reallocated to other partners'. In the previous year they were allotted dollars 2.55m in premiums. These reallocations were based on their share of the partnership, which had risen from 24.6 per cent at the outset to 29 per cent by the end of the second year, partly because of the reallocations.</div>
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Thus Mr Soros, his family and key members of his management team had effectively increased the membership dues for Quantum's sophisticated investors in the fund, and helped to dilute the fund's interest in the partnership.</div>
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In the explanatory memorandum about Quasar, Mr Soros explained that 'the Fund's net profit or loss from transactions in the Fund shares (whether realized directly or through Quinter) generally is accounted for as if earned by the Partnership, and thus is shared among the Fund and the other partners.'</div>
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Close examination of the accounts also reveals that the 'selected persons' appear to have benefited in another way from the establishment of the partnership.</div>
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In April 1991 Soros told Quantum shareholders that they had subscribed for a total of dollars 541m in 'Quasar', without specifying whether he meant the fund or the partnership.</div>
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In fact the accounts reveal that while dollars 541m of Quantum's assets were indeed transferred to the Quasar partnership, the Quasar fund's initial net asset value was only dollars 493m - a difference of dollars 48m.</div>
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The Quantum investors choosing to invest in Quasar were thus effectively paying a premium of about 9.5 per cent for their new shares.</div>
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Another discrepancy appeared in the calculation of the net asset value at the end of the second year. While the fund's holding of the partnership at that time was 71 per cent, when it came to dividing up the net increase in the partnership's capital resulting from operations, the fund got only 67.1 per cent. This is possibly because the 'selected persons' do not pay advisory fees.</div>
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The pattern for spinning off new funds had been set.</div>
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When Quantum's next distribution of dollars 1.166m was made in February 1992, two further funds were launched: Quota and Quantum Emerging Growth.</div>
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Quota was different because it would be managed entirely by outside advisers (but, of course, under SFM's overall direction).</div>
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Quantum Emerging Growth remained inside the SFM stable - but its performance fee was set at 20 per cent and also spawned a partnership arrangement similar to the Quasar operation. In effect, therefore, it too raised the stakes for the growing ranks of investors in what was by this stage fast becoming the Soros phenomenon.</div>
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This time, though, there was no discrepancy between the assets of Quantum transferred to the partnership and the new fund's equity stake, according to the accounts issued for the first 15 months to 31 March 1993.</div>
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During that period the 'selected persons' put some dollars 100m into the partnership. Their share rose from less than 5 per cent at the outset to 15 per cent at the end of the period. Their allocation of the dollars 40m in profits, generated by the premiums from dealings in the fund's shares, was dollars 4.7m.</div>
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As the fund's fortunes rocketed, self-restraint among its management seemed to wane. The 25 per cent restriction on the premium had long since disappeared.</div>
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Then it spawned two property funds, each with a high- profile partner.</div>
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One, Quantum Realty Trust, was with Paul Reichmann, whose Olympia & York operation had collapsed as a result of the financial drain of the Canary Wharf development in London's Docklands.</div>
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The other, Quantum UK Realty Fund, was with John Ritblat of British Land. Again, capital was provided partly out of distributions from Quantum and Quasar as well as by Mr Soros and his family, but also this time by other participants.</div>
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Although the structure of these new funds is highly complex, they are essentially closed- end operations. What may not have been noticed was that in June 1993 the directors of the open-ended flagship - the Quantum fund - removed an important investment restriction: a prohibition on direct investment in property.</div>
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Until the audited accounts for 1993 are available (they are expected to be out in May or June), investors will not know whether advantage has been taken of this change, or what effect it may have had on the liquidity of the fund.</div>
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Last year, <b>Quantum quietly transformed itself. On 1 August 'substantially all' of Quantum's assets and liabilities were transferred to a new Curacao partnership, Quantum Partners.</b></div>
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As with Quasar and Quantum Emerging Growth, the Quantum fund is not the only partner. 'Selected persons associated with SFM' - including SFM's managing directors - subscribed for 1.3 per cent of the new partnership's net equity.</div>
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In effect they were getting a share in Quantum without having to pay a premium. Already by the end of September their share of the net equity had risen to 1.9 per cent - dollars 78m - and, as with Quasar and Quantum Emerging, they would get a share of the net premiums made from dealings in the flagship fund.</div>
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Again, just how much this will be will not be known until the 1993 accounts are available. But in 1992 such dealings contributed dollars 68m towards the rise in the fund's net asset value.</div>
