On 3 April 2016, a news story broke that has become the saga of the Panama Papers. Taxand USA examines the case.
For about a year, journalists had been sifting through, sorting and analysing over 11 million documents regarding the international holding company structures of clients from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co.
The information was originally provided to a German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, but because of the overwhelming amount of information, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) stepped in to help with teams of journalists from scores of countries that include virtually every developed and developing country.
In the US, the Panama Papers did not stir the uproar it created in Europe and other regions, although recently the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York did launch a criminal investigation and is seeking cooperation from the ICIJ.
The relatively muted response in the US may be because to date no high-profile US individual has been named.
Discover more: Will the Panama Papers affect the current transparency wave?
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FATCA unleashed on the world the automatic exchange of bank account information with regard to US taxpayers. The world took notice, initially in vehement disagreement, but subsequently jumped on board and took FATCA global via CRS. As a result, bank secrecy is dead or dying. Now the focus is on beneficial ownership of entities. As was the case with foreign bank accounts, governments will begin to issue draft rules that require the collecting and sharing of beneficial ownership information.
