Panama Papers reveal London as centre of 'spider's web'

[MowCowWhoHow III]

Source: AFP

London (AFP) - As-well as shining a spotlight on the secret financial arrangements of the rich and powerful, the so-called Panama Papers have laid bare London's role as a vital organ of the world's tax-haven network.

The files leaked from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca exposed Britain's link to thousands of firms based in tax havens and how secret money is invested in British assets, particularly London property.

Critics accuse British authorities of turning a blind eye to the inflow of suspect money and of being too close to the financial sector to clamp down on the use of its overseas territories as havens, with the British Virgin Islands alone hosting 110,000 of the Mossack Fonseca's clients.

"London is the epicentre of so much of the sleaze that happens in the world," Nicholas Shaxson, author of the book "Treasure Islands", which examines the role of offshore banks and tax havens, told AFP.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/panama-papers-reveal-london-centre-spiders-173713142.html

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Love it when the snobish Brits are exposed.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. They let go of their empires, but never lost their networks, connections or influence.

[Baobab]

8. Blaming Brits- I get it- They just learned to hide them deeper. I am sure its the same for the US

Now we call it neoliberalism, and the man at the center of neoliberalism to many is Bill Clinton.

[Baitball Blogger]

11. Corruption that succeeds grows legs.

[Wellstone ruled]

16. When it comes to finance,

the Brits created the modern day financial system as we know it. Give them Credit,they tend to do the best job of exploiting their own rules.

[Hortensis]

27. Yep. Foreign Policy has a good article on Britain's

role in this, "Britain’s Empire of Tax Evasion: The “Panama Papers” show that the sun never sets on the United Kingdom’s tax havens."

There are, you see, a few important facts we are rarely told about the British state. Like, for instance, the fact that it governs more land in the Southern Hemisphere than the Northern; more penguins than any other; that there are 18 legislatures under Westminster’s auspices; and that these include the governments that oversee by far the most important network of tax havens in the world.

With the City of London at its center, Britain’s network of refuges from taxes, regulations, and other pesky laws stretches first to the crown dependencies — the Isle of Man, Guernsey, and Jersey — and then into the 14 British overseas territories: places like the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands. From there, this web extends to places like Hong Kong, not under British rule since 1997 but, according to author Nicholas Shaxson, still feeding “billions in business to the City.”

The overseas territories — the last vestiges of the old empire — each have slightly different political structures, but all of them have a governor figure, appointed by the British government. All of them hand control of their foreign policy over to Westminster, and all of them depend on the motherland for military protection: The Falklands War is an obvious example, but let’s not forget that when Tony Blair famously claimed Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction capable of reaching British military targets within 45 minutes, he was referring not to London, but to Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Britain’s military bases and overseas territory on Cyprus. Akrotiri and Dhekelia still serve a strategic purpose, which make them the exception; most of the overseas territories have evolved into, essentially, parking lots for the wealth of the .01 percent.

Want to understand how things on the edges got so bad? Look to the center: The City of London itself is even older than the empire. The 1.12 square miles that make up London’s financial center have had their own constitutional arrangements for a millennium. (As Shaxson notes, it’s said that William the Conqueror allowed the City to keep its “ancient rights” in 1067, as he trashed the rest of the country.) Today, those square miles are governed by the City of London Corporation, whose representatives are elected by the businesses that operate there, and they have an unelected representative who sits in Parliament, as well as their own police force, which has been remarkably unsuccessful in policing British banks.

Because having its own built-in constitutional protections wasn’t sufficient, in 2010, the City paid for more than half of the Conservative Party’s election campaign, ensuring Cameron’s narrow victory (along with the aforementioned Lord Ashcroft) and that any significant new regulations on finance after the 2008 crisis would be politically impossible.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/04/04/britains-empire-of-tax-evasion-panama-papers-mossack-fonseca/

[Wellstone ruled]

30. Amazing how few really

know or understand how the real World works. And the blame lies at the feet of our failing Educational System.

Thanks for posting your thread,should be mandatory reading for everyone on DU. So many books written about the Brits Banking System and their dominance of World Banking and how they protect their dominance against threats from the likes of New York City Banks or Israel.

[Hortensis]

31. So true. Foreign Policy is another good journal that

has free emails that provide links to more articles than non-subscribers are allowed to read from the site itself -- or at least that's the way it was when I signed up for the emails. In any case, a really good deal.

But let's put the blame for profoundly irresponsible ignorance squarely on those of the working citizenry who are capable of understanding public issues when they are explained well, probably 2/3, but can't be bothered to read anything more serious than popular novels, if those.

We're talking about adults here, virtually all of whom attending school for 12 years or more, but over 50% of our populace cannot read at Foreign Affairs level. The more proficient ones could get through an article if they had to, but it'd be slow and difficult.

For most of us, this isn't because schools don't teach. Experts estimate that large numbers of high school graduates lose around 5 YEARS of reading level as adults because they read as little as possible. So if someone at 18 read at 11th grade level, at 30 he's more like 6th grade.