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Additionally, SFM's managing directors and 'trusts and charitable foundations created by them' have taken an insurance policy on the future of the fund. This comes in the form of dollars 220m of convertible debentures that pay 6 per cent a year and are convertible in 2003 into partnership shares at 120 per cent of their net asset value on the issue date. They may be worth considerably more than that by then.</div>
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In the great tidal wave of money into the Soros empire, which at the end of 1993 stood at dollars 4.9bn for Quantum alone and more than dollars 10bn for the whole group, there is another sum that may one day cause repercussions of its own: the size of the performance fee that SFM leaves in the fund. At the end of 1992, the latest reckoning available, that totalled nearly dollars 550m.</div>
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These deferred fees are so structured that they share in the appreciation of the fund, but investors are given no clear picture of when SFM can or will withdraw them.</div>
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It is curious that Mr Soros has not yet taken this money out, since it would be one way of reducing the size of the funds. But to take it out quickly now might suggest he was losing confidence in his own creation.</div>
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See full text in http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/lifting-the-lid-of-the-soros-money-machine-in-an-exclusive-journey-through-the-labyrinthine-empire-1427341.html</div>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-4210646901893822892016-05-05T14:50:00.000-07:002016-05-05T15:55:44.348-07:00Free Zone merchant and Balboa Bank in OFAC sanction listIn the next hours expect more news about one of the newcomer banks in the Panama financial system and the developer of the Soho shopping mall.<br />
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<b><i>Action Exposes Extensive Drug Money Laundering Network Based in Panama</i></b></div>
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<b style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; text-align: justify;">WASHINGTON</b><span style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; text-align: justify;"> – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; text-align: justify;">designated the Waked Money Laundering Organization (Waked MLO) and its leaders, Nidal Ahmed Waked Hatum (Waked Hatum) and Abdul Mohamed Waked Fares (Waked Fares), as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act). OFAC also targeted six Waked MLO associates and 68 companies tied to the drug money laundering network, including Grupo Wisa, S.A., Vida Panama (Zona Libre) S.A., and Balboa Bank & Trust. Panamanian-Colombian-Spanish national Waked Hatum and Panamanian-Lebanese-Colombian national Waked Fares co-lead the Waked MLO, which uses trade-based money laundering schemes, such as false commercial invoicing; bulk cash smuggling; and other money laundering methods, to launder drug proceeds on behalf of multiple international drug traffickers and their organizations. As a result of today’s action, all assets of these individuals and entities that are under the jurisdiction of the United States or in the control of U.S. persons are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.</span><br />
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“This action exposes the Waked Money Laundering Organization and disrupts its ability to launder drug trafficking proceeds using trade-based methods, duty-free retail, real estate development, and financial services throughout the region,” said John E. Smith, Acting OFAC Director. “We look forward to working jointly with the Panamanian authorities to protect the Panamanian and U.S. financial systems from abuse by narcotics traffickers and other illicit actors.”</div>
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In addition to the Waked MLO and its two leaders, the OFAC action designated six Panama-based MLO associates for providing material support and/or acting on behalf of the MLO: Gazy Waked Hatum, Ali Waked Hatum, and Jalal Waked Hatum, brothers of Waked Hatum who manage Waked Hatum’s import/export, retail, and real estate businesses; Mohamed Abdo Waked Darwich, Waked Fares’ son, who manages Waked Fares’ duty-free retail and real estate development operations; and two attorneys, Norman Douglas Castro Montoto and Lucia Touzard Romo, who provide a variety of services, including incorporating shell companies, to the Waked MLO and serve various roles in several Waked-related companies. </div>
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Today’s designations also target the principal Panama-based companies used by the Waked MLO to launder drug and other illicit proceeds: Vida Panama (Zona Libre) S.A., an import/export company in Panama’s Colon Free Trade Zone; Grupo Wisa S.A., a holding company for businesses involved in real estate, construction, retail, hospitality, and media, including the La Riviera chain of duty-free stores operating throughout Latin America; Soho Panama S.A. and related entities, including a luxury mall and real estate development in downtown Panama City; Balboa Bank & Trust, a Panamanian bank; and the Strategic Investors Group Inc., a holding company that owns and controls Balboa Bank & Trust as well as two other financial services companies. Balboa Bank & Trust was used to launder narcotics and other illicit proceeds for multiple international criminal organizations. </div>
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See full text in https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl0450.aspx<br />
See also Balboa Bank & Trust www.balboabanktrust.com<br />
Strategic Investors Group Inc. http://www.sigroup-inc.com<br />
Strategic Investors Group Inc. stock http://www.panabolsa.com/es/emisor/sigr/<br />
Grupo Wisa www.grupowisa.com<br />
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<b>Due to the negative effects of an OFAC listing, Balboa Bank & Trust was intervened by the Panama regulator as of 2:30 pm of May 5 for 30 days until June 5, subject to a 30-day extension.</b> The text in Spanish of the regulator notice is in</div>
