Liechtenstein Pledges More Transparency
The under-fire alpine jurisdiction of Liechtenstein is reportedly ready to
make some concessions to onshore governments in the area of transparency as
it seeks to repair its reputation as a well-managed centre for financial services
and wealth management. Liechtenstein's ruler, Prince Alois, was expected to outline the new measures
in a National Day speech on Friday, although he has ruled out any move towards
watering down laws enshrining banking secrecy. “We will not give up bank secrecy,” the Principality's Prime Minister,
Otmar Hasler, told the Financial Times. “But we are willing to collaborate
with other nations when it comes to the misuse of bank secrecy laws for tax
evasion.” It is understood that one of the measures under consideration would allow certain
information on those accused of tax evasion to be passed onto foreign governments
provided that the accused would not suffer severe penalties. Account holders
would also be told beforehand that their information was being passed on to
foreign authorities, giving them time to transfer their assets elsewhere. A comprehensive report in our Intelligence Report series examining offshore confidentiality is available in the Lowtax Library at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/subs_reports.asp and a description of the report can be seen at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/description_report1.asp
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