The U.S. Government talks tough about cracking down on money laundering and offshore tax havens. But the big banks involved effectively ‘pay-to-play’ with criminals and get relatively tiny fines for fraudulent and quasi-legal practices (like Goldman Sachs’ most recent $5 billion settlement in April).
Professional tax dodgers and money launderers set up shell companies to hide or move billions of dollars. Banks help them because it is profitable for them. Meanwhile, if you dare withdraw or transfer $10K from your account to take the family on a dream Cayman vacation, your bank files a report.
In their global quest to recoup taxes from offshore havens, countries are collaborating to extract information from banks. At least, that’s the reason the Obama administration has fed to us to collect banking information. Yet in practice, American retirees living abroad, like my Dad, have their social security and pension fund payments scoured for non-existent nefarious activity while drug cartel appointees pass cash through teller windows at global banks, unbothered.
The Obama administration has lead other governments in requiring offshore banks to disclose information on hidden assets (big and small). The U.S. has won disclosure battles with Swiss banks over shielding client information. But the U.S. doesn’t reciprocate.
Last year, the U.S. leapt to third place as the top bank secrecy center in the world—above the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg, and just below Switzerland and Hong Kong. (According to the financial secrecy index, produced by the Tax Justice Network (TJN)).
States like Delaware, Wyoming and Nevada have been
http://dailyreckoning.com/big-banks-hiding-money-for-elites/
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