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https://www.superbancos.gob.pa/superbancos/documentos/leyes_y_regulaciones/comunicados/2016/aviso7-2016.pdf </div>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-79511160642763297292016-05-05T13:31:00.001-07:002016-05-05T13:31:29.462-07:00May 9 is an important date if you are a Mossfon client<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) funded by George Soros will release on May 9 what they claim are the actual emails of the people behind offshore companies formed by Mossack Fonseca. More than 50% are not related to Panama companies, but <b>IBCs from BVI and Bahamas</b>, yet they are called the Panama Papers because they were formed by a law firm in Panama founded by a <b>lawyer born in Fürth, Germany</b>. None of the funds from the companies reported so far were kept in Panama banks - instead they were kept at <b>banks in Switzerland, Channel Islands and Hong Kong</b> who requested those companies for clients on whom presumably they conducted KYC due diligence searches. </div>
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None of that will matter because on May 9 the data base of all correspondence will be released, after being censored by ICIJ to make sure that no friends of its sponsors are disclosed (what they call "a careful release of basic corporate information"). Since ICIJ has threatened to release correspondence dating back to the formation of the firm in 1978, current and former clients should consult with legal counsel in their country about the consequences of this release.</div>
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The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists will release on May 9 a searchable database with information on more than 200,000 offshore entities that are part of the Panama Papers investigation.</div>
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The database will likely be the largest ever release of secret offshore companies and the people behind them.</div>
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The data comes from the <a href="https://www.xing.com/communities/posts/mossack-fonseca-group-a-large-firm-with-a-human-touch-1011057099" target="_blank">Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca</a>, one of the top players in the offshore world, and includes information about companies, trusts, foundations and funds incorporated in 21 tax havens, from Hong Kong to Nevada in the United States. It links to people in more than 200 countries and territories.</div>
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When the data is released, users will be able to search through the data and visualize the networks around thousands of offshore entities, including, when available, Mossack Fonseca’s internal records of the company’s true owners. The interactive database will also include information about more than 100,000 additional companies that were part of the 2013 ICIJ Offshore Leaks investigation.</div>
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While the database opens up a world that has never been revealed on such a massive scale, the application will not be a “data dump” of the original documents – it will be a careful release of basic corporate information.</div>
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See full text in www.icij.org.</div>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-66927080998751392192016-04-15T18:51:00.004-07:002016-04-15T18:51:50.586-07:00Soros And CIA Behind #PanamaPapers?<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">The journalist consortium responsible for the "Panama Papers" story is funded by the Ford Foundation and George Soros' Open Society Foundation. On April 5 show, researcher Leo Zagami breaks down how the "Panama Papers" could influence global politics. </span><br />
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-52389768085178250572016-04-13T10:40:00.000-07:002016-04-13T10:40:01.090-07:00Still waiting for #DelawarePapers and #Nevadapapers<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: LAHeadline, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 58px;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">For just $309, you too can hide your assets — in the U.S.</span></span></div>
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The website for Corporation Makers promises that owning a business can remain “your deep dark secret.”</div>
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“Do you wish to own land or other assets without anyone becoming aware of it?” it advertises.</div>
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Not a problem. All for as little as $309.</div>
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The pitch doesn’t rely on the loose rules of well-known offshore havens such as the Cayman Islands. It’s about Nevada.</div>
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Nevada is among a handful of U.S. states with liberal incorporation laws that offer many of the same benefits that have drawn business tycoons, politicians and money launderers from around the world to hide their wealth in exotic locales — a secret economy revealed this week in a series of reports based on leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm.</div>
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The so-called Panama Papers show how the firm Mossack Fonseca set up shell companies for the rich to shield their millions from the prying eyes of tax authorities and the public.</div>
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The firm’s most common destination was the British Virgin Islands, where it worked with more than 100,000 entities. But its seventh-most popular place to set up corporations — after island nations such as Seychelles — was Nevada, with more than 1,000 companies.</div>
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In pursuit of fees and other revenue, several U.S. states have competed with each other in recent decades to attract people from around the world starting businesses. The states promise minimal taxation and maximum legal protection and privacy, much like offshore tax havens.</div>
