Difference between revisions of "Panama Papers"
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Now with the release of the '''Panama Papers''' it appears he was right. They show that over 214,000 offshore companies are using [[Panama]] to evade taxes. That is unacceptable, and that has got to change.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/871517152883483/permalink/990083357693528/ "Bernie Sanders on tax havens"]</ref> | Now with the release of the '''Panama Papers''' it appears he was right. They show that over 214,000 offshore companies are using [[Panama]] to evade taxes. That is unacceptable, and that has got to change.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/871517152883483/permalink/990083357693528/ "Bernie Sanders on tax havens"]</ref> | ||
− | == | + | ==Background== |
− | + | Early in 2015, the German newspaper ''[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]'' received documents related to the Panamanian law firm [[Mossack Fonseca]] that provide detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies, including the identities of shareholders and directors. Those identified include numerous wealthy and powerful political figures and organisations of many countries.from an anonymous source.<ref>[http://panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de/articles/56febff0a1bb8d3c3495adf4/ "About the Panama Papers"] by Frederik Obermaier, Bastian Obermayer, Vanessa Wormer and Wolfgang Jaschensky, ''Süddeutsche Zeitung''</ref> | |
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+ | In 2016, [[Wikileaks]] tweeted about the Panama Papers "[[Putin]] attack was produced by OCCRP which targets [[Russia]] & former USSR and was funded by [[USAID]] & [[George Soros|Soros]]".<ref>[https://www.rt.com/news/338683-wikileaks-usaid-putin-attack/ "US government, Soros funded Panama Papers to attack Putin – WikiLeaks"]</ref> | ||
On 6 April 2016, ''Voice Hindi News'' aka ''[[Voice of America]] Hindi News'' published the "complete list of people named in the Panama Papers".<ref>[http://www.voicehindi.com/international/complete-list-of-people-named-in-the-panama-papers/1215 "Complete List of people named in the Panama Papers"]</ref> | On 6 April 2016, ''Voice Hindi News'' aka ''[[Voice of America]] Hindi News'' published the "complete list of people named in the Panama Papers".<ref>[http://www.voicehindi.com/international/complete-list-of-people-named-in-the-panama-papers/1215 "Complete List of people named in the Panama Papers"]</ref> | ||
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==Commentary== | ==Commentary== | ||
− | In a striking illustration of the maxim that ''the initial response to any event fixes the main outlines of the {{ON}} in the public mind'', | + | In a striking illustration of the maxim that ''the initial response to any event fixes the main outlines of the {{ON}} in the public mind'', Western media – almost without exception – focused on the names of [[Vladimir Putin]] (though struggling a bit because only ''"his cronies"'' were immediately implicated), Syria's [[Bashar al Assad]], Iceland Premier [[Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson]] and Chinese prime minister [[Xi Jinping]]. The ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'' coverage was typical <ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/panama-papers-leak-exposes-how-vladimir-putin-xi-jinpings-friends-hide-money-20160403-gnxfil.html "Panama Papers leak exposes how Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping's friends hide money"] - ''Sydney Morning Herald'' 4 April 2016</ref>. |
Policy makers including German Finance Minister [[Wolfgang Schaeuble]] and European Commission Vice President [[Jyrki Katainen]] said the leak will strengthen the resolve of governments to combat tax avoidance and evasion. In a statement reminiscent of [[9-11/Israel did it#Netanyahu Openly Gleeful of 9/11 Terror Attacks|Benjamin Netanyahu's notorious remarks]] in the immediate aftermath of [[9-11]], [[Wolfgang Schaeuble]] said: '''“Even though it’s not surprising, it helps us. It increases the pressure to halt abuse.”'''<ref>[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-05/china-pakistan-push-back-on-offshore-revelations-as-syria-named "China, Pakistan Push Back on Offshore Revelations as Syria Named"] - Bloomberg 5 April 2016</ref> | Policy makers including German Finance Minister [[Wolfgang Schaeuble]] and European Commission Vice President [[Jyrki Katainen]] said the leak will strengthen the resolve of governments to combat tax avoidance and evasion. In a statement reminiscent of [[9-11/Israel did it#Netanyahu Openly Gleeful of 9/11 Terror Attacks|Benjamin Netanyahu's notorious remarks]] in the immediate aftermath of [[9-11]], [[Wolfgang Schaeuble]] said: '''“Even though it’s not surprising, it helps us. It increases the pressure to halt abuse.”'''<ref>[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-05/china-pakistan-push-back-on-offshore-revelations-as-syria-named "China, Pakistan Push Back on Offshore Revelations as Syria Named"] - Bloomberg 5 April 2016</ref> | ||