Many who may be fine responsible people in other ways, closer to home, literally have no idea which party has a majority in Congress and can't name even two of its major functions, or even what the three branches of the federal government are, but not because they weren't taught it in school. A few years into adulthood, if that, they are genuinely far too ignorant to know who their enemies are or even what to fight for, suckers just begging to be suckered.

[Wellstone ruled]

32. Same can be said for the loss

of Math skills. And yes,the blame should be put on many Parents who just do not want to get involved. Well,when they get that phone call from the local Police Department,and when they get done moaning about their Jane or John could not do that,then and only then is it to late.

Ignorance is Bliss and you can not cure Stupid.

If you were in Public Education in Wisconsin,you had a year long Civics Class in Eighth Grade,with Walker's hatchet job on the Schools,who knows what is left.

[Hortensis]

33. Why do I doubt Scott Walker would want

schools teaching proper citizen responsibility and empowerment? Duty, yes, but not duty to monitor what public officials do with their power.

I remember two new-HS-grad California girls who were stopped outside the school and asked how many Senators California had, and neither knew. They were taught this stuff in elementary, junior high, and recently in high school, and I felt sure they must have been reflecting, at base, parental attitudes toward this kind of knowledge, and possibly parental genetics.

You can't cure stupid, all right, and part of that is the problem of developing intellectual curiosity and a yearning for knowledge in people lacking both. It took me some decades, but I finally understood that many people can be intensely interested and involved in their own personal world of family, friends, community and have little real interest in the outside and outsiders.

[Wellstone ruled]

35. This whole dumbing down of Education

seemed to start in the Sixties and going forward there just seemed to be a layer effect. Simply adding layers of dumb.

Seems Prop 13 in California was the go to method used to accomplish the Libertarian goals of a two class society. Now we see the end results. Self defeating,yes.

[Hortensis]

36. TheAtlantic: "Geography of Financial Security"

Back from an early weekend. Another good one.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/04/panama-papers-tax-havens-world/477042/

[JDPriestly]

2. These idiots invest in extremely overpriced properties around the world while the poor

lack clean water (think Flint) and our environment is under attack.

And I bet you they all think of themselves as refined and well educated.

They can't see beyond their noses. What good is all that refinement and education?

Money is not something you have. It is something you use. And if you use it to improve the world, you are using it wisely.

[Depaysement]

28. +1

Good stuff.

[Warpy]

3. London has been a cushy place for billionaires for a long time

There are quite a few stories about it from the BBC over at You Tube. They've been pretty enlightening.

London is beginning to die much the same way San Francisco is, it's becoming a ghost town of mansions in the tonier areas snapped up for investments and everybody else having to scramble for inflated rentals.

One interesting side effect is here:

It's long but delivers equal parts hilarity and fury.

[Zira]

12. I enjoyed that. Thanks for posting it.

It was only 47min even though it said 1:20 mins.

[Javaman]

5. Upper-Class Twit of the Year

[Zira]

6. Now if we could get Trump's kids who hunt on the endangered species list to play that game.

[Octafish]

23. Panama Papers: scary revelations for HSBC

Banksters have bought London and Washington and a whole lot of other towns, too. Thanks to the Internet, McClatchy and ICIJ, they haven't bought the Truth.

Panama Papers: scary revelations for HSBC

HARRY WILSON
THE TIMES, APRIL 6, 2016 12:44PM

EXCERPT...

The censure dealt out to HSBC was far from over, as a drip feed of revelations about its role in mass tax avoidance burst open early last year with the publication of embarrassing details of how its Swiss private bank had helped rich clients to move their money beyond the reaches of the taxman.

As if this were not bad enough, among the individuals named in those leaks was Stuart Gulliver, the bank’s chief executive, who was found to have moved millions of pounds in bonus payments from Hong Kong, where he was working at the time he received the money, via Panama to a Swiss account.

Yet all this may end up as small beer compared with what Mossack Fonseca promises. Already the documents leaked show that HSBC and its affiliates were the Panamanian law firm’s biggest banking clients, ordering the creation of more than 2000 offshore companies on behalf of the bank’s customers.

Yesterday brought even more serious accusations: namely that HSBC had lobbied on behalf of Rami Makhlouf, the billionaire cousin of President Assad, to keep his Swiss accounts open even as the Syrian civil war cost the lives of thousands. A 2011 Mossack Fonseca email from a Geneva-based employee describes a conversation in which the firm was told that HSBC “are comfortable with him (Mr Makhlouf)”.

In another email from February 2011, Chris Zollinger, a partner at Mossack Fonseca, wrote: “From my part - if HSBC Head Quarters in England - do not have an issue with the client, then I think we can also accept him.”

CONTINUED...

