AFP, Washington :
The world’s leading economies took a step Friday toward denying tax evaders and money launderers around the world the ability to hide behind anonymous shell companies.
Acting in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal, finance chiefs of the Group of 20 powers meeting in Washington supported proposals requiring authorities to share the identities of the real owners of shell companies.
They also backed creating a blacklist of international tax havens which do not cooperate with information-sharing programs.
Making the beneficial owners of companies, trusts and foundations transparent “is vital to protect the integrity of the international financial system,” the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors said in a statement.
Doing so is important “to prevent misuse of these entities and arrangements for corruption, tax evasion, terrorist financing and money laundering.”
The declaration came hours after the Panama Papers scandal claimed another victim. Spain’s industry minister Jose Manuel Soria resigned Friday over allegations he had links to offshore companies.
Files from the leaked document trove of Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca showed Soria was an administrator of an offshore firm in 1992. He was just the latest in a number of powerful officials, including the leaders of Russia, Iceland, Britain and Argentina, linked by the Panama Papers to offshore tax havens.
The leak provided the impetus for the strong proposals to the G20 Thursday by Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Britain.
The five said they would take the lead on creating an international database that provides tax and other authorities the identities of the owners of shell companies, trusts, foundations and other vehicles often used to hide assets.
The world’s leading economies took a step Friday toward denying tax evaders and money launderers around the world the ability to hide behind anonymous shell companies.
Acting in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal, finance chiefs of the Group of 20 powers meeting in Washington supported proposals requiring authorities to share the identities of the real owners of shell companies.
They also backed creating a blacklist of international tax havens which do not cooperate with information-sharing programs.
Making the beneficial owners of companies, trusts and foundations transparent “is vital to protect the integrity of the international financial system,” the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors said in a statement.
Doing so is important “to prevent misuse of these entities and arrangements for corruption, tax evasion, terrorist financing and money laundering.”
The declaration came hours after the Panama Papers scandal claimed another victim. Spain’s industry minister Jose Manuel Soria resigned Friday over allegations he had links to offshore companies.
Files from the leaked document trove of Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca showed Soria was an administrator of an offshore firm in 1992. He was just the latest in a number of powerful officials, including the leaders of Russia, Iceland, Britain and Argentina, linked by the Panama Papers to offshore tax havens.
The leak provided the impetus for the strong proposals to the G20 Thursday by Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Britain.
The five said they would take the lead on creating an international database that provides tax and other authorities the identities of the owners of shell companies, trusts, foundations and other vehicles often used to hide assets.
