Why Panama Remains a Money Laundering Haven

[Disir]

Panama has made some key moves in order to get itself removed from the international "grey list" of nations that aren't doing enough to fight money laundering, but these efforts may yet fall short.

The grey list is maintained by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that promotes anti-money laundering policies. Panama has been on the list since June 2014, alongside other countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, and Syria.

Panama developed an action plan with the FATF in order to remove this designation, which included a legislative proposal meant to strengthen government supervision over the financial sector. However, talks between the FATF and Panama have run into trouble lately.

One of the main sticking points in these ongoing negotiations has been Panama's limited regulation of bearer shares. These are equity securities that are exclusively owned by whoever physically possesses them. Bearer shares are also highly vulnerable to money laundering, as those who issue them don't keep records of the buyers, and selling them is as easy as delivering a piece of paper to someone else.

No one keeps tracks of this buying and selling process, which makes it extremely difficult to determine who owns the share.Before Congress passed reforms earlier this year, Panamanian law made it even more difficult, as the original owner of the bearer share was not required under any circumstance to turn it over to an authorized custodian such as a bank or an attorney.
Why Panama Remains a Money Laundering Haven

Those corporations are very easy to set up.

 

[Unkotare]

Panama is loaded with families who had to get the hell out of the socialist nightmare Venezuela has become.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - this story gonna have legs...

Panama Papers vs NSA: How big is the latest leak?
April 4, 2016 - The Panama Papers created a global stir, not only for detailing how rich and powerful people hide their wealth, but for the sheer size of the data involved. But is it, as Edward Snowden claims, bigger than his leaked NSA data? And how does it compare to the fallout from U.S. diplomatic information released by Chelsea Manning via WikiLeaks?

SIZE

According to German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, which first shared news of the Panama Papers, the leak consisted of 11.5 million documents, including 4.8 million emails. That compares to about 1.7 million documents taken by Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked details of the organization's surveillance efforts. The NSA release amounted to just 15% the number of documents involved in the Panama Papers investigation. Snowden himself noted on Twitter the Panama Papers represent "the biggest leak in the history of data journalism."

Biggest leak in the history of data journalism just went live, and it's about corruption. https://t.co/dYNjD6eIeZpic.twitter.com/638aIu8oSU
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 3, 2016

Data size was also massive. Suddeutsche Zeitung received a jaw-dropping 2.6 terabytes of data (1 terabyte is equal to 1,000 gigabytes). The 2010 leak of diplomatic cables through WikiLeaks, the organization led by Julian Assange, was the equivalent of 1.7 GB of data, in contrast.

SCOPE

According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, who partnered with Suddeutsche Zeitung to release the Panama Papers, the data is connected to people in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Offshore holdings of 140 politicians and public officials were revealed, including 12 current and former world leaders. Among them: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iceland's Prime Minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson.

In 2010, roughly 250,000 diplomatic cables and documents were shared on WikiLeaks by anonymous sources. The cables were sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 embassies and consulates worldwide. The cables revealed the State Department asked diplomats to collect personal information, including credit card numbers and Internet passwords. The NSA leak involved the collection of phone and Internet records of millions of Americans. As The Guardian reported in 2013, a classified document showed the NSA collected 3 billion pieces of intelligence from computer networks in the U.S. in one month.

IMPACT

See also:

Five key figures implicated in the 'Panama Papers' scandal
April 4, 2016 - Protesters in front of the Icelandic Parliament call for the resignation of Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson

The story starts with a Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca, which sets up shell companies in offshore tax havens to protect the global elite. After an anonymous insider leaked a vast trove of the firm’s documents to a German newspaper more than a year ago, hundreds of journalists from dozens of news outlets in more than 80 countries teamed up to investigate how the world’s rich and famous – as well as the infamous – move their money around and hide their wealth. The leaked files are called the “Panama Papers.” And the first round of stories published this weekend has already rattled governments and public figures around the world, with the news outlets led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists promising more to come. Here’s a look at some of the most prominent world figures who have been implicated so far.
Russian President Vladimir Putin

Putin’s name reportedly does not appear in the 2.6 terabytes of data leaked from Mossack Fonseca, which has branches around the world. But there’s another name that does: one of Putin’s closest friends, Sergei Roldugin, a 64-year-old cellist who has somehow amassed $100 million through three offshore companies that list him as owner. The leaked files suggest that Roldugin is not keeping this wealth for himself, but is funneling the money to Putin's inner circle. The Guardian reports that Putin is at the center of a network of $2 billion in offshore deals and loans, with Putin’s friends and associates, including Roldugin, earning “millions from deals that seemingly could not have been secured without his patronage.”

