Offshore ICIJ Report reveals much

[Sapphire Capital]

The current disclosure file from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in regards of offshore business in the Secrets for Sale Project (at www.icij.org/) shows the whole offshore business in a massive file covering details which should have never been revealed and which go in detail over a period of 30 years.

While a lot is legal it shows that the old structures can not anymore be used without major adjustments, to many people know to much and the damage can be large if there is a problem you can count on it geting out.

Do not shirk your tax work, plan accordingly and do it all legal, there are always ways but you can not sleep on the job because changes are implemented all the time, what was legal can be ilegal today.

[resistk]

www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/world/europe/vast-hidden-wealth-revealed-in-leaked-records.html?_r=0

New York Times now claiming this is a big deal.

I would say it does mean that utilizing BVI, Cayman and Cook Islands, Channel Islands, IOM, Singpapore structures is passe. The so called secrecy was like Swiss cheese (pun intended).

Note, no mention yet of Dubai and HK which I am certain are even bigger players.

And of course let's not forget the USA which has the laxest corporate registries and banking imaginable for those who choose to ignore the rules altogether i.e Madoff, Wasendorf, etc. etc.

[Sapphire Capital]

actually the writting was already on the wall, but you are only right that the old ways are out, what is still working is using high tax environments and the right structure allowing deferment of taxes and than an easy exit, the offshore trusts in the Caymans are all out in the normal way because the client is only safe if the bank and the trustee do not have anything on him. I have been talking about this for years and there are structures which allow that all legally but I guess its easier to believe the banks sales staff than to start thinking.

Swiss and Singapore are still good if you stay away from the normal structuring, but Cook Islands etc are going to loose a lot of business. As a rule of thumb every offshore jurisdiction which has a real existing economy and lots of monetary traffic is still an option, but islands like Niue for example have nothing but bird nuts beside their offshore industry

[resistk]

However, what is being missed here or at least omitted is that who collected all that secret data from different jurisdictions, compiled it and then leaked it? It is implausible that registrars, bankers, and trustees would all simultaneously leek info that would disrupt their businesses. Sounds like some version of a super banking database that flagged suspicious transactions and sourced them over the years. Has anyone seen the raw data or is it available anywhere like Wikileeks? The original stories indicated it may have been partially encoded raw data.

How about a leak here:

SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative through which the financial world conducts its business operations with speed, certainty and confidence. More than 10,000 financial institutions and corporations in 212 countries trust us every day to exchange millions of standardised financial messages. This activity involves the secure exchange of proprietary data while ensuring its confidentiality and integrity.

Our role is two-fold. We provide the proprietary communications platform, products and services that allow our customers to connect and exchange financial information securely and reliably. We also act as the catalyst that brings the financial community together to work collaboratively to shape market practice, define standards and consider solutions to issues of mutual interest.

SWIFT enables its customers to automate and standardise financial transactions, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating inefficiencies from their operations. By using SWIFT customers can also create new business opportunities and revenue streams.

SWIFT has its headquarters in Belgium and has offices in the world's major financial centres and developing markets. SWIFT provides additional products and associated services through Arkelis N.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of SWIFT, the assets of which were acquired from SunGard in 2010.

SWIFT does not hold funds nor does it manage accounts on behalf of customers, nor does it store financial information on an on-going basis.

[Noor]

www.ifla.org/publications/what-is-the-effect-of-wikileaks-for-freedom-of-information

[resistk]

The cover story is that a hard drive was mailed to ICIJ one day:

www.icij.org/offshore/how-icijs-project-team-analyzed-offshore-files

The data however was already withan Aussie journalist when he joined ICIJ, so only the journos word on the source.

www.burlingtonfreepress.com/viewart/20130405/BUSINESS04/130405020/Tax-haven-data-leak-names-names-raises-questions-

If the stuff is authentic it came from Australia which would explain the Cook Islands data. In fact it is possible the Crook Islands may have been run as a honey pot to catch tax evaders for quite some time. The Cooks are essentially an Aussie dependency and the Aussies likely run the judiciary.

[Sapphire Capital]

Let it put me that way:

For some years, I believe a decade at least, SWIFT has been providing a base model for tracing and origination tool for transactions and for at least 5 decades literally all agencies in the business of collecting intelligence and executing orders have been and are using offshore banking so yes there is a large amount of data available for such agencies and it does not only include offshore jurisdictions but the personal finance of all sort of people.

There are databases which are interagency so they are in the murky world of "no-one knows who is responsible", would not be surprised if in the end this was brought up for a specific reason.

Nevertheless it is a lesson people should learn, nothing is secret anymore, so the less your banker knows the better

[resistk]

I feel the same way about Trustcos; I avoid them like the plague. Secret trusts, paymasters, and properly structured unincorporated associations and partnerships however can all still be used wisely and without fear assuming one isn't dealing with a crook to begin with.

[Sapphire Capital]

all depends on the team and the fail safes. a Trust Company has some protection depending on jurisdiction but they still should not know everything, the secret is in proper structuring

[resistk]

I have seen problems in certain Caribbean jurisdictions where trust assets have gone missing after periods of inactivity. And what happens when the Trustco license is revoked as sometimes happens in smaller jurisdictions?

[Sapphire Capital]

ah, out of millions of trustees you know some who absconded with money, honestly I have seen the same in attorney's and such who lost their license. It is always a "trust" issue. Who would have thought bankers would gamble with their clients money so that almost everything is lost for some cyprus investors?

The issue at the heart of the ICIJ is that the trust companies share their knowledge into a database which is compromised, none of them took money and ran, but still doing their job they knew to much.