Just when Mr. T thought that the fuss over Singapore as a tax haven would just die quietly and leave him alone, the US Tax Justice Network makes him work hard for his money by, yet again, raising Singapore’s world-class ranking for promoting financial secrecy that is culpable for illicit fund flows:
From FT “Leading economies blamed for fiscal secrecy”:
Leading economic centres including the US, UK and Singapore are among the countries most to blame for promoting international financial secrecy, according to a new index comparing the harm allegedly done by tax havens and rich nations.
The research – which comes ahead of the Group of 20 finance ministers’ meeting in Scotland next week – is an unusual attempt to measure whether powerful countries are as culpable over illicit fund flows as the offshore centres they have attacked since the financial crisis.
John Christensen, Tax Justice Network director, said the index outlined “a much more intricate story than has been told in the past about how financial markets have secrecy at their core”.
He said: “We like to think that liberalised financial markets are transparent. But when you dig deep into their arrangements, you find transparency is something of a chimera.”
The rankings are made by giving each of 60 onshore and offshore financial centres an “opacity score”, which is then weighted according to the jurisdiction’s significance in the world financial system.
The tax havens hardly escape unscathed, with hedge fund centre Cayman ranked fourth and Bermuda, a leading base for insurers, coming in seventh. European nations fare badly, with Belgium and Ireland making it five entries for the Continent in the top 10.
Singapore’s eighth place reflects longstanding criticism from overseas investigators, who allege it is uncooperative despite its highly sophisticated financial system.
The question of the degree of blame attached to rich nations and tax havens for failings in financial transparency has become highly political in the wake of the credit crunch.
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