The US treasury department intends to soon issue a long-delayed rule forcing banks to seek the identities of people behind shell-company account holders, after the “Panama Papers” leak provoked a glob
The US treasury department intends to soon issue a long-delayed rule forcing banks to seek the identities of people behind shell-company account holders, after the “Panama Papers” leak provoked a global uproar over the hiding of wealth via offshore banking devices.
A department spokes-man said on Wednesday the rule would “soon” be turned over to the White House for review and issuance, but did not confirm any timetable for the initiative, which has taken years.
The papers offer “validation for those who have been screaming for a decade” about the need for financial institutions in the United States and elsewhere to address risks of money laundering, terror finance and other crime by identifying people who clandestinely control legal entities, former treasury official Chip Poncy said.
Panama is fighting off a feared international crackdown on its pivotal finance sector, calling for talks to calm a worldwide storm sparked by revelations of its role in a mass of secretive offshore dealings. Faced by accusations that Panama has allowed the rich and powerful to hide their funds from international tax authorities and the law, President Juan Carlos Varela vowed to “confront whoever comes to put down Panama’s image”.
Meanwhile, reports on Thursday said nearly a third of the business of the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers scandal came from its offices in Hong Kong and China, with the Asian giant assailed by corruption and capital flight.
More than 16,300 of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca’s active shell companies were incorporated through its Hong Kong and China offices, 29 per cent of the worldwide total, according to the International Cons-ortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
