David Cameron left dangerously exposed by Panama Papers fallout

[barryqwalsh]

David Cameron was left dangerously exposed on Tuesday after repeatedly failing to provide a clear and full account aboutlinks to an offshore fund set up by his late father, as the storm over the Panama Papers gathered strength in both the UK and elsewhere around the world.

The prime minister and his office have now offered three partial answers about the fund set up by his father Ian, which avoided ever paying tax in Britain. The key unanswered question is whether the prime minister’s family stands to gain in the future from his father’s company, Blairmore, an investment fund run from the Bahamas.


David Cameron left dangerously exposed by Panama Papers fallout

 

[waltky]

Heads begin to roll over Panama Papers...

Iceland’s Prime Minister Steps Down Amid Panama Papers Scandal
APRIL 5, 2016 — The prime minister of Iceland stepped down on Tuesday, according to his deputy, succumbing to political pressure two days after an enormous leak of documents from a secretive Panamanian law firm about offshore shell companies and tax shelters.

The prime minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, was the first prominent political casualty from the document leaks known as the Panama Papers, which have shed a harsh light on the private financial activities of many rich and powerful people. Officials around the world, from Europe to Asia to the Americas, were scrambling on Tuesday to contain the fallout — particularly in Britain, where Prime Minister David Cameron, who has portrayed himself as a champion of financial transparency, was battling revelations in the leaks that British-governed territories are vast havens of hidden wealth, including for members of his own family.

The leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, called for an independent investigation into the tax affairs of all Britons linked to the Panama revelations — including Mr. Cameron’s family — and for Britain to impose direct rule on its overseas territories and dependencies, if necessary, to get them to comply with British tax law. “The government needs to stop pussyfooting around on tax dodging,” Mr. Corbyn said. The news that Iceland’s prime minister would step aside caused celebration across the tiny island nation of 323,000, which is still recovering from the global financial crisis eight years ago.

But in a reflection of the political turmoil and maneuvering that the Panama Papers have created, the prime minister’s office issued a statement later Tuesday night saying that he had proposed stepping down in favor of his deputy “for an unspecified amount of time” — as a sort of indefinite leave of absence — and not a formal resignation. It was unclear whether Mr. Gunnlaugsson, who would remain leader of his party, would succeed in his effort to avoid a formal resignation in the face of significant public anger.

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[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dis sure gonna stir up a lotta dust...

New Investigations Target Tax Evaders Hiding Offshore Assets
April 05, 2016 - The full extent and implications from a leak of records about offshore bank accounts from a Panamanian firm are not yet clear, and more stories about them are expected in the coming days, but already governments across the world are pledging investigations or denouncing the reports as unfounded attacks.

Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela is among those publicly championing transparency, saying his government welcomes any investigation that protects its financial system from abuse. Will Fitzgibbon, a reporter for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that is leading the probe of documents from law firm Mossack Fonseca, told VOA illegal or morally suspicious activities were in the minority among the 220,000 companies in the documents. But he said even with a small percentage facilitating corruption or bribery, that for many advocates is enough to scrutinize the entire offshore system. "As Mossack Fonseca and others have told us in the industry, they work according to the laws of these nations, of Panama, of the British Virgin Islands, even of the United States, which has a very large offshore industry," Fitzgibbon said. "Therefore, the problem is even I think, according to many advocates, an issue of what is allowed by the laws of countries where these companies are created."

Denial of wrongdoing

Ramon Fonseca, one of the firm's co-founders, has strongly denied breaking any laws. He told the Associated Press that focus on the company is unfair and would not happen if it were based in the United States instead of Panama. Fitzgibbon said the documents were amazing in the number of "specific requests" companies and individuals made to create offshore companies in order to avoid paying taxes, as well as notices from governments writing to those companies to make those allegations.

People demonstrate against Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson in Reykjavik, Iceland on April 4, 2016 after a leak of documents by so-called Panama Papers stoked anger over his wife owning a tax haven-based company.​

The head of Switzerland's Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam, said Tuesday his firm only advocates clients use an offshore structure "when there is a legitimate economic purpose." Similarly, British banking giant HSBC said Tuesday it does not condone offshore activity for tax avoidance, and that allegations involving its clients predate its recent reforms. Credit Suisse agreed to pay the U.S. a $2.5 billion fine in 2014 for helping Americans evade taxes, while HSBC agreed in 2012 to pay $1.92 billion for its role in laundering drug money from Mexico.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia​

An ICIJ report Monday said the Mossack Fonseca documents included more than 500 banks registering 15,600 offshore companies. It said HSBC and its subsidiaries accounted for 2,300 of those shell companies, with Credit Suisse responsible for another 1,100. Those banks were also among a group that were given special arrangements by Mossack Fonseca that required less due diligence in documenting why clients wanted to create a shell company, ICIJ said, allowing the banks to be insulated from the deals.

Syrian link

 

[barryqwalsh]

Whatever the fallout from Panama, the rich will continue to go offshore

But is anyone really surprised that Bashar al-Assad of Syria or Col Gaddafi of Libya had money salted away in the Caymans or some other sun-drenched tax shelter in case they ever made it out alive from their benighted lands? The former might yet avail himself of his plunder; the latter never managed to.

friends of Vladimir Putin have enriched themselves through association with the Kremlin kleptocrat? It was not even unexpected to find the name ofDavid Cameron’s late father on the listsince it has been known for years that he ran a Panamanian-based investment fund, Blairmore Holdings. On the other hand, it is the Prime Minister’s misfortune that this story has reminded voters that he is actually rich and privileged – even if he does try to act like “one of us”.


Whatever the fallout from Panama, the rich will continue to go offshore

 

[Sizis]

Cameron is just another example of the corrupted Western political
If UK had good laws he would be hanged for his crimes against British people

 

[WillMunny]

Like most Englishmen, Cameron is the white Obama; he has the exact same horny, fellatrix, jizz-cup reaction to muslim violence as that carpet-headed, wheelbarrow-nosed, purple-lipped member of the world's most utterly failed race in the WH. I'm surprised that Obama and the Brits don't get along since they both guzzle enough muslim semen to coat the entire surface of the moon 3 times over.

 

[Bleipriester]