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“The mechanisms are pretty much the same here,” said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit in Washington. “<b>There’s nothing special happening in Panama. Panama is pretty much a microcosm of what the U.S. is a willing partner in</b>.”</div>
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Financial watchdog groups have dubbed the competition among states a “race to the bottom” that places the U.S. among the worst places in the world for corporate transparency.</div>
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“From the states' perspective, the end game is to raise revenue for the state by creaming off fees from large numbers of companies incorporating there — and the consequences be damned,” one such group, the Tax Justice Network, based in the United Kingdom, wrote in a 2015 report.</div>
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When John Cassara, a former special agent with the U.S. Department of the Treasury who investigated money laundering and fraud, was training foreign investigators, they would often ask about “this thing called Delaware.”</div>
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“You’ve heard the expression ‘follow the money’?” Cassara said. “Well, <b>when the money trail leads to a Delaware corporation, it is almost a dead end for law enforcement</b>.”</div>
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More than a century ago, Delaware sought to attract businesses by allowing companies to write governance rules that shielded management from liability and eliminated standard protections for shareholders.</div>
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Today, the state is the legal home to 1.1 million companies, 95% of which have their principal location in another state or country. Tens of thousands of businesses list the same Delaware addresses, home to their incorporating agents.</div>
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The businesses registered in Delaware include 65% of Fortune 500 companies.</div>
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But many more are limited liability corporations essentially unknown to all but the owners and their agents and lawyers, drawing enough criticism that the state maintains a “facts and myths” Web page.</div>
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“Delaware has a comprehensive statutory and regulatory regime to protect the public from improper behavior by business entities, just like other states,” it says.</div>
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State officials say that over the last decade or so they have cracked down on a variety of questionable practices, including the use of shelf corporations, or old shell companies that are sold to start-ups trying to pass themselves off as businesses established long ago.</div>
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Not in dispute are the benefits to <b>Delaware: corporate franchise taxes — the fees for maintaining a business — provide the state nearly $1 billion a year, or a quarter of its annual revenue</b>.</div>
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That success has drawn the attention of other states looking for sources of revenue.</div>
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In the 1980s, <b>Nevada began revamping its corporate laws to minimize liability for management.</b></div>
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<b>Among its biggest draws is secrecy.</b></div>
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<b>The state allows “nominees” to file company documents while the identities of the true owners remain hidden.</b></div>
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That is a key selling point for many incorporation companies that specialize in establishing businesses in Nevada.</div>
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A common practice is for a nominee to be “appointed in the morning,” file state paperwork by lunch, and then resign by dinner, according to the incorporation site www.Nevada123.com.</div>
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“The less the public knows about your affairs, the less engaged they can become,” the site says.</div>
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Nevada and other states say their rules are not meant to encourage illegal activity.</div>
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But secretive entities have long been used to move and hide money. <b>Hard-to-trace shell companies have served as fronts for controversial foreign buyers of top-end real estate in cities including New York and Miami.</b></div>
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<b>Federal rules have also allowed U.S. political donors to hide campaign contributions by donating to super PACs through limited liability corporations.</b></div>
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One prominent Republican donor, the gambling industry magnate Sheldon Adelson, tried to hide behind secrecy protections when he purchased the Las Vegas Review-Journal last year.</div>
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The company’s journalists were informed one day that their new owner was a company called the “News + Media Capital Group,” which had been recently incorporated in Delaware with “undisclosed financial backers with expertise in the media industry.”</div>
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Corporate documents listed Michael Schroeder, a Connecticut newspaper publisher, as the company’s manager but did not name the owner, whose identity was only revealed after the newsroom revolted and its reporters launched their own investigation.</div>
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Adelson had originally denied buying the paper.</div>
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Gardner, of the financial watchdog nonprofit, explained the cost of such secrecy: “There is a basic matter of democratic distrust when you don’t know who’s running things.”</div>
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Secrecy has been allowed to flourish in the U.S. even as the government tries to improve corporate transparency abroad in an effort to cut off funding for terrorism, drug trafficking and other illicit activity.</div>
