John Whiting of PricewaterhouseCoopers has told the BBC:
It has an image of being secretive but it is major financial centre. An awful lot of extremely reputable business goes on there
Well he would say that, of course. His firm is there. But what is it that you do there exactly John? And why does a legitimate business need to be there. Give me just one good reason that means it has to be there rather than somewhere else (other than it's making dentures - which is not why PWC is in Vaduz)?
I'll be quite bold: there is no reason for a legitimate business to be in Liechtenstein. That's not the same as there is no legitimate business in Liechtenstein, of course. But what I am saying is I can think of no reason why legitimate business needs the secrecy that Liechtenstein provides (and that is its only product). In that case I can ask, even if you are legitimate, what are you seeking to hide?
PS The same article has a somewhat more sober and reasoned quote from me.
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errr…irrespective of your moral stance on this, a) Liechtenstein is a small revenue earner for the Big 4, and b) in the case of KPMG see ….http://www.kpmg.ch/li/ Liechtenstein is a subsidiary office of its Swiss practice and not a separate country practice on its own, hence why it isn’t in the drop down box. If you select Switzerland and then follow the links to locations, you’ll see Schaan highlighted http://www.kpmg.ch/WhoWeAre/1027.htm
Hardly an attempt to hide it, don’t you think??