USA Africa Dialogue Series - Tax havens: Super-rich 'hiding' at least $21tn: "The figure is equivalent to the size of the US and Japanese economies combined."

It's still the bane of African nations that some of the rich people
( politicians in particular) prefer to stash their loot abroad, to the
detriment of the suffering masses in their various nations
I remember the wave of national disappointment about that botched
attempt to kidnap Shagari's runaway minster of transport and
communications Umaru Dikko (rumoured to have in excess of £5 billion)
and to bring him to justice. The popular cry was that he was going to
"vomit" the money, but as you may or may not know, " money talks,
bullshit walks..."

"The figure is equivalent to the size of the US and Japanese economies
combined."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18944097

Tax havens: Super-rich 'hiding' at least $21tn

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James Henry says his $21tn figure is a conservative estimate

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A global super-rich elite had at least $21 trillion (£13tn) hidden in
secret tax havens by the end of 2010, according to a major study.

The figure is equivalent to the size of the US and Japanese economies
combined.
The Price of Offshore Revisited was written by James Henry, a former
chief economist at the consultancy McKinsey, for the Tax Justice
Network.

Tax expert and UK government adviser John Whiting said he was
sceptical that the amount hidden was so large.

Mr Whiting, tax policy director at the Chartered Institute of
Taxation, said: "There clearly are some significant amounts hidden
away, but if it really is that size what is being done with it all?"
Mr Henry said his $21tn is actually a conservative figure and the true
scale could be $32tn. A trillion is 1,000 billion.

Mr Henry used data from the Bank of International Settlements,
International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and national governments.

His study deals only with financial wealth deposited in bank and
investment accounts, and not other assets such as property and yachts.

The report comes amid growing public and political concern about tax
avoidance and evasion. Some authorities, including in Germany, have
even paid for information on alleged tax evaders stolen from banks.

The group that commissioned the report, Tax Justice Network, campaigns
against tax havens.
Mr Henry said that the super-rich move money around the globe through
an "industrious bevy of professional enablers in private banking,
legal, accounting and investment industries.
"The lost tax revenues implied by our estimates is huge. It is large
enough to make a significant difference to the finances of many
countries.

"From another angle, this study is really good news. The world has
just located a huge pile of financial wealth that might be called upon
to contribute to the solution of our most pressing global problems,"
he said.
'Huge black hole'

James Henry says his $21tn figure is a conservative estimate

The report highlights the impact on the balance sheets of 139
developing countries of money held in tax havens that is put beyond
the reach of local tax authorities.

Mr Henry estimates that since the 1970s, the richest citizens of these
139 countries had amassed $7.3tn to $9.3tn of "unrecorded offshore
wealth" by 2010.

Private wealth held offshore represents "a huge black hole in the
world economy," Mr Henry said.
Mr Whiting, though, urged caