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The Panama Papers: ANZ Bank was the leading Australian bank in the world of offshore accounts; Samoan diplomat was used to help  create shell companies - Samoa’s high commission in Australia couriered papers

4/4/2016

7 Comments

 
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As we trawl through the Panama Papers for Fijians, it has emerged that ANZ Bank was the leading Australian bank in the world of
offshore accounts

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PictureChenoworth
By Neil Chenoweth
Financial Review


The Mossack Fonseca files show the critical importance that banks hold in the offshore world – and ANZ is the most visible of the Australian banks in the offshore space.

ANZ appears in 7548 of the Mossack documents, reflecting the bank's extensive work in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Samoa and Jersey. 

By comparison, Westpac appears in 995 documents, National Australian Bank 261 documents and Commonwealth Bank just 164 documents. Most of these are references to clients' bank accounts or reference letters written for their clients when they buy a Mossack shelf company.

ANZ's figures are boosted by the Jersey operations of its Grindlays Bank subsidiary in the 1990s. ANZ sold Grindlays in 2000. More recently, ANZ had three times as many references in Mossack Fonseca documents in 2015 as Westpac.

The ANZ remains the dominant force in banking in the Pacific. In Samoa, the ANZ's influence is such that in 2008 when the country's Registrar of International and Foreign Companies, Erna Va'ai, and a director of Samoa International Finance Authority visited Mossack Fonseca's offices to promote business, they were accompanied by the head of ANZ Bank (Samoa), Peter Johnson.

The apparent closeness raises questions as to whether the bank was also advising the Samoan government on Australia's tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) proposal.

Banks are the key to the offshore world because an offshore company is useless until it has a bank account, and under the draconian "know your customer" laws a bank can only open an account if it knows who the name of the company's real owner.

"It is very difficult to open a corporate account," a Mossach Fonseca executive complained in an April 2013 report.

"Unlike before, loads of [Due Diligence] needs to be proceeded before and during the account opening. However, Raymond has recommended a new bank named ANZ BANK. It is an Australian bank but the service is as good as other commercial bank. This is a really good tip."

Three months later the Mossack executive reported meeting an ANZ officer in Hong Kong who said "she would love to assist me to go through with some cases".

An ANZ spokesman told The Australian Financial Review: " We reject the suggestion that ANZ has a 'dominant position' in servicing clients in tax havens or that ANZ is more willing to service such clients."
ANZ conducted extensive ongoing due diligence procedures.

"Customer risk of tax crimes is one of many factors ANZ takes into account when assessing customer risk of money laundering," he said

" We note that the 2013 comment you refer to states that ANZ's 'KYC procedure is very strict'."

The ICIJ's 2012 Offshore Leaks database previously showed several Australian banking employees held investments in Cook Islands and Hong Kong companies, raising the vexed issue of how much banks should know about their employees' personal finances.

Sydney lawyer Debra Lighezzolo told the Financial Review she had not informed the National Australia Bank when she used her NAB email account in December 2007 to order a Seychelles company, Lynus Development Limited from Mossack Fonseca, "to hold investments in private and public companies".

Lynus would be owned by Fencourt Foundation in Panama, which Ms Lighezzolo would control.

The Mossack Fonseca files show she supplied documentation including a copy of her passport and a recommendation from a St George Bank manager, who said Ms Lighezzolo had held her existing account with St George for 20 years.

Ms Lighezzolo's London lawyer, Paul Puxon told Mossack Fonseca at the time: "It is only for the holding of shares in a listed company – the shares will not be issued for some time, but I need to give the lawyers involved in the readmission of the shares to the AIM market details of the company number and copies of its incorporation documents".

There is no indication in the Mossack files whether the proposed investment proceeded. However, it raises the thorny question of how much banks should know about what their staff do in their private investments.

In a statement for Lighezzolo, Mr Puxon told the AFR that her 2007 decision to set up the structure "was not connected in any way with her work for the bank".

Ms Lighezzolo, whose email sign-off described her as Principal Counsel for nabCapital, "does not know what the bank's policy was as regards executives holding shares. Our client was not an executive of the bank," Mr Puxon said.

Ms Lighezzolo had joined NAB under a short-term contract in September 2007 after a year at Commonwealth Bank and five years at Westpac.  

While some US banks for governance reasons restrict senior staff from holding accounts with other banks, Mr Puxon said the NAB's only requirement was that Ms Lighezzolo should have a NAB account to process her salary.

"As far as our client is aware there were no other restrictions to prevent her from having accounts with other banks."

He said the Seychelles/Panama Foundation structure "was not and has not been used by our client".

A NAB spokeswoman said the bank was legally barred from discussing personal finances of former employees but said NAB had "a strict code of conduct that all employees must adhere to as part of their employment, which specifies that commercial and personal interests must never interfere with the ability to make sound, objective business decisions – and that employees must help safeguard market integrity."

