Speaking following Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s call for an independent investigation into the tax affairs of British citizens linked to the firm, Cameron said: “In terms of my own financial affairs, I own no shares, I have a salary as Prime Minister and I have some savings which I get some interest from, and I have a house which we used to live in, which we now let out while we’re living in Downing Street, and that’s all I have”.
Advertisement
The investigation is based on over 11 million emails, documents and client records allegedly leaked from Mossack Fonseca, a law firm based in Panama.
Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson are among the national leaders directly implicated in the leaks who have publicly defended themselves.
The head of the secretariat of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, Monica Bhatia, said the British Virgin Islands had improved transparency over the last five years, in contrast to Panama.
Gunnlaugsson on Tuesday asked for parliament to be dissolved after the opposition called a vote of no confidence in the government. “We don’t link ourselves in any way to companies we help incorporate”, the firm said in a statement.
Documents published by more than 100 media outlets alleged that President Vladimir Putin’s friends, including leading cellist Sergei Rodulgin, were engaged in an offshore scheme.
Is setting up a shell company or an offshore account illegal?
The World Weekly reported on the release of the Panama Papers, giving a round-up of the key takeaways.
He said: “Instead of cutting Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs the Government must provide extra resources to the tax authorities to go after those who think they are above the law”.
Meanwhile, governments in the U.K., France, Belgium, Australia and Mexico have pledged to investigate the leaks for possible cases of tax evasion.
Along with Xi, who has spearheaded a sweeping campaign against corruption at all levels, they include relatives of former premiers Wen Jiabao and Li Peng, ex-president Hu Jintao and one-time paramount leader Deng Xiaoping who oversaw China’s transition from orthodox Marxism to a hybrid communist-capitalist system.
“The Messi family wants to make clear that Lionel Messi has not carried out any of the acts attributed to him, and accusations he created a…tax evasion plot, including a network of money-laundering, are false and insulting”, it said in a statement.
The business, which still exists in Panama, is said to have handled millions from the Barcelona star’s image rights contracts. The revelations show how some of the world’s wealthy set up offshore companies for their assets to hide them from scrutiny.
Parliament was not in session but deliberations on the crisis are expected to resume later this week.
Gunnlaugson has denied any wrongdoing and said he and his wife have paid all their taxes.
According to media that have seen Mossack Fonseca’s files, more than half of the 200,000 companies set up by the firm were registered in the British Virgin Islands, where details of ownership do not have to be filed with the authorities.
Heiko Maas’ proposal Tuesday to expand national money-laundering legislation followed a massive leak of documents from a Panama-based law firm.
Advertisement
Maas added: “I can imagine many countries considering this”.