The transactions, the Guardian reports, “include apparently fake share deals, with shares ‘traded’ retrospectively; multimillion-dollar charges for vague ‘consultancy’ services; and repeated payments of large sums in ‘compensation’ for allegedly canceled share deals.” Roldugin declined to comment about the transactions when approached by an investigative journalist after a concert in Moscow in March, saying he was “afraid to be interviewed,” and adding: “Where's the money from? Whose [money is it]? I know all that. These are delicate matters.” Russian government officials criticized the Panama Papers reports as being part of an anti-Russia conspiracy. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the reports “lack details” and are “based on arguments and speculations.”

Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson

 

[Bleipriester]

The leak is limited to Putin, according to "The Guardian", who shares exclusive access with other British newspapers.
Stunning: Western propaganda puppet media is pointing at Putin all day, despite he is not even mentioned in the leak.
The group providing the data intended to expose the role of various western companies and moneybags in hiding their money in Panama. Russian figures constitute only a tiny fraction of the leak and Putin plays no role in it at all.
Nevertheless, drooling "journalists", the willing stooges of western regimes, create anti-Putin propaganda using the leak and cover up the leak´s core: Western companies.

 

[waltky]

Putin rejects Panama Papers allegations...

Panama Papers Continue to Shake Leaders Worldwide, Including Cameron and Putin
APRIL 7, 2016 — The reverberations from a leaked trove of Panamanian documents rippled through several nations on Thursday, with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia calling the exposure of a proliferation of shell companies and tax havens an American plot, while Iceland picked a new prime minister and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain admitted that he had profited from an offshore trust.

After days of contention, Mr. Cameron admitted that he had earned money through an offshore trust established by his late father, who was named as a client of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of the documents known as the Panama Papers. Mr. Cameron told ITV News that he and his wife, Samantha, owned shares in Blairmore investment trust, before selling them for about £30,000, or $42,160, in 2010, the year he became prime minister. The dividends were taxed, Mr. Cameron said, adding that he had never tried to hide the fact that his parents were wealthy. He had, however, been on the defensive over the issue since Monday, when his office initially described the question of his investments as a “private matter.”

The Panama Papers were also embarrassing for Mr. Cameron because they identified the British Virgin Islands, an overseas territory of Britain, as a major center of offshore activity. That prompted critics to call into question Mr. Cameron’s claims to be leading the international fight against tax evasion. “David Cameron, who described the use of complex tax avoidance schemes as ‘morally wrong,’ has been forced to admit that he held shares in a fund now linked to tax avoidance,” said Tom Watson, the deputy leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party.

In Moscow, Mr. Putin dismissed reports based on the legal documents, which showed that some of his close associates had moved about $2 billion through offshore accounts, calling the accusations an American plot to try to destabilize Russia. Mr. Putin, in his first public remarks on the subject, noted that none of the accusations were aimed at him directly, because he was not named in the papers, even if the international coverage has focused on him. “Your humble servant is not there; there is nothing to talk about,” he said at a public forum for regional journalists in St. Petersburg that was broadcast live by state-run television.

Mr. Putin also defended the cellist Sergei P. Roldugin, an old, close friend who was named in the leaked papers. Mr. Roldugin was at the center of a scheme to hide money from Russian state banks, the reports said. Mr. Putin said that Mr. Roldugin had tried his hand at business to support his love of music. “He is a minority shareholder in one of our companies and makes some money out of it, but not billions of dollars, of course,” Mr. Putin said. “That is nonsense.” Mr. Roldugin used the money to import musical instruments, Mr. Putin said. “Almost all the money he earned he spent on musical instruments that he bought abroad,” he said, adding that Mr. Roldugin recently began donating the instruments to government institutions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/08/world/europe/vladimir-putin-panama-papers-american-plot.html

See also:

Panama Papers: Putin rejects corruption allegations
Thu, 07 Apr 2016 - President Putin denies "any element of corruption" over the Panama Papers leaks, and says his opponents are trying to destabilise Russia.

