"Panama Papers" thread

[NYGman]

https://panamapapers.icij.org/

Didn't see any discussion started on this, but looks as if 40 yrs of leaked documents show a Panamanian law firm assisted with money laundering and tax evasion. I think stories like these by "legitimate" firms, only serve to encourage the backyard Freeman to offer similar services to "regular" people.

[Judge Roy Bean]

At the risk of crossing the political line, this is the very kind of thing I have pointed out in the past - there is a protected class.

[NYGman]

At the risk of crossing the political line, this is the very kind of thing I have pointed out in the past - there is a protected class.

I have been working with US/UK FATCA and the OECD's Common Reporting Standards for several years now. These laws/rules were created for the sole purpose of rooting out Tax evaders and provide transparency of reporting. When the initial Drafts were issued, I said to my colleagues, this will never work. The people they are really after, the Money Launderer, Drug Dealer, serial Tax evader, Sanction busters that they wanted to catch, were inherently dishonest people, and would just hire smart somewhat ethically challenged advisers to help them circumvent this.

The method used to identify reportable accounts is a review of the AML/KYC due Diligence, the search for Indicia, and reasonableness of information were all based on the documents. When FATCA was in draft, I pointed out that if someone wanted to avoid disclosure, they could use offshore structures, create fake documents, and provide certifications that were false. All things I predicted would be done by ethically challenged legal advisers. Heck, I figured out how to evade it after my first read through, and confirmed it later. As long as the account holder provided information that passed muster, contained nothing bad of contradictory, it would basically be business as usual after the laws came in to effect. This Data dump basically confirms my fears. The crazy thing is the cost comply has been astronomical, and to be honest, over the many thousands of accounts we have processed, I have only had one Canadian investor, born in the US, claiming not to be US when they actually still were. While they had never officially renounced their US citizenship, they felt as they moved out of the US in 1967, they were just no longer US. They did end up providing a W9, but wrote on the bottom, LEFT THE US IN 1967, AND AM NEVER COMING BACK. So this person, just didn't get it, and got picked up, but all my BVI trusts are fine, fully documented, and are not owned by US persons, and many are controlled by BVI Trustees. So FATCA/CRS really hasn't worked as intended, and has cost banks, brokers, custodians, and all those in the Fund Industry to spend Billions of dollars on compliance, all to look like we are doing something to combat tax evasion. It really is a joke.

[Number Six]

Still it doesn't look like the 441 American evaders/avoiders have shown up on a list yet according to ZH: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-0 ... o-are-they

From what I have heard the US, specifically Nevada is a major tax avoidance country. As usual you can do all sorts of unethical or things in the gray area but unless you get caught who knows? And the perpetrators can always plead amnesia.

[Jeffrey]

At the risk of crossing the political line, this is the very kind of thing I have pointed out in the past - there is a protected class.

Unpossible, we live in a perfect meritocracy. We are all equal before the law.

[Number Six]

If his guy owes $45 million to NY state, he must owe quite a bit more to the IRS: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-2 ... lion-taxes

[Judge Roy Bean]

A more detailed account:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... ax-evasion

[NYGman]

If his guy owes $45 million to NY state, he must owe quite a bit more to the IRS: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-2 ... lion-taxes

So it looks like the $45MM is not all to NY, although he was evading Sales tax on art, by shipping outside the state, and then transporting it back in. I believe some art Galleries got in trouble for this a few years back...