SCATHING REPORT BY OUSTED PANAMA COMMITTEE EXPERTS: SHUT DOWN THE TAX HAVENS

Joseph Stiglitz

Joseph Stiglitz and Mark Pieth, the two foreign experts who removed themselves from the government committee, tasked with reforming Panama's offshore tax haven culture, because they were denied autonomy, and their report was not going to be made public, have released their own report. Entitled Overcoming the Shadow Economy, the report makes three principal recommendations;

(1) Public registers. of beneficial owners of corporations and other business organizations, must be created, and made available for research and due diligence inquiries, in all the countries, with real-time access. There must be total transparency.

(2) The United States and the European Union have the strength to force reform, through denial of access to financial markets and structures.

(3) The identities of beneficial owners of real estate transactions must be public knowledge.

(4) Attorneys, financial services officers, and other intermediaries who facilitate money laundering and tax evasion must be held criminally liable for their sins.

Mark Pieth

I recommend that you read the entire white paper; you may access the complete text here.