Treasure Islands: Dirty Money, Tax Havens and the Men Who Stole Your Cash

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Treasure Islands: Dirty Money, Tax Havens and the Men Who Stole Your Cash Page 38

by Nicholas Shaxson


  land value, 224–5

  multinational, 12–15

  as offshore system: See offshore system

  progressive, 162–3

  and property rights, 158

  rates, 154–60

  and reform, 223

  statistics on, 15, 162–3

  as theft, 158

  treaties, 147–8

  U.S. statistics on, 162–3

  war, 156

  in World War I, 40

  zero, 12–15

  tax avoidance, 25, 29, 33–4, 36, 40–1, 45, 47, 103, 130, 159, 216

  tax competition, 149–56

  tax deferrals, 112–13

  tax evasion, 16–17, 25, 29, 44, 57, 76, 88, 101–2, 110, 118–19, 129, 133, 157–8, 160, 163, 167, 185, 230, 246n4

  tax havens/secrecy jurisdictions

  “blacklist” of, 24–5, 150, 161–2, 168–9, 223

  British: See British tax havens

  central, 16–23, 26

  See British tax havens; European tax havens; U.S. tax havens

  and colonialism: See colonialism companies using, 20–2

  defined, 6–8, 11–13

  and denial, 12–13

  and developing countries: See developing countries

  as easy to set up, 24

  and elites: See elites

  European: See European tax havens

  features of, 12–13

  and multinationals: See multinational corporations

  OECD blacklist of, 24–5

  and ordinary citizens: See ordinary citizens

  rationalizations for, 156–8, 165–6

  statistics on, 11, 16, 28–9, 32

  U.S.: See U.S. tax havens

  Tax Justice Network (TJN), 28, 128, 170, 181, 234n4–5, 237n44

  tax treaties, 147–8

  terrorist financing, 22, 26, 29, 35, 121, 131, 133, 167, 173

  Texas, 110, 115, 120–1, 204

  Thatcher, Margaret, 32, 66, 84–5, 204, 252n16

  Tiebout, Charles, 154

  Time magazine, 83

  “too big to fail,” 21, 31, 130, 217

  Total group, 5

  transfer pricing (or mispricing), 9, 14–15, 29, 42, 108, 123, 152, 215–16, 227, 239n10

  defined, 14

  transparency, 8–9, 12, 16, 24, 26, 33, 58, 110, 112, 119, 122, 126, 128, 140, 157–8, 160, 167–8, 170, 177, 179, 188, 190, 208, 221–3, 226, 228–30, 247n31,32, 248n44, 250n21

  Transparency International (TI), 126–7

  Travers, Anthony, 166–7, 182

  trusts, 43–7, 64, 69, 90, 92, 99, 103, 105, 125–6, 133, 139, 173–6, 180, 201, 207, 223, 225–7, 235n19, 239n17,18, 248n34, 250n25

  defined, 43–7

  and retaining control, 45

  Turks and Caicos (British overseas territory), 18–19, 23, 27, 87

  UBS, 138, 140, 177, 249n18

  Uganda, 145, 183

  Union Cold Storage, 45–6

  United Nations, 9, 136, 146, 161, 231–2

  United States and Britain, 19–20, 49–50, 54–5

  and corporate income tax, 40

  deficits, 80, 84, 114, 116, 118–19, 194, 217

  and financial regulation, 63, 67–70, 78–80, 100–3, 119–20

  statistics on oil, 1, 32, 40, 52, 60, 162–3

  tax havens: See U.S. tax havens

  and transfer pricing, 14–15

  USAID, 22

  U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 18, 109, 112, 133, 142

  U.S. Congress, 20, 39, 83, 110, 122, 160–1, 170, 225, 246n11

  U.S. Congressional Black Caucus, 161

  U.S. Council of Economic Advisors, 83

  U.S. dollar, 63, 65, 75, 83–4, 88, 92–3

  U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 109, 121

  U.S. Federal Reserve, 78–9, 101, 111, 114, 141, 143, 247n18

  U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), 15, 20, 22, 103, 234n4, 236n30