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Professor [[Tatiana Yugay]] of the Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics (MESI) and former advisor to the Presidential Administration and Security Council concluded: "It’s clear that the [[Panama Leaks]] are part of the West’s hybrid war against [[Russia]]. During the last two years, Russians have survived the devaluation of the rouble, a fall in oil prices, inflation, mutual sanctions and so on. We’re not likely to go to the barricades over Western gossip."<ref>[http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/panama-papers-theres-logic-every-leak/ri13762 "Panama Papers: There’s a Purpose to Every Leak"]</ref> | Professor [[Tatiana Yugay]] of the Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics (MESI) and former advisor to the Presidential Administration and Security Council concluded: "It’s clear that the [[Panama Leaks]] are part of the West’s hybrid war against [[Russia]]. During the last two years, Russians have survived the devaluation of the rouble, a fall in oil prices, inflation, mutual sanctions and so on. We’re not likely to go to the barricades over Western gossip."<ref>[http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/panama-papers-theres-logic-every-leak/ri13762 "Panama Papers: There’s a Purpose to Every Leak"]</ref> | ||
+ | |||
+ | On 14 April 2016, in a televised Q and A session, President [[Vladimir Putin]] claimed that ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' belonged to the US bank [[Goldman Sachs]].<ref>[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-14/putin-sees-u-s-goldman-sachs-behind-leak-of-panama-papers "Putin Sees U.S., Goldman Sachs Behind Leak of Panama Papers"]</ref> Putin's claim was swiftly dismissed by ''SZ'' managing director [[Stefan Hilscher]], who said in a statement the newspaper “has no relationship under corporate law with Goldman Sachs”, adding the paper’s ownership was publicly available information. Goldman Sachs referred to Hilscher’s statement and declined further comment.<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/14/vladimir-putin-panama-papers-correct-sergei-roldugin "Panama Papers details are correct but do not implicate me, says Putin"]</ref> | ||
==Secrets of the Super Rich== | ==Secrets of the Super Rich== |
Revision as of 10:43, 15 April 2016
![]() | |
Date | April 2016 |
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Exposed by | Daphne Caruana Galizia |
Interest of | Daphne Caruana Galizia |
Description | A huge (2.6TB) cache of confidential documents created by the Panamanian corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca that provide detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies, including the identities of shareholders and directors. Those identified include numerous wealthy and powerful political figures and organisations of many countries. |
2016 US Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders opposed the 2011 Panama Free Trade Agreement claiming he was worried it would increasingly allow wealthy Americans and large corporations to evade US taxes by stashing their cash in offshore tax havens.
Now with the release of the Panama Papers it appears he was right. They show that over 214,000 offshore companies are using Panama to evade taxes. That is unacceptable, and that has got to change.[1]
Contents
Background
Early in 2015, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung received documents related to the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that provide detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies, including the identities of shareholders and directors. Those identified include numerous wealthy and powerful political figures and organisations of many countries.from an anonymous source.[2]
In 2016, Wikileaks tweeted about the Panama Papers "Putin attack was produced by OCCRP which targets Russia & former USSR and was funded by USAID & Soros".[3]
On 6 April 2016, Voice Hindi News aka Voice of America Hindi News published the "complete list of people named in the Panama Papers".[4]
Commentary
In a striking illustration of the maxim that the initial response to any event fixes the main outlines of the Official Narrative in the public mind, Western media – almost without exception – focused on the names of Vladimir Putin (though struggling a bit because only "his cronies" were immediately implicated), Syria's Bashar al Assad, Iceland Premier Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and Chinese prime minister Xi Jinping. The Sydney Morning Herald coverage was typical [5].
