This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
Trust Bloomberg Tax for the international news and analysis to navigate the complex tax treaty networks and global business regulations.
By Ben Stupples
The chairman of the EU’s Panama Papers inquiry has slammed the U.K. Treasury’s refusal to meet with investigators, raising concern over Britain’s commitment to the high-level investigation.
It was “most disappointing and regrettable that no one at the political level at HM Treasury was able or willing to meet” during the trip to London last week from the European Parliament’s Panama Papers inquiry committee, Werner Langen told Bloomberg BNA in a Feb. 14 e-mailed statement.
“I consider this a missed opportunity for HM Treasury to positively engage and discuss with” the Panama Papers committee members, “and this has been noted by our members,” he added.
The investigative PANA committee met with senior officials from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the tax authority’s own Panama Papers taskforce, Langen said Feb. 14.
It also met with the U.K.’s National Crime Agency and the Financial Conduct Authority. The U.K. Treasury, however, only sent the committee a “short e-mail” declining to meet, he added.
Set up in June 2016, the committee’s top aim is to uncover instances of member states obstructing European Union laws against money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion, according to Fabio De Masi, a German member of the European parliament and the inquiry committee’s vice chairman.
It visited London Feb. 9-10 as part of its inquiry into the Panama Papers leaks of offshore tax deals, and the Treasury’s refusal to meet will raise questions about the U.K.'s commitment to the investigation, with just over a month before it triggers the official process for leaving the EU.
The meetings held during the trip were “informative and constructive,” and the U.K. officials could address technical issues, Werner said. The government officials, however, declined to comment on “political” questions that U.K. Treasury ministers—Chief Secretary David Gauke, Financial Secretary Jane Ellison and Economic Secretary Simon Kirby—would have been best placed to answer.
A confidential schedule of the committee’s two-day visit, seen by Bloomberg BNA, also indicated meetings with U.K. accounting and legal professionals, academics, non-governmental organizations and representatives from HSBC Holdings Plc, Britain’s largest bank by market capitalization.
The U.K. is “very relevant” on the topic of tax evasion due to the number of intermediaries linked to it through the Panama Papers, De Masi told Bloomberg BNA in a Feb. 8 interview.
The data leak of more than 11 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co. identified nearly 2,000 U.K.-based aides—such as accountants, lawyers and tax advisers—who facilitated aggressive tax planning.
Nearly half of the companies listed in the Panama Papers, meanwhile, were registered in the British Virgin Islands, one of the U.K.'s overseas territories.
The comments from Werner, a member of the European People’s Party, follow critical claims from De Masi that the U.K. has hindered European Union plans against tax evasion.
“The U.K. is at the heart of the world’s largest web of tax havens and intricately connected with the world of offshore finance,” De Masi said in a Feb. 9 e-mailed statement. Through the U.K.’s overseas territories, “the who is who of global tax havens is thriving under the eyes of Her Majesty.”
The British government has been “sabotaging” work on the European Union’s planned blacklist for tax havens, despite its previous promises to crack down on global tax evasion, he added.
In November 2016, the U.K. achieved its first major victory against European Union nations since voting five months earlier to leave the bloc when it prevented its offshore territories—including Jersey, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands—from being automatically placed on the tax haven blacklist.
At the vote, the U.K. fought off an attempt by a France-led group of countries to denounce territories with a zero percent rate of corporation tax as potentially “non-cooperative.”
A Treasury spokesman didn’t respond Feb. 14 to two e-mailed requests for comment.
The PANA committee will report on its findings within the next year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Stupples in London at bstupples@bna.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Penny Sukhraj at psukhraj@bna.com
Copyright © 2017 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
All Bloomberg BNA treatises are available on standing order, which ensures you will always receive the most current edition of the book or supplement of the title you have ordered from Bloomberg BNA’s book division. As soon as a new supplement or edition is published (usually annually) for a title you’ve previously purchased and requested to be placed on standing order, we’ll ship it to you to review for 30 days without any obligation. During this period, you can either (a) honor the invoice and receive a 5% discount (in addition to any other discounts you may qualify for) off the then-current price of the update, plus shipping and handling or (b) return the book(s), in which case, your invoice will be cancelled upon receipt of the book(s). Call us for a prepaid UPS label for your return. It’s as simple and easy as that. Most importantly, standing orders mean you will never have to worry about the timeliness of the information you’re relying on. And, you may discontinue standing orders at any time by contacting us at 1.800.960.1220 or by sending an email to books@bna.com.
Put me on standing order at a 5% discount off list price of all future updates, in addition to any other discounts I may quality for. (Returnable within 30 days.)
Notify me when updates are available (No standing order will be created).
This Bloomberg BNA report is available on standing order, which ensures you will all receive the latest edition. This report is updated annually and we will send you the latest edition once it has been published. By signing up for standing order you will never have to worry about the timeliness of the information you need. And, you may discontinue standing orders at any time by contacting us at 1.800.372.1033, option 5, or by sending us an email to research@bna.com.
Put me on standing order
Notify me when new releases are available (no standing order will be created)