  U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 117, 120–1, 150–1, 162, 236n29, 253n31

  United States Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC), 22

  U.S. Senate, 14, 21, 36, 38–9, 46–7, 58, 68, 102, 110–11, 121–2, 132, 135, 140, 150–1, 156, 160, 162, 168, 170, 173, 183–4, 187–8, 190, 195, 198, 205, 207, 226, 254n11, 256n33

  U.S. tax havens, 9, 16, 20–3, 31–2, 107–28

  and “aged shelf company,” 121

  and balance-of payments deficit, 107–8, 112, 116

  central figure of: See Wall Street and corporate governance, 122–5

  and crime, 21–2, 24–5, 109–13

  and deficit financing, 9

  and “Dutch Sandwich,” 117

  and Gordon report, 117

  on the federal level, 21, 107–20

  history of, 107–28

  legislation: See Qualified Intermediary Program

  and limited liability corporations

  See limited liability corporation

  market: See international banking facility

  and Netherlands Antilles, 117–18

  offshore bond market, 118–19

  and oil, 107–8, 113–14

  opponents of, 108

  overseas rung of, 22–3

  See Marshall Islands; Panama; U.S. Virgin Islands

  overview of, 16, 20–3

  and shell companies, 120–1

  on the state level, 21–2, 120–2

  See Delaware; Florida; Nevada; Texas; Wyoming

  statistics on, 32

  See Wall Street

  U.S. Virgin Islands, 22, 236n30

  Uruguay, 16, 46–7

  usury, 123, 193–5, 200, 204

  U2, 17

  Vallely, Paul, 127

  “value creation,” 216

  Vanuatu (South Pacific), 19, 26–7

  Venezuela, 3, 37, 142

  Vesco, Robert, 98

  Vestey brothers (Edmund and William), 36–47

  and titles, 45

  and trusts, 43–7

  Vietnam, 21, 84, 97, 109, 114, 116

  Vinson, Fred, 56

  Volcker, Paul, 114

  “vulture funds,” 143–4

  Wachovia bank, 9, 22, 103, 236n27

  Walker, Frank, 187

  Walker, William, 99

  Wall Street, 7, 9–10, 11, 20–1, 23–4, 26, 31, 52, 54–6, 58–9, 61, 63, 65–8, 70, 74–5, 82–5, 106, 108–11, 115, 118, 130, 185, 191, 193, 196, 206, 214, 216–17, 221

  and securitization, 26

  as “too big to fail,” 21, 31, 130, 217

  Washington, D.C., 10, 21–2, 29, 31, 49, 51, 54–5, 67, 83, 107, 112, 120, 124, 130, 133–4, 139, 150, 152, 160–1, 163, 170, 171, 183, 198, 223

  Watergate, 98

  Waweru, Michael, 145

  Welch, Chuck, 195

  West Africa, 3, 8–9, 97, 105, 231

  whistleblowers, 9, 181, 192

  White, Harry Dexter, 49, 55, 57–8, 110

  The Whore of the Republic (Deviers-Joncour), 5

  Wilson, Harold, 75

  Wilson, Woodrow, 39

  Wolf, Martin, 60

  Wolters Kluwer, 125

  Woods, Martin, 9, 60, 164

  World Bank, 29, 56, 126

  World Economic Forum (WEF), 153–4

  World War I, 16, 37, 39–40, 42, 45, 50, 54, 234n13, 240n17, 241n7

  World War II, 8, 49–50, 54, 63, 65, 130, 240n17, 251n11

  WorldCom, 68, 123, 202, 204

  Wriston, Walter, 81–2, 141, 195

  Wyoming, 22, 27, 120, 122

  Xie, Andy, 106

  Zeder II, Fred M., 22, 236n31

  zero taxation, 6, 12–15, 32, 108, 152, 190, 221, 223, 227

  Zvygintsev, Alexander, 69

 

 

 
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