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08.31.01. Dewy-Eyed Do-Gooders. A-Letter
THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Your Link to Freedom, Prosperity & Privacy in the Offshore World
Friday, August 31, 2001 - Vol. 3 No. 69
In This Issue:
* COMMENT: Dewy Eyed Do-Gooders
* OFFSHORE: Gibraltar Tax Cut. Cyprus Tax Haven Dead. Bahamas Baloney. Caribbean Island Nations Talk Union.
* WEALTH: More US Forfeiture? IRS Hits Merill Lynch. IRS Loses a Billion. Euro Launch. Italian Freedom. Europe's Cash Hoarders. Spanish Elite Hit by Scam.
* MONEY LAUNDERING: FATF Blacklist Short. FATF a Toothless Poodle. Putin's Cash Connection. Antigua, Malaysia, Africa.
* PRIVACY: Zimmerman's PGP.
COMMENT: Dewy Eyed Do-Gooders
by Bob Bauman, Editor
French is my second language. Thus there's a phrase uttered by the late Rex Harrison as Prof. Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady" I shall always remember: "The French don't care what they do actually, as long as they pronounce it correctly."
This was proven anew this week as France's Socialist prime minister, Lionel JOSPIN, announced his support for a ludicrous 1% tax on all international capital transactions, the so-called "Tobin tax." The PM's election pandering is aimed at the French leftist anti-globalization crowd, an estimated 5% of the national vote.
LINK: http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3XWREGZQC&liv2
Jospin's demagoguery occurred the same day as a major new study showed that corporate taxation in OECD countries is higher today than at anytime in the last 30 years.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=5129
We have mentioned the Tobin tax (named after its author, Prof. James Tobin) before. We noted some weeks ago that next spring the United Nations will hold a conference in Mexico to discussing creation of a world tax collection agency, a sort of UN IRS, and the Tobin tax is high on their unrealistic agenda.
Of course dewy eyed do-gooders who riot at G-7 conferences say they want to tax international capital so as to spread the wealth around the globe to less fortunate peoples.
Jeremy Hetherington-Gore of Tax-News.com summed it up best: "The anti-globalization movement is not bothered by such niceties as whether the tax will work or not; for them this is just tokenism. Everyone knows the tax will never be imposed, but it is a convenient mantra with which to beat the globalizers. The rest of us can smile at the irony of the anti-globalizers proposing a tax which can only work if the financial industry world-wide is integrated and regulated on a global basis."
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=5149
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* OFFSHORE *
GIBRALTAR SLASHES CORPORATE TAXES
Under EU and UK pressure to end its supposed "preferential" offshore tax regime, Gibraltar cuts business taxes from 35% to 8% for everyone, as the UK government undermines the economy of its colony/tax haven.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=5135
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CYPRUS AS TAX HEAVEN IS DEAD
NICOSIA. This once attractive offshore tax haven admits it has ended that status by appeasing EU and OECD demands.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=5131
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BAHAMAS BALONEY
NASSAU. Having systematically destroyed The Bahamas as a leading offshore haven nation, the politicians now try to paper over their damage with a phony new program that fools no one.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=5116
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CARIBBEAN NATIONS TALK UNITY
Not for the first time, six small Caribbean island nations, including leading tax havens, talk union as a means of survival. LINK: http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT360MWT0RC&liv
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* WEALTH *
DOES BUSH BACK MORE CIVIL FORFEITURE?
WASHINGTON. The new head of the US Customs Service and IRS criminal investigations says he's going after the funds of lawyers, bankers and accountants. US money police have grabbed nearly $10 billion.
LINK: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20010829-9999_2m29launder.html
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I.R.S. HITS MERRILL LYNCH
WASHINGTON. The brokerage agrees to pay a large fine for advocating "questionable tax shelters" to clients.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=5130
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I.R.S. MISPLACES ALMOST A BILLION
The check was not in the mail! 40,000 federal tax returns and payments involving $810 million were either lost or destroyed.
LINK: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,33228,00.html
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EURO OFFICIAL LAUNCH
BRUSSELS. On Thursday EU bureaucrats launched the 'euro' and all over Europe, hoarded cash is coming out of mattresses.
LINKS: Click Here.
Click Here.
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EURO vs. ITALIAN FREEDOM
ROME. A Italian activist concludes the Italian government has sold out Italy's sovereignty by accepting the euro.
LINK: Click Here.
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EUROPEANS HOARD CASH
Many Europeans keep their money unbanked. A third of the 333 billion euro (£210 billion) cash circulating in Europe is hoarded for to avoid taxes. LINK: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,37-2001300203,00.html
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SPANISH ELITE VICTIMS OF MULTIMILLION $ SCAM
MADRID. A trail of $91 million dollars in possible fraud winds its way through Jersey, Switzerland and an as yet unnamed tax haven. LINK: Click Here.
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* MONEY LAUNDERING NEWS *
F.A.T.F. BLACKLIST DWINDLES
We have reported much about the OECD's Financial Action Task Force(FATF) blacklist issued in June 2000 accusing 15 nations of tolerating criminal cash. As of early this week only RUSSIA, the PHILIPPINES and NAURU remained on the list.
LINK: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/abs/inews-aug2001.nsf/national/20010828395
And two days ago the Pacific island of NAURU, said it too has a new anti-money laundering law in place.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=5138
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F.A.T.F. "TOOTHLESS POODLE"
A leading advocate of offshore financial freedom claims that in the area of Internet gambling, now a booming $3 billion a year business, FATF is as ineffective as a "toothless poodle".
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=5140
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PUTIN'S OFFSHORE CONNECTION
The RUSSIAN president's alleged connection with criminal offshore cash dealings may have kept the nation on FATF's blacklist.
LINK: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001/08/29/002.html
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ANTIGUA COMES CLEAN
Both the US and UK lifted their 'financial advisory' warnings on Antigua & Barbuda, now this offshore nation touts its fight against money laundering and organized crime.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=5119
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MALAYSIA MONEY
LABUAN, Malaysia's offshore financial hub, with 60 odd offshore banks in its 'International Offshore Financial Center,' also has a new Anti-ML law.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=5099
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AFRICAN CASH CLEANERS
DARES SALAAM. Six countries in eastern and southern Africa establish a task force to curb money laundering and economic crimes.
LINK: http://www.africast.com/article.cfm?newsID=22576
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* PRIVACY *
UNSUNG PRIVACY HERO
George Orwell's classic novel '1984' depicts a world in which individuals have no privacy, freedom or power. Phil Zimmermann's PGP encryption helped thwart those horrors.
http://jeffersonreview.com/articles/2001/082001/hero.htm
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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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