Links Oct 9

A Second Greek Man On 'The Lagarde List' Has Been Found Dead Business Insider
Oct 6 - "The so-called "Lagarde List" –  the name given by the Greek press to a list containing 1,991 names of wealthy, Swiss-bank-account-possessing Greeks who are being investigated for corruption and tax evasion – is causing a major stir in Greece right now. Since Friday, two men suspected to be on the list have turned up dead in apparent suicides."

Crown Dependencies To Strike FATCA Deals With US Tax-News
Oct 9 - "The governments of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man have simultaneously announced that they are seeking to negotiate partnership agreements with the United States to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)." See also: Jersey trumpets its cooperation on tax with the USA whilst refusing the most basic information exchange with the UK.

U.S.: It's time to eliminate anonymous shell companies Thomson Reuters
Oct 9 - Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, calling for Congress to pass the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act. -"...my office, time and time again, finds its criminal investigations thwarted by an absurd system of secrecy whereby criminals can hide their money without even breaking a sweat -- or the law. Welcome to the bizarre world of anonymous shell corporations."

U.S: SEC Probes Pfizer Domestic & Overseas Reporting Pharmalot
Oct 8 - "Pfizer is also among the companies that have lobbied lawmakers for a tax holiday that would allow it to bring some of the overseas profit back to the country at a lower tax rate. Although Pfizer has been criticized for repatriating offshore earnings and retaining those savings, while also laying off large number of employees. The Institute for Policy Studies finds the 2004 tax holiday enabled 843 companies to reduce tax rates from 35 percent to just over 5 percent."

The Black Sea Economic Cooperation Tax Forum 4 - traders
Sep 27 - "The First Annual Meeting of the BSEC Tax Forum will be hosted by the Ministry of Finance of Turkey in Antalya, Turkey, during November 20-23, 2012. The forum aims to gather the Finance Ministers of the region as well as tax experts, academia and representatives from international organizations."

Turkey: Fleeing abroad may no longer save tax evaders, says new code Hurriyet
Oct 9 - "The Turkish government has submitted a draft code to Parliament that would allow the pursuit of tax evaders in foreign countries."

Germany to negotiate deal with Singapore against tax evasion Reuters
Oct 6 - "Germany will start talks with Singapore next week on a deal to prevent its citizens from evading taxes by shifting their money to the Asian state ... there are signs German tax dodgers are shifting funds to Singapore from Switzerland"

Swiss Target Commodities Secrets Risking $21 Billion Hegemony Bloomberg
Oct 8 - "Vitol SA, one of the world’s biggest oil traders, is being enticed from its Geneva base by Dubai and Singapore as Switzerland considers scrapping policies that made the country a global center for commodities ... While Vitol, Glencore International Plc (GLEN) and Trafigura Beheer BV surpass Nestle SA as the biggest Swiss companies by sales, politicians are concerned a lack of industry regulation may hurt a nation struggling to find a response to a global crackdown on tax evasion."

How do we know New Zealand is a tax haven? The answer is on the web Tax Research UK
Oct 9 - Richard Murphy comments on a story linked yesterday.