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07.06.01. Haven Must Stand Firm. A-Letter.
THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Your Link to Freedom, Prosperity & Privacy in the Offshore World
Friday, July 6, 2001 - Vol. 3 No. 53
In This Issue:
* COMMENT: Havens Must Stand Firm
* OFFSHORE: Tax Fugitive in Belize. Aruba Sells Out. Bahamas Proud. US Ends Advisories. Happy UK Expats. N.Z. Defends Pacific Havens. Swiss Knocked on Dirty Money as Accounts Are Frozen. Royal Bulgarian.
* WEALTH: IRS Foreign Investor Rules. Q&A for Brit Offshore Investments. UK Tax Defendants Rights. Hedge Funds. WTO vs. USA. Becker's Big Tax Bill. South African Land Reform.
* PRIVACY: US Hypocrisy. Greater US Privacy? EU & Echelon Again.
COMMENT: HAVENS MUST STAND FIRM
by Bob Bauman, Editor
Just when all those OECD Paris bureaucrats and their allies in world treasuries thought they had an agreement that killed the phony "tax harmonization" campaign but exalted "transparency," ancient enmities intervened. SPANISH officials insisted BRITAIN take action over financial policies in GIBRALTAR, a leading tax haven and UK overseas territory. Unless the UK acts, Spain says it will veto the OECD accord.
LINKS: Click Here and Here.
This delay is really a tempest in a teapot, since the OECD has no legal power or standing to enforce any agreement, a point we have made repeatedly. And without BUSH administration backing, the OECD high tax campaign is dead any way.
LINK: Click Here.
For an excellent exposition of the OECD hypocrisy on taxes, as well as that of the UK and US, we recommend an article by Jonathan Chevreau of Canada's Financial Post.
LINK: Click Here.
What should tax havens do now, in the wake of the OECD retreat on taxes and new demands for "transparency" that violate financial privacy? The Center for Freedom and Prosperity, the leader in the winning anti-OECD battle, gives excellent advice to tax and asset haven nations in a policy memorandum just released yesterday.
Full text LINK: Click Here.
Says the CFP: "We urge all persecuted jurisdictions to band together. Do not let the OECD play the old "divide-and-conquer" game. . . Aruba capitulated to the OECD [see below], in large part because they were pressured by their Dutch overseers. It is our hope that other regimes - particularly sovereign nations - will not make the same mistake."
To which we add our fervent, "AMEN!"
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* OFFSHORE *
U.S. TAX FUGITIVE IN A BELIZEAN PARADISE
BENQUE VIEJO, Belize. American tax fugitive Joseph ROSS lives life on the lam in a Belizean paradise. Here's how he does it.
LINK: http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a3b41dee24f8c.htm
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ARUBA JOINS O.E.C.D. BANDWAGON
ORANJESTAD. Under pressure from The NETHERLANDS, ARUBA pledges to tow the OECD tax line, as other tax havens flee OECD commitments.
LINKS: Click Here and Here.
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BAHAMAS DOES AS THEY ARE TOLD
NASSAU. Off the blacklist, P.M. IGRAHAM is proud he did exactly what FATF told him to do. Of course, Bahamas bank secrecy is dead.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=4342
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U.S. TREASURY ENDS ADVISORIES
In the wake of FATF's blacklist removal of PANAMA, THE BAHAMAS, CAYMAN ISLANDS and LIECHTENSTEIN, official US "advisory" warnings end.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=4324
And RUSSIA finally starts to clean up its dirty cash act.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=4346
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HAPPY U.K. EXPATS
LONDON. Globalization creates expatriates. Expat Brits are
doing better these days, says the Financial Times.
LINKS: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=4354
http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3RWDZRSOC&liv
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NEW ZEALAND DEFENDS PACIFIC HAVENS
WELLINGTON. The NZ Finance Minister calls on Britain to back NZ efforts to avoid sanctions on Pacific tax havens.
LINKS: http://www.newsroom.co.nz/story/54080-99999.html
LINK: http://www.abc.net.au/ra/newsdaily/s324110.htm
And the COOK ISLANDS prime minister says his island nation, associate of New Zealand, will fight OECD demands.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=4316
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SWISS LAX ON DIRTY MONEY?
The ex-head of the Swiss anti-ML agency and others knock the government for lax ML enforcement.
LINK: http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=111&sid=741064
http://www.nzz.ch/english/swiss_week/index.html#text1
Even as the Swiss freeze an alleged French dirty money bank account worth $445 million.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=4321
Swiss officials reopen talks with the EU on many fronts, but insistence on banking secrecy is still the sticking point.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=4334
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BULGARIAN RESTORATION
SOFIA. Ex-King Simeon SAXE-COBURG will be the country's prime minister; the first comeback for a royal house in eastern Europe since the fall of Communism.
LINK: Click Here.
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* WEALTH *
I.R.S. NON-RESIDENT INVESTORS RULES
WASHINGTON. Tuesday we told you of a Wall Street Journal report that White House intervention may kill proposed rules that would force US banks to report to foreign tax collectors interest payments made to non-US residents.
Full text of the article at, LINK: Click Here.
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Q.& A. FOR U.K. OFFSHORE INVESTORS
The Daily Telegraph suggests Brits should "invest your money offshore and watch the tax bills tumble."
LINK: Click Here.
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U.K. TAX DEFENDANTS HAVE RIGHTS
LONDON. In a landmark case over the Human Rights Act, the UK Court of Appeal rules defendants charged with tax evasion must beg given the same due process rights as criminal defendants.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=4322
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HEDGE FUND FOR HNWIs
NEW YORK. Bear Stearns, the 6th largest US brokerage, creates new funds for high net worth individuals.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=4284
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U.S. TAX HAVEN UPSETS THE W.T.O.
A good explanation of how US tax laws allow American corporations to benefit from offshore tax havens, and why the WTO is upset.
LINK: Click Here.
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BECKER MONACO TAX HOME ATTACKED
Wimbledon tennis champ Boris BECKER faces a prison sentence over charges he used a MONACO residence to avoid paying tax while living in Germany.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=4281
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SOUTH AFRICAN LAND REFORM
JOHANNESBURG. The ANC government wants to avoid radical land reforms like those in neighboring ZIMBABWE.
LINK: Click Here.
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* PRIVACY *
U.S BANK PRIVACY HYPOCRISY
Lew ROCKWELL lays bare the US hypocrisy in telling other nations to end banking and financial privacy.
LINK: http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/bankprivacy.html
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GREATER U.S. PRIVACY PROTECTION?
Experts are divided over a US Supreme Court decision and how far it goes in protecting personal privacy.
LINK: http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,44785,00.html
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E.U. PROTESTS ECHELON, DOES NOTHING
A committee of the European Parliament concludes the US-led Echelon international surveillance system spies on the continent, but the EU can do nothing about it.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,44984,00.html
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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER. E-mail to: info@sovereignsociety.com. * SUBSCRIBE FREE or send to a friend at LINK: http://www.sovereignsociety.com
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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY Ltd., 5 Catherine St., Waterford, Ireland. TEL: 353-51 844 068 FAX: 353-51 304 561. Copyright (C) 2001. All domestic & international rights reserved.
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