Shruti Shah on the U.S. response to the Panama Papers: A step in the right direction but more action is needed. (FCPA Blog)
May 9, 2016The massive leak dubbed the Panama Papers has given the UK Anti-Corruption Summit on May 12 an unexpected boost. Those coming to the summit, now including the U.S., are lining up to make announcements about the steps they are taking to tackle corruption and specifically financial secrecy. Read more
Obama Addresses Mixed Monthly Employment Report [TI-USA quoted] [NPR] [Audio]
May 6, 2016TI-USA’s Shruti Shah says when shell companies open accounts here, bankers need to understand who really owns, controls and profits from the money. “One of the problems that was highlighted in the Panama Papers was that often officials named in executive positions or in managerial positions for anonymous companies are figureheads. They don’t actually control the entity.” Read More.
Five EU nations launch tax crackdown [BBC] [Video] [TI-USA Quoted]
April 14, 2016TI-USA Shruti Shah states, regarding UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain automatically sharing tax information, that “It is a great first step but a lot more work needs to be done; there is one player missing from the list that is the US; and this also shows that the UK needs to do more work in its own backyard and tackle overseas territories. Information on who truly owns these companies in these overseas territories also needs to be available.” Read More.
Cracking down on shell companies: a years-long debate (Marketplace) (Audio) (TI-USA Quoted)
April 7, 2016“As of now, U.S. financial institutions, while they’re required to do customer due diligence, they’re not really required to determine and verify the true beneficial owner of their corporate clients,” said Shruti Shah, vice president of the nonprofit Transparency International – USA. “That’s a loophole.” Read More.
Latest News On The Panama Papers (Wisconsin Public Radio, NPR) (Audio) (TI-USA Quoted)
April 7, 2016A large data leak called the Panama Papers recently accused a number of world leaders of hiding money in offshore bank accounts to avoid taxes. Shruti Shah explains what we know so far about the documents, and the fallout that could come from the scandal. Read More.
Miami Beach’s stoner gun-runner drama – now a Hollywood movie – shows up in Panama Papers (Miami Herald)
April 6, 2016“Professional dummy directors pose a huge problem for law enforcement, for creditors, even for journalists,” said Shruti Shah, vice president of the U.S. chapter of Transparency International, a global anti-corruption group. “They are just frontmen. If a [shell] company does something wrong, it is impossible to track down who is responsible.” Read more
Forget Panama: it’s easier to hide your money in the US than almost anywhere (The Guardian)
April 6, 2016One of the surprises about the Panama Papers – the largest leak from an offshore tax adviser in history – is how few Americans have so far been exposed. The reason? It may be because creating a shell company in the US is easier than obtaining a library card.
The anomaly may be because it’s so easy to create a vehicle to hide your money and your identity in the US that there’s no need to mess with Panama, according to Shruti Shah, vice-president of programs and operations at Transparency International, an anti-corruption organization. Read more
Before he went on lam, Italian fugitive used Miami firms to set up offshore (Miami Herald)
April 5, 2016The Panama Papers have revealed the extent to which offshore companies are shielded from scrutiny. “Shell companies facilitate domestic and international corruption and other crimes,” said Shruti Shah, vice president of the U.S. chapter of Transparency International, a global anti-corruption group. “Who benefits from these anonymous companies? People with something to hide.” Read more
Massive ‘Panama Papers’ document leak has world’s rich and powerful scrambling (The Gazette)
April 4, 2016The release of the so-called Panama Papers, possibly one of the largest leaks of secret intelligence ever and one that apparently reveals a vast network of financial shenanigans. “It’s not just the Virgin Islands and Panama where kleptocrats and criminals go to launder their illicit wealth,” said Shruti Shah, vice president of Transparency’s U.S. chapter. Read more