Links - 16-19th July 2012

Reuters – 16 July 2012

Idle Corporate Cash Piles Up

Hoarded wealth adds up to a figure three times larger than estimated, provides a plump cushion for CEOs should economies belly-up, meanwhile there are fewer jobs, lower wages and less demand, meaning profit is all quietly shuffled offshore, and not being used to stimulate the economy.  Read David Cay Johnston's column here

Business News Europe – 18 July 2012

A UN Security Council report alleges that UK shell companies have acted as ‘middle-men’ for Ukrainian arms-dealers to sell technology abroad, namely Eritrea and Somalia, providing damning evidence of Ukraine's role as a recurrent arm’s sanction infringer, and the UK’s reputation as a no-questions-asked jurisdiction.  Read the article here.

NYU School of Law – Spring 2011

Unintended Consequences: How US Tax Law Encourages Investment in Offshore Tax Havens

A report released early last year focusing on how the loopholes in the American tax system have encouraged the wealthy to exploit them and move their money offshore.

Media Part – 14 July 2012

A reflection on the Swiss media's far from happy record in covering the Rudolf Elmer affair.  Elmer blew the whistle on his former bank Julius Bauer after revealing systematic complacency and active complicity with tax evasion and fraud in connection to the Cayman Islands.  Was the Swiss press complicit with the Swiss state and the banking industry (a major source of advertising revenue) in portraying Elmer as a traitor, a thief and a blackmailer. Read the full article by Mehdi Taïleb of Liberté.

LA Times - 19 July 2012

Bain Capital started with help of offshore investors

When Mitt Romney launched Bain Capital he struggled to raise capital from conventional sources, so he looked elsewhere, including offshore, to attract wealthy foreigners, who mostly used companies in the secrecy jurisdiction of Panama, known for taax evasion and banking secrecy.  The LA Times reports.