Policy makers including German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen said the leak will strengthen the resolve of governments to combat tax avoidance and evasion. In a statement reminiscent of Benjamin Netanyahu's notorious remarks in the immediate aftermath of 9-11, Wolfgang Schaeuble said: “Even though it’s not surprising, it helps us. It increases the pressure to halt abuse.”[6]
Noting that the papers were in the hands of commercially-controlled media funded by big money, Craig Murray cautioned "Do not expect a genuine expose of western capitalism. The dirty secrets of western corporations will remain unpublished."[7]
Edward Snowden described the leak as the "biggest leak in the history of data journalism".[8]
Perpetrators
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Bradley Birkenfeld, the "most significant financial whistleblower of all time" said, ““The CIA I’m sure is behind this, in my opinion... there’s something seriously sinister here behind this.”[9]
The Chinese Global Times observed that "...a powerful force is behind the Panama Papers" [10]
Professor Tatiana Yugay of the Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics (MESI) and former advisor to the Presidential Administration and Security Council concluded: "It’s clear that the Panama Leaks are part of the West’s hybrid war against Russia. During the last two years, Russians have survived the devaluation of the rouble, a fall in oil prices, inflation, mutual sanctions and so on. We’re not likely to go to the barricades over Western gossip."[11]
On 14 April 2016, in a televised Q and A session, President Vladimir Putin claimed that Süddeutsche Zeitung belonged to the US bank Goldman Sachs.[12] Putin's claim was swiftly dismissed by SZ managing director Stefan Hilscher, who said in a statement the newspaper “has no relationship under corporate law with Goldman Sachs”, adding the paper’s ownership was publicly available information. Goldman Sachs referred to Hilscher’s statement and declined further comment.[13]
Secrets of the Super Rich
On 4 April 2016, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Four Corners broadcast "The Panama Papers: Secrets of the Super Rich" which Craig Murray praised for having "named and shamed Australia’s biggest company and Australia’s biggest foreign investor. BBC Panorama by contrast found a guy who sold one house in Islington. The Australians also, unlike the BBC who deliberately and knowing hid it, pointed out that the corruption centred on the British Virgin Islands, and even went there. All in all an excellent job."[14]
A Panama Papers victim on Wikispooks
Title | Description |
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Louise Blouin | Canadian magazine editor. WEF/Global Leaders for Tomorrow 1993 |
Related Quotation
Page | Quote | Date |
---|---|---|
Australian Broadcasting Corporation | “The Australian Broadcasting Corporation shamed the BBC by putting out a Four Corners documentary on the Panama leak that had real balls. In stark contrast to the BBC, the Australians named and shamed Australia’s biggest company and Australia’s biggest foreign investor. BBC Panorama by contrast found a guy who sold one house in Islington. The Australians also, unlike the BBC who deliberately and knowing hid it, pointed out that the corruption centred on the British Virgin Islands, and even went there. All in all an excellent job.” | April 2016 |
Related Documents
Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Document:Appleby launches legal action against ICIJ’s UK partners | Article | 18 December 2017 | Gerard Ryle | "This is a potentially dangerous moment for free expression in Britain" – Gerard Ryle |
Document:Jeremy Corbyn's speech to the United Nations in full | Speech | 8 December 2017 | Jeremy Corbyn | Jeremy Corbyn at the United Nations in Geneva upstages Theresa May at the European Union in Brussels |
Document:Was EU Tax Evasion Regulation The Reason For The Brexit Referendum | Blog post | 26 September 2017 | Josh Hamilton | The EU's new anti-abuse measures coming into force in 2019 would tighten up restrictions on UK-based intermediaries that take part in off-shoring and tax avoidance, of which Britain is a global leader |
File:THE PRICE OF OFFSHORE REVISITED.pdf | paper | July 2012 | James S. Henry | Study on the "offshore" private banking market. |
References
- ↑ "Bernie Sanders on tax havens"
- ↑ "About the Panama Papers" by Frederik Obermaier, Bastian Obermayer, Vanessa Wormer and Wolfgang Jaschensky, Süddeutsche Zeitung
- ↑ "US government, Soros funded Panama Papers to attack Putin – WikiLeaks"
- ↑ "Complete List of people named in the Panama Papers"
- ↑ "Panama Papers leak exposes how Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping's friends hide money" - Sydney Morning Herald 4 April 2016
- ↑ "China, Pakistan Push Back on Offshore Revelations as Syria Named" - Bloomberg 5 April 2016
- ↑ "Corporate Media Gatekeepers Protect Western 1% From Panama Leak"
- ↑ "Twitter: Edward Snowden". Twitter. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2016.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
- ↑ http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/12/swiss-banker-whistleblower-cia-behind-panama-papers.html
- ↑ Powerful force is behind Panama Papers - Global Times 5 April 2016
- ↑ "Panama Papers: There’s a Purpose to Every Leak"
- ↑ "Putin Sees U.S., Goldman Sachs Behind Leak of Panama Papers"
- ↑ "Panama Papers details are correct but do not implicate me, says Putin"
- ↑ "A Chink of Aussie Light"