On January 12, 2017 a working document prepared by the co-rapporteurs of the European Parliament’s Committee of Inquiry to investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion (PANA) was released. The document, which is dated December 15, 2016, was prepared by PANA’s co-rapporteurs Jeppe Kofod and Petr Ježek. The document has been prepared to outline the approach these two co-rapporteurs would like to follow during the PANA committee mandate and in view of its final report. The document aims at presenting their understanding of the subject and highlights the key issues, activities, actors and practices these co-rapporteurs feel would require thorough research.
In the paragraph “Purpose and justification” the following is stated:
“The co-rapporteurs are of the opinion that the practices revealed by the Panama Papers shed light on unacceptable levels of secrecy, allowing for tax evasion, tax avoidance and money laundering both inside the EU and globally. Moreover, if it becomes a common practice that the super-rich hide their wealth in secrecy havens, this could lead to moral decline and unwarranted pressure on national budgets. It is the belief of the rapporteurs that the EU, as an economic leader, must lead by example by maintaining the highest transparency standards and by forcing other financial centres to comply with global and European transparency standards.
In the course of the mandate, the two co-rapporteurs would like to unravel the most damaging offshore practices, tax evasion, tax avoidance and money laundering activities and come-up with recommendations that could help bringing them to an end. They will analyse the most common offshore structures and the roles of actors that are involved in setting them up. Furthermore, they will look into the existing legal framework that is in place to prevent money laundering, tax evasion and tax avoidance and see to what extent loopholes exist or enforcement fails. To this end, the co-rapporteurs will look at the role of law enforcement bodies in the fields of anti-money laundering and tax evasion and look into the obstacles they encounter in their investigative work. The rapporteurs would also like to pay special attention to the intermediaries, as they believe that they play a key role in setting-up offshore companies and providing bank accounts, notably financial institutions, accountants and lawyers.”
In the document the co-rapporteurs discuss a.o. the approach the co-rapporteurs would like to take with respect to the following subjects:
· Tax evasion, tax avoidance and money laundering: the scope of the Panama papers scandal
· Magnitude of the Panama Papers scandal
o Panama Papers: general facts and figures
o Main offshore constructions (degrees of secrecy) encountered in the Panama Papers
o Recurring countries
o Recurring intermediaries and their role in the secrecy business
· Assessment of strengths and weaknesses of the EU legislation in force
o Legal framework for anti-tax evasion
o Legal framework(s) regulating intermediaries
· How is EU legal framework transposed into national legislation, enforced by national authorities and prosecuted?
· International dimension
o International standards: Cooperation with OECD/G20/FATF
o Trade agreements
o Global dimension
o Developing countries
o Sanctions/counter-measures on uncooperative countries or operators dealing with uncooperative countries
· Towards a better framework to tackle future scandals
o On whistle-blowers
o On the competences of EP committees of inquiry
Click here to be forwarded to the report as available on the website of the European Parliament.
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