President Putin has denied "any element of corruption" over the Panama Papers leaks, saying his opponents are trying to destabilise Russia. Mr Putin was speaking for the first time since the leak of millions of confidential documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. The papers revealed a number of offshore companies owned by close associates of Mr Putin. They suggest the companies may have been used for money laundering.

Putin friend in 'money laundering ring'

Mr Putin, speaking live on TV, said Russia's Western opponents "are worried by the unity and solidarity of the Russian nation... and that is why they are attempting to rock us from within, to make us more obedient". He said that because they could not find Mr Putin in the Panama papers "they've made an information product". "They've found a few of my acquaintances and friends... and scraped up something from there and stuck it together." He referred to Wikileaks tweets which accused US government organisations - the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and USAid - of producing and funding "the #PanamaPapers attack on Putin".

The OCCRP was among a network of 107 organisations - including the BBC - which received the documents from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The papers name Mr Putin's long-time friend and godfather to his daughter, the cellist Sergei Roldugin, as the owner of two offshore firms, International Media Overseas and Sonnette Overseas. According to the papers, the firms were involved in a number of suspicious deals, including one in which International Media Overseas received a loan of $6m (£4.2m) in 2007, which was written off three months later for just $1.

Mr Roldugin has not yet publicly commented on the allegations. Mr Putin did not go into the details of allegations against Mr Roldugin or other Russian offshore interests, but he praised his friend. He said he was proud of people like Mr Roldugin, who he said had spent nearly all the money he had earned on musical instruments and donated money to state institutions.

More on the Panama Papers

 

[WheelieAddict]

Sanders was right again as usual. "New Democrat" Hillary endorsed it of course.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Panama has made some key moves in order to get itself removed from the international "grey list" of nations that aren't doing enough to fight money laundering, but these efforts may yet fall short.

The grey list is maintained by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that promotes anti-money laundering policies. Panama has been on the list since June 2014, alongside other countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, and Syria.

Panama developed an action plan with the FATF in order to remove this designation, which included a legislative proposal meant to strengthen government supervision over the financial sector. However, talks between the FATF and Panama have run into trouble lately.

One of the main sticking points in these ongoing negotiations has been Panama's limited regulation of bearer shares. These are equity securities that are exclusively owned by whoever physically possesses them. Bearer shares are also highly vulnerable to money laundering, as those who issue them don't keep records of the buyers, and selling them is as easy as delivering a piece of paper to someone else.

No one keeps tracks of this buying and selling process, which makes it extremely difficult to determine who owns the share.Before Congress passed reforms earlier this year, Panamanian law made it even more difficult, as the original owner of the bearer share was not required under any circumstance to turn it over to an authorized custodian such as a bank or an attorney.
Why Panama Remains a Money Laundering Haven

Those corporations are very easy to set up.

Is this how the right want things to be? Lacking government regulation?

 

[WheelieAddict]

Panama has made some key moves in order to get itself removed from the international "grey list" of nations that aren't doing enough to fight money laundering, but these efforts may yet fall short.

The grey list is maintained by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that promotes anti-money laundering policies. Panama has been on the list since June 2014, alongside other countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, and Syria.

Panama developed an action plan with the FATF in order to remove this designation, which included a legislative proposal meant to strengthen government supervision over the financial sector. However, talks between the FATF and Panama have run into trouble lately.

One of the main sticking points in these ongoing negotiations has been Panama's limited regulation of bearer shares. These are equity securities that are exclusively owned by whoever physically possesses them. Bearer shares are also highly vulnerable to money laundering, as those who issue them don't keep records of the buyers, and selling them is as easy as delivering a piece of paper to someone else.

No one keeps tracks of this buying and selling process, which makes it extremely difficult to determine who owns the share.Before Congress passed reforms earlier this year, Panamanian law made it even more difficult, as the original owner of the bearer share was not required under any circumstance to turn it over to an authorized custodian such as a bank or an attorney.
Why Panama Remains a Money Laundering Haven

Those corporations are very easy to set up.

Is this how the right want things to be? Lacking government regulation?

