New Delhi: Questioning the government’s decision to constitute a multi-agency team to look into the leaked ‘Panama Papers’, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav on Tuesday said it was “embarrassing” that the list of account holders includes the names of Padma awardees.
“A SC-monitored SIT is already looking into the issue of black money. The leaked Panama Papers should be part of this investigation. It is embarrassing that Padma awardees are among those who have opened such accounts,” he said.
He also attacked corporate houses for “looting” the country in the name of liberalisation and said the annual turnover of some of these was not more than Rs 2 crore in the 1990s but in 25 years rose to more than Rs 2 lakh crore.
“Has any government ever checked and verified as to how and why certain groups become so wealthy? Even a layman can understand that they cannot become so wealthy without the connivance of the government.
“The report has revealed Indians in the global list of (those holding) secret firms in tax havens. “It is the result of blind liberalisation and big people took advantage by accumulating illegal money abroad,” Yadav said in a statement.
Suisse, HSBC dismiss tax allegations
Credit Suisse and HSBC, two of the world’s largest wealth managers, dismissed on Tuesday suggestions they were actively using offshore structures to help clients cheat on their taxes.
Their comments came a day after a leak of four decades of documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies showed widespread use of those instruments by global banks on behalf of their clients and triggered a raft of government investigations across the world.
Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, who is aggressively targeting Asia’s wealthiest for growth, said his bank was only after lawful assets.
“We as a company, as a bank only encourage the use of structures when there is a legitimate economic purpose,” Thiam, who took the helm at Switzerland’s second-largest bank last year, told a media briefing. Separately, HSBC said the documents pre-dated a thorough reform of its business model.
“The allegations are historical, in some cases dating back 20 years, predating our significant, well-publicised reforms implemented over the last few years,” said Gareth Hewett, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for HSBC.
HSBC and Credit Suisse were named among the banks that helped set up complex structures that make it hard for tax collectors and investigators to track the flow of money from one place to another, according to ICIJ, which based its reports on the leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca.