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/panama-papers-scary-revelations-for-hsbc/news-story/c2172492a6a130c3eda6dca1c7dd38c1

PS: Sorry to read that you were ripped off by the banksters, silvershadow. May the day come when Justice is restored and you and all who have been hurt are compensated by these criminals.

[silvershadow]

24. Thanks, Octafish. I will never be compensated. I have moved on with my life, but will never

let anyone forget. The day HSBC is either charged with crimes or sent to receivership, I will dance on their graves.

Great article.

Peace.

[MisterP]

9. the kingpins' money launderer works with the kingpins' banks! who'da thought!

[closeupready]

10. Not really a surprise to those who have been paying close attention.

I realize offshore banking is kind of a snoozy topic to most people.

[Xolodno]

13. You know...I've been wondering for awhile where the new "hideout" was...

...Obviously with Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands outed, another country had to fill the vacuum. 10 bucks says Paraguay is another haven.

[Jemmons]

14. Looking to open your first offshore bank account without the hassles?

Or do you need another account for yourself or your business?
Banking offshore gives you amazing benefits: diversification, privacy, asset protection, low taxes... even higher interest rates.
But finding the perfect bank for your needs can be hard, and opening it can be harder, with many firms charging up to $1,000 just to do the paperwork for you.
That's why we wrote The Best Offshore Banks. It's brand new for 2016 and it takes all of the guess work out of banking offshore.

http://nomadcapitalist.com/shop/lp-offer-best-offshore-banks/

read ands puke...

[aggiesal]

17. Apparently a best seller in the UK. ...

Great commercial.

We'll get Rocky Mountain Mike, right on it.

His "Drone City" commercial, is still my favorite.
https://soundcloud.com/rockymountainmike/drone-city-1

[Xolodno]

20. Heh...that one is a scam.

On another web site they mention the 5 best.....and they are all countries being targeted by various government agencies around the world. These guys are targeting people who "came into money" and are paranoid...they make some money off of it, while the "target" is none the wiser.

Its the countries that "don't" attract any attention and have special "banks" unavailable to the general public.

I'm not wealthy by far, but having a talk with some right wing relatives who seemed to fall for the gold trap...they asked, "what would you do if the shit hit the fan and wanted to store and smuggle your wealth?" I told them I would do the same thing the Nazi's did, convert everything into gem stones. They are small, easy to hide and contain a significant store of value.

Try passing a suit case through an airport metal detector with gold, silver or platinum? And if you did, how does it not attract attention with significant weight? Plus exchanging a gem stone for cash is easier, to pass it off as a "gift" someone significant gave to you and showing remorse to lose it. A gold coin, even at a grand an ounce, isn't going to give you the store of value you need....drop a gold bar and suddenly word gets around you are dropping gold bars.

[SammyWinstonJack]

22. Wow.

[aggiesal]

15. Probably still has all ...

that Nazi fortune.

[SoapBox]

18. For years and years I've heard how

London is THE financial city of the World. Now we know why.

And not to mention how the airlines run flights between NYC and London like they are shuttles...gotta keep all the crooks connected.

[AtheistCrusader]

19. Makes sense. London is Old Money(TM) from the days when people in the west owned people.

[ConsiderThis_2016]

21. The J.P. Morgan & ...Morgan Stanley peeps...

...Did not originate in the Plymouth or Jamestown colonies. The and or... Our "Quasi-private" federal reserve often turns a blind eye to financial shenanigans, because like Hillary Clinton say... "They All Do It"! See AIG and the stories coming out of that country during the 2008 banking crisis as well as the "Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme days".

[PATRICK]

25. Listened to BBC radio

and the Consortium, which I used to visit online years ago, is extremely thorough and solid investigative reporting. Of course the media no more mentions them than the League on Concerned Scientists until something really blows up. They also questioned a corporate shill who gave what my departed father would call a very cute performance. He painted a rosy picture of due diligence as far as he experienced- which should reassure everyone, even as he admitted absolutely no blame for having so many dishonest clients.

Some have questioned why Iceland went after their guys. Well, they were not originally in the Consortium so had to be consulted about who and what it meant for them. They went to town on their much smaller local picture, so I'm supposing the actual Consortium knows very well it has to take a more "grind exceeding small" path with the bigger spider they know all too well.

The difference is they ran out of time shutting down the Internet in the prejudicial way to protect these very international interest and made the methodical reporting of the Consortium literally explode out of the tedious and easily ignored processes they have worked so hard at. If they harbor no favoritism to nations or persons they are a hundred times more dangerous than Wikileaks or Anonymous.
National heads are toppling as Trump makes headlines here for silliness.

[EdwardBernays]

26. LIBOR

Another British made scandal that almost destroyed the financial markets...

[Depaysement]

29. In other news

Water is wet.

[daleo]

34. Vancouver's housing market is stratospheric too

It's all out of proportion to the local economic base, and dominated by offshore money, especially from China. I wonder how much of that is tax evasion from China and other countries and/or drug money beiing laundered via real estate speculation?