14 Responses

1. Demetrius says:

   November 19 2012 at 12:28 pm

   Looking down the list I wonder if the UK were to require all the prominent people and company bossed who are major tax avoiders to be in residence in Greenland between September and May, preferably the north to be eligible for such reliefs, whether this might cause them to reconsider. As an act of charity we could allow them back for the London Summer Season, at a price, of course.
2. Peter Wilde says:

   November 19 2012 at 1:17 pm

   The Isle of Man has signed agreements with China, Germany, France, the UK, the US, Canada, Japan and the Netherlands to name a few out of 33 agreements.
   • Richard Murphy says:

     November 19 2012 at 5:13 pm

     And all of them are useless

     How much data has been exchanged?
     • Bradda says:

       November 19 2012 at 8:16 pm

       That, or even the number of requests, we will never know because it is confidential information.

       A question on this very subject was asked in Tynwald last month:
       http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/hansard/20002020/t121016.pdf#page=55
     • Richard Murphy says:

       November 20 2012 at 9:10 am

       Many thanks

       Now blogged
3. Someone says:

   November 19 2012 at 2:06 pm

   “$67 Trillion”

   http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-18/shadow-banking-grows-to-67-trillion-industry-regulators-say.html

   Methinks its out by about ten times that amount!.

   “Los Angeles Times”

   http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-white-house-secession-50-states-20121114,0,4408092.story
4. Someone says:

   November 19 2012 at 3:54 pm

   “The UK takes the largest share in Europe with €7 trillion, while the US, in comparison, has €18 trillion.”

   http://euobserver.com/economic/118241
5. pwright says:

   November 19 2012 at 5:05 pm

   After 300 years of slavery, exploitation, and colonialism, do you think we owe small islands something when they try to establish a viable economy?
   • Richard Murphy says:

     November 19 2012 at 5:12 pm

     Yes – we owe them a real economy – not a corrupt one
6. Ian Stevenson says:

   November 19 2012 at 6:53 pm

   Shadow banking seems to be undesirable for the 99%. 67 trillion is four and half times larger than than the GDP of the USA. How do we control it?
   If we were to say that as the shadow banking system took place outside the remit of the Regulators, their contracts were not enforceable in courts, would ‘meltdown’ -to use the cliche- result? Or could we come through it to a more ‘real’ economy as Richard means it in his response to pwright?
   • Richard Murphy says:

     November 19 2012 at 7:27 pm

     I believe that making contracts unenforceable is vital to beating offshore and other related abuses

     I think the approach entirely valid and fair. Why should our property law be used to support abuse that might shatter the whole concept of property?
7. Mark Morris says:

   November 19 2012 at 7:14 pm

   Anyone hazard a guess why half these agreements with Faroe Islands? Seems they’re the most immoral tax avoiding bunch of fishermen I have ever seen 🙂
8. Someone says:

   November 19 2012 at 8:37 pm

   “There are an estimated 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK — 1.6 million in severe poverty. This shocking figure is expected to rise by 400,000 by 2015.”

   http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/resources/online-library/child-poverty-2012-it-shouldnt-happen-here
9. The Isle of Man is committed to openness and transparency, as long as it is done in secret » Tax Research UK says:

   November 20 2012 at 9:09 am

   […] wrote yesterday about the farce of the tax information exchange agreements that have been signed by many tax […]