Panama revelations moving US to clean house

THE UNITED STATES has emerged relatively unscathed from the revelations of the “offshore”activities of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, largely because it has its own thriving industry creating shell companies in states like Delaware, Wyoming and Nevada.

It  id now proposing  a plan to force disclosure of the identity of the real owners of offshore companies established in its own territory, in an attempt to combat tax evasion, announced Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew on Saturday April 16.

Lew said in a statement to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the new rules will require banks and other financial institutions to identify the owners of all new customers that are companies.

US emerged relatively unscathed from these disclosures, but is nevertheless in the debate about the possibility offered by some states (Delaware or Wyoming, for example) to register a company without revealing the actual owners.

The Treasury additionally proposed other legislation that will force the LLCs with one owner to identify the true owners to the IRS,

That rule would close a “loop hole ” that was exploited to hide assets and illegal financial activities, Lew said.

Offshore companies set up in tax havens but also in the US are often used to evade US standards or launder money.

“Tax evasion hurts government budgets, reduce the equity of our tax systems and affect global growth,” Lew said in the statement on the sidelines of the spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington.

The US initiative follows the proposal presented Friday by the major developed and emerging economies grouped in the G20 to combat tax havens.

Gathered in Washington, the G20 finance ministers proposed to obtain the means to lift the veil on the true owners of offshore companies and drawing up a list of tax havens that do not cooperate.