"NAB requires all employees to disclose where there is any potential conflict of interest."

Insisting that employees only held bank accounts at NAB would be an invasion of privacy, she said. 

Read more: http://www.afr.com/business/banking-and-finance/financial-services/the-panama-papers-anz-was-the-leading-australian-bank-in-mossacks-universe-20160403-gnx40c#ixzz44sCzv6Sq

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An officer at Samoa’s high commission in Australia routinely assisted Mossack Fonseca in creating shell companies, files from the firm reveal. One of those shell companies later faced sanctions for supplying goods to the Syrian government and military...Read more below
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/04/samoan-diplomat-was-used-to-help-mossack-fonseca-create-shell-companies

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From film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to corporates including DLF owner K P Singh and nine members of his family, and the promoters of Apollo Tyres and Indiabulls to Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod Adani.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/panama-papers-list-amitabh-bachchan-kp-singh-aishwarya-rai-iqbal-mirchi-adani-brother/

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3522429/Moment-Icelandic-Prime-Minister-storms-interview-asked-hiding-millions-bank-bonds-secretive-Panama-firm-country-s-financial-collapsed.html

Putin and the 'Dirty Dozen': 11million leaked documents reveal how TWELVE world leaders - plus Russian leader's inner circle, British politicians and Lords - hide their millions in tax havens

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MORE TO FOLLOW ON THE PANAMA PAPERS

The Fijian Dictatorship of Bainimarama-Khaiyum had a simple solution when presented with the overseas bank details of their former Interim Finance Minister Mahendra Pal Chaudhry - the Fiji Sun's then former editor and publisher Russell Hunter was abducted, detained, tortured
and deported out of Fiji in 2008

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Chinese President Xi Jinping's family used offshore tax havens to conceal their fortunes according to Panama Papers leak; Some of China's top communist elites are implicated in the Panama Papers; At least eight, including the president's family, used offshore tax havens; Chinese President Xi Jinping's brother-in-law is among those identified; He is among 140 political figures around the world to be named in the leak

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7 Comments
maropito
4/4/2016 07:57:49 pm

Fiji Leaks, Is bai Kai's name is on the list.

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Rajend Naidu
4/4/2016 09:20:20 pm

Editor,
France has opened a Panama Papers probe with a view to prosecuting those engaged in money laundering. And, has thanked the Panama Papers whistleblowers ( France 24 news 5/04).
Whistleblowers - those who expose the corruption of the rich and powerful in our midst who strut about as models of success and respectability but are in fact crooks; and the evil doings of ruthless and corrupt rulers who repress their people - have a vital role to play in today's world . The French president has acknowledged that.
This is why Fijileaks and other blog sites must continue to shine the spotlight on the scoundrels in Fiji who harm the country and its people with what they do.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
Pita
4/4/2016 10:17:15 pm

There is no legal requirement to Panama to register the identities of shareholdiers in off shore companies. The question Fiji people should be asking is how many of those firms that purchased Fiji's $300 million govt bond rescheduling plus an additional $200 million loan last year that was brokered by ANZ, were Panama based? And who are those shadowy shareholders behind those firms and how many of them are fronts for businessmen and politicians in Fiji. There should be an investigation into this float

Reply
Tax Dodgers who ask us to follow Law.
5/4/2016 01:57:50 am

How it works is that there are international lenders who happen to be these sitting funds in those accounts awaiting to legalise their money over a period of time.

So the unlimited pool of money is sitting to be loaned with a little paper work and possibly loaned at say 3 - 4% p.a. Then the broker makes 1%, and a few others all make 1% who are finding the investor and the ones who are finding the customer.

This way the illegal money loaned adds up to 9% for the ANZ would make the most part of that commission.

So the law makers are the law breakers while that abuse has put us into poverty.

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Dekho
5/4/2016 02:28:18 am

Is anybody surprised that a Samoan diplomat was used to create shell companies and the Samoan High commissioner in Australian courried papers?
Pacific island politicians have a long tradition of doing the dirty to profit themselves.
I'd be surprised if the Samoans turned out to be the only ones identified in this Panama Papers leak.

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Tomasi
12/4/2016 09:08:11 pm

Would this "Panama Papers" be related to ANZ Pacific and the recent decision to let Mohan go?? Would ANZ Pacific be involved (mentioned) in the activities revealed in the Panama revelations? But what about the tax haven of Vanuatu, so close and convenient for us in the South Pacific. Would some of our own "leaders" in politics, business etc be keeping (hiding) their treasure in Port Vila? Interesting questions??

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Hasmukh Lal
16/5/2016 10:44:01 am

It would be interesting to find out about the other companies like the Timber Holdings Co.

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