Pandora Papers ‘not representative of offshore financial industry’

5 October 2021

The Pandora Papers are not representative of the wider offshore financial industry, the CEO of deVere Group has said in response to the leak of 11.9 million files from companies that specialise in creating offshore companies and trusts.

Nigel Green said the vast majority of people who use companies providing offshore financial products and services are “hard-working, law-abiding” individuals looking for better returns and greater flexibility.

The Pandora Papers, which follow on from the Panama Papers in 2016 and Paradise Papers in 2017, exposed a number of high-profile individuals including royalty, former Prime Ministers and celebrities who have kept their assets hidden through offshore companies.

Green says: “When it comes to those who are in or have previously held political or royal office and/or those who are actively seeking to break the law by hiding or washing money, busting sanctions or evading tax, there must be complete transparency with financial dealings.

“However, the vast majority of the millions of people who use companies providing offshore financial products and services are not representative of those high-profile names that have been disclosed.

“In my four decades of working with cross-border investors, the number one reason people keep money in an offshore account is convenience.”

These accounts offer investors centralised, safe, flexible and global access to their funds regardless of where the person lives or may move to in the future, says Green.

In addition, many offshore financial hubs offer tax neutrality, resulting in protection for firms that do business across multiple jurisdictions from double taxations.

According to Green, many international investors opt for these hubs as they offer the flexibility of corporate structures and issuance of a mix of share classes, easy incorporations and a robust legal system, .

Green adds: “I have said on many occasions, financial privacy can be needed to keep individuals and families safe. That said, there is a difference between privacy and secrecy. Exchanging information between government authorities for relevant tax matters is legitimate. Sharing financial information with anyone else is not. Privacy can be crucial, secrecy hardly is.

“The Pandora Papers illustrate that more should still be done to improve co-operation between some jurisdictions, however, they are not representative of today’s wider international financial services industry.

“Although they should also act as an opportunity to further enhance the effectiveness and credibility of these international financial centres and the sector. This is especially important as the industry is set to grow exponentially in the coming years as individuals and companies seek to become ever more globalised.”

Professional Paraplanner