It's not just the right.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Panama has made some key moves in order to get itself removed from the international "grey list" of nations that aren't doing enough to fight money laundering, but these efforts may yet fall short.

The grey list is maintained by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that promotes anti-money laundering policies. Panama has been on the list since June 2014, alongside other countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, and Syria.

Panama developed an action plan with the FATF in order to remove this designation, which included a legislative proposal meant to strengthen government supervision over the financial sector. However, talks between the FATF and Panama have run into trouble lately.

One of the main sticking points in these ongoing negotiations has been Panama's limited regulation of bearer shares. These are equity securities that are exclusively owned by whoever physically possesses them. Bearer shares are also highly vulnerable to money laundering, as those who issue them don't keep records of the buyers, and selling them is as easy as delivering a piece of paper to someone else.

No one keeps tracks of this buying and selling process, which makes it extremely difficult to determine who owns the share.Before Congress passed reforms earlier this year, Panamanian law made it even more difficult, as the original owner of the bearer share was not required under any circumstance to turn it over to an authorized custodian such as a bank or an attorney.
Why Panama Remains a Money Laundering Haven

Those corporations are very easy to set up.

Is this how the right want things to be? Lacking government regulation?

It's not just the right.

No, mostly the right. Anarchists too would like this.

 

[WheelieAddict]

Panama has made some key moves in order to get itself removed from the international "grey list" of nations that aren't doing enough to fight money laundering, but these efforts may yet fall short.

The grey list is maintained by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that promotes anti-money laundering policies. Panama has been on the list since June 2014, alongside other countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, and Syria.

Panama developed an action plan with the FATF in order to remove this designation, which included a legislative proposal meant to strengthen government supervision over the financial sector. However, talks between the FATF and Panama have run into trouble lately.

One of the main sticking points in these ongoing negotiations has been Panama's limited regulation of bearer shares. These are equity securities that are exclusively owned by whoever physically possesses them. Bearer shares are also highly vulnerable to money laundering, as those who issue them don't keep records of the buyers, and selling them is as easy as delivering a piece of paper to someone else.

No one keeps tracks of this buying and selling process, which makes it extremely difficult to determine who owns the share.Before Congress passed reforms earlier this year, Panamanian law made it even more difficult, as the original owner of the bearer share was not required under any circumstance to turn it over to an authorized custodian such as a bank or an attorney.
Why Panama Remains a Money Laundering Haven

Those corporations are very easy to set up.

Is this how the right want things to be? Lacking government regulation?

It's not just the right.

No, mostly the right. Anarchists too would like this.

Third Way - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William K. Black said that "Third Way is this group that pretends sometimes to be center-left but is actually completely a creation of Wall Street--it's run by Wall Street for Wall Street with this false flag operation as if it were a center-left group. It's nothing of the sort

 

[percysunshine]

Panama has made some key moves in order to get itself removed from the international "grey list" of nations that aren't doing enough to fight money laundering, but these efforts may yet fall short.

The grey list is maintained by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that promotes anti-money laundering policies. Panama has been on the list since June 2014, alongside other countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, and Syria.

Panama developed an action plan with the FATF in order to remove this designation, which included a legislative proposal meant to strengthen government supervision over the financial sector. However, talks between the FATF and Panama have run into trouble lately.

One of the main sticking points in these ongoing negotiations has been Panama's limited regulation of bearer shares. These are equity securities that are exclusively owned by whoever physically possesses them. Bearer shares are also highly vulnerable to money laundering, as those who issue them don't keep records of the buyers, and selling them is as easy as delivering a piece of paper to someone else.

No one keeps tracks of this buying and selling process, which makes it extremely difficult to determine who owns the share.Before Congress passed reforms earlier this year, Panamanian law made it even more difficult, as the original owner of the bearer share was not required under any circumstance to turn it over to an authorized custodian such as a bank or an attorney.
Why Panama Remains a Money Laundering Haven

Those corporations are very easy to set up.

"These are equity securities that are exclusively owned by whoever physically possesses them.Bearer shares are also highly vulnerable to money laundering, as those who issue them don't keep records of the buyers, and selling them is as easy as delivering a piece of paper to someone else.

So, like $100 bills, except in higher denominations.