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But pressure is building on federal and state officials to address corporate secrecy. This week, U.S. Treasury officials said they could soon issue a rule change that has been in the works to require banks and other financial institutions to obtain information about the owners of companies.</div>
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News reports about the Panama Papers this week have already put some state officials on the defensive, with some critics calling for federal requirements that states disclose businesses’ true owners.</div>
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Wyoming launched an audit Monday of 24 companies in the state linked to Mossack Fonseca and discovered they had failed to provide “required statutory information for performing the duties of a registered agent under Wyoming law.”</div>
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Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Murray promised to fight fraud and possibly seek changes in state law. At the same time, he defended the way Wyoming did business.</div>
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“I oppose a one-size-fits-all federal law mandating the dissolving of privacy protections,” he said in a statement. “We are not naive as to the importance of the release of these 'Panama Papers,' but we will not compromise the privacy of our customers.”</div>
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See full text and comments in http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-panama-papers-americans-20160407-story.html</div>
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-89637135280197405462016-04-12T13:57:00.003-07:002016-04-12T13:57:53.104-07:00#Panamapapers informant revealed by Financial Crime Blog<br />
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<span style="background-color: #bbbbbb; color: white; letter-spacing: 3px; margin: inherit; padding: 0.4em;">Saturday, April 9, 2016</span></h2>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="7686171826300586656"></a><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;">
PANAMA PAPERS INFORMANT FIRST SOUGHT TO SELL THE INFORMATION IN PANAMA</h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">The story of the informant (or informants) responsible for releasing the "Panama Papers" document to the global press is far more complex than the media is making it out to be. Mossack and Fonseca's description of the theft of the information, as a <b>cyber-hack, is simply not true</b>, as you know. Let's clear the air on the individuals known to be involved, especially since readers are now writing in, and asking me to identify the players.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">First of all, the original informant, as previously detailed in this blog, </span><b style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">was a receptionist at the Mossack law firm; she served as Ramón Fonseca's longtime mistress, and, of course, had access to the firm's email accounts. After the affair ended badly, she left the firm, taking with her a large number of emails and documents.</b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Thereafter, she attempted to vend her documents around Panama City, and did sell off small segments; this was back in 2008 and 2009, a fact that seems to have escaped most of the published stories purporting to report on the facts, which made it appear that this all occurred only one year ago. Some of her documents did find their way into the hands of US law enforcement agencies, leading to speculation that the information may have been responsible for subsequent indictments of narcotics traffickers, the demise of HSBC, and the departure of Citibank from Panama.</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UVKzM_TiIWM/Vw1f7OYPO9I/AAAAAAAABtQ/d_F6VtnerDgLN8916tD-FEH2nqdZembHgCLcB/s1600/JahaIMG-20130509-00865.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UVKzM_TiIWM/Vw1f7OYPO9I/AAAAAAAABtQ/d_F6VtnerDgLN8916tD-FEH2nqdZembHgCLcB/s200/JahaIMG-20130509-00865.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"> Her name is <b>Jahaira M.</b>, for those who are still curious, though I have omitted her last name to spare her hundreds of hungry journalists appearing at her door tonight. The most recent action, regarding the documents, that I am aware of is a contact she had in Germany, which may explain the appearance of the documents first at Sueddeutsche Zeitung. She is believed to still reside in the Republic of Panama; That is why I chose a photo of her that preserves her privacy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Second, the sources may consist of more than one cooperating individual; we have previously covered the matter of the married Panamanian couple, he a wealth management officer at Mossack and Fonseca, she a former compliance officer there. It is not know whether he is still working there, so it is best that both of these individuals remain anonymous for now. I have deleted part of their last name; <b>Mr. & Mrs. San***z</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">They were active in what I can only describe as Panama's extreme nightlife scene, where my investigators first had contact with them; this was after Jahaira was hawking her emails and documents. The couple were also selling confidential MF documents, and again some found their way into the hands of US law enforcement, which probably contributed to subsequent arrests.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Therefore, we cannot say for certain that any one individual is the sole confidential informant that leaked the documents we now refer to as the "Panama Papers."</span></div>
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Full text in pictures in http://rijock.blogspot.ru/2016/04/panama-papers-informant-first-sought-to.html<br />
See also <a href="https://plus.google.com/111543974609245679145/about" target="_blank">Google+</a><br />
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|<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677704.post-91258606940163620032016-04-12T10:39:00.000-07:002016-04-15T18:53:33.325-07:00John McAfee Exposes The Panama Papers Hoax<br />
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Libertarian Presidential candidate John McAfee joins the show to break down the real details surrounding the Panama Papers
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