Perhaps a response to being on the OECD's draft blacklist of uncooperative tax havens? That is, after the Swiss got through whinging about being on the list in the first place.

None of these countries are quite prepared to rat on their own population, but foreigners should no longer count on the same discretion.

For its part the OECD doesn't plan on changing the makeup of their naughty list prior to the G20, no matter what kind of pledges they receive - I'm looking at you, Monaco.

As the G20 meeting gets closer (early April) they'll be plenty more pressure to go around and other traditional tax havens may also fall in line. But should they?

Some (ok, one guy from the Cato institute) says no.

-- MDT

Labels: tax evasion, tax havens

And they're willing to sue their bank (UBS) to prevent it. Given that the case was filed in Zurich disclosing the names of the plaintiffs would be a criminal offense. Man, rich people know all the angles.

How will this effect UBS's planned disclosures to the U.S. Justice Department of 50,000+ potential high-dollar tax cheats? We shall see...

-- MDT

Labels: tax evasion, tax havens, tax shelters, UBS

I won't be able to look them over until the evening. but you can have at them right now. Looks like witness testimony is also being added as available.

You can also stream the live hearing, assuming you've got RealPlayer installed.

And here's a bit more on what we can expect from Heinrich Kieber's pre-recorded comments.

-- MDT

Labels: hearing, tax evasion, tax havens

This would be a particularly poor time to be a wealthy bon vivant with creative accountant.

-- MDT

Labels: tax havens, UBS

Although the FT seemed to cast some doubt that Henirich Kieber - codenamed Henry - was indeed the informant behind Germany's recent series of tax evasion busts, the consensus seems to be that Heinrich is in fact, the man. Now, how a convicted real estate fraudster (in Spain) ended up working for super-secret Liechtenstein bank, LGT, I'll never understand. Isn't that what Interpol is for?

But I digress...

The German secret service reportedly spent millions of Euros to purchase four DVDs worth of LGT banking records from Kieber. The files revealed all manner of funds scurried away in Liechtenstein's secretive banks not just by 600 German citizens, but also 800 more from Great Britain, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the U.S. and Australia.

Many of these countries have begun their own investigations. Although use of the Kieber list has proved to be highly controversial with some countries (Denmark, for example) eschewing its use in their probes, other nations (US, UK - I am looking at you) have piled on to pay their own fees to access the stolen data.

Meanwhile, Liechtenstein is royally pissed, Germans are overtaxed and wealthy types in virtually every major Western democracy are loosening their sweaty collars. But Heinrich Kieber? Well, we have it on good authority that he's living somewhere comfortably, weathily even, and with a new name. I'm thinking someplace sunny... Australia, perhaps?

And if you're looking for more meat on the story but have so far skipped over all the links above, at least make a point of checking out this Speigel article on Heinrich Kieber. It is without question the best and most exhaustive account you'll find anywhere.

--MDT

Labels: Germany, Heinrich Kieber, informer, tax evasion, tax havens

Read it here!

-- MDT

Labels: Germany, Heinrich Kieber, Liechtenstein, tax evasion, tax havens

Heinrich Kieber - COME ON DOWN!

And it looks like many weathly U.S. citizens may be joining their German counterparts on the hook for hiding funds from the taxman in Liechtenstein's banks.

According to the WSJ, the Internal Revenue Service is in possession of the same banking records obtained by German authorities.

Also investigative their on citizenry are the United Kingdom, Australia, France and Canada.

-- MDT

Labels: Germany, Heinrich Kieber, Liechtenstein, tax evasion, tax havens

J. Turquey, whose blog covers "Ethics and governance in the European Financial Centers" runs down the top spots to swap your dirty cash for the clean stuff. This post lays out the top ten based on their potential harm to the world community. Interesting stuff.

-- MDT

Labels: J Turquey, money laundering, tax havens