AN OFFSHORE PROVIDERS CONFERENCE IN PANAMA CITY THIS MONTH ? ARE YOU BLOODY KIDDING ME ?

Has the offshore financial world gone completely mad ? In the aftermath of the Mossack Fonseca/Panama Papers scandal, the Society of Trust & Estate Professionals (STEP) is holding its upcoming 2016 LatAm (Latin America) Conference in Panama City September 28-30 ! This is not exactly the best time to troll for business, from wealthy Latin American nationals, when the close connection between offshore financial professionals, and tax evasion and/or laundering the proceeds of crime is the most prominent topic of compliance officer (and bank client) conversation. What on earth was STEP thinking ?

To add to the poor timing of this conference, the Presenting Sponsor is The Ministry of Financial Services of the Bahamas; if you are reading our other blog articles today, you know that the Bahamas Papers, (or the Bahamas Leaks) being a database , acquired by ICIJ, containing records of 175,000 corporations, was made public today, which will cause the Commonwealth of the Bahamas to be under the microscope, especially since a number of tax evaders, career criminals, and corrupt PEPs have already been named & shamed, based upon this new information.

Message to the STEP leadership, who proceeded ahead with this conference, in the worst possible place to hold it, for public relations purposes: providing advice, which the public equates with tax evasion and money laundering, through offshore  financial centers a/k/a/ tax havens, is not cool this year. Dial it down, please; Cancel the bloody conference.