Release of Offshore Records Draws Worldwide Response
ICIJ’s investigative series on offshore secrecy – which draws from a cache of 2.5 million secret records – has ignited reactions around the globe.
In the 48 hours since the initial release of stories by the ICIJ and its media partners across the world, public officials have issued statements, governments have launched investigations, and politicians and journalists have been debating the implications of the records and the reporting.
Among the reactions and responses:
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The Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said an inquiry had been initiated by the authorities against individuals whose names figured in the global media report. “Yes.
We have taken note of the names and inquiries have been put in motion
in respect of the names that have been exposed,” he told a press
conference.
- Philippine government officials said they will investigate evidence
that Maria Imelda Marcos Manotoc, a provincial governor and daughter of
the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was the beneficiary of a secret BVI
offshore trust.
- George Mavraganis, the Deputy Finance Minister of Greece announced
that the Greek government is moving to address offshore-driven tax
dodging. Greek members of parliament asked Mavraganis what he planned to
do about the 103 offshore companies that ICIJ found hadn’t been registered with Greece’s tax authorities. George
Sourlas from Greece’s Ministry of Justice said the revenue loss caused
by offshore was huge. “By the actions of offshore companies in Greece,
the revenue loss to the Greek government is in the order of 40% or more
of the debt of our country,” Sourlas said. “The offshore companies cast a
shadow at this time of great crisis, when some get rich and many get
poor.”
- In France, President Francois Hollande denied knowledge
of the offshore accounts held by his 2012 campaign manager,
Jean-Jacques Augier, asserting that it’s up to the tax administration to
monitor Augier’s private activities. Reports about Augier’s offshore
dealings by Le Monde, the BBC and other ICIJ partners came in the wake
of news about tax fraud charges against Hollande’s ex-budget Minister, Jerome Cahuzac.
- The office of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev asserted there was nothing unusual about the information in the leak – which showed that his two daughters were shareholders of three offshore companies.
The statement said the President’s daughters “are grown up and have the
right to do business.” A spokesperson for Azersun – a holding company
controlled by Hasan Gozal, a corporate mogul who was listed as the
director of the daughters’ companies – said the report was biased and
based on inaccurate information. “I regret that authority of Press
Council doesn't go beyond Azerbaijan and there is no such institution
worldwide to fight racketeer journalists,” the spokesman said.
- Ex-Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez publicly defended his sons’ involvement
in offshore business. Uribe stated that his sons Tomás and Jerónimo are
entrepreneurs and “have participated in business dealings since they
were children” and “they are not tax evaders.”
- In the UK, David Cameron is facing renewed pressure to take action over Britain’s entanglements within the offshore world.
Lord Oakeshott, a senior Liberal Democrat said that the secrecy haven
of the British Virgin Islands “stains the face of Britain.” Oakeshott
and others are questioning whether Cameron will raise the issue in June
of at the G8 summit of wealth nations. "How can David Cameron keep a
straight face calling for the G8 to make big business pay tax when we
let the BVI use British law and British protection to suck in billions
in dirty money?" Oakeshott asked.
-
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble stated on public radio that he was “pleased”
with the ICIJ reports. He went on to say, “I think that such things as
have been made known will increase the pressure internationally, and we
will be able to increase the cooperation with those who have been more
reticent”, a sentiment reflected in Germany’s previous lobbying to stamp
out tax avoidance.
- Canadian Federal Revenue Minister Gail Shea called the released of offshore banking information as “good news” for Canadians and bad news for tax evaders. Ms. Shea urged ICIJ or anyone else with information on tax cheats to come forward.
- Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, said: "Secrecy is no longer acceptable. We need to get rid of it. If the rules make it possible, then we'll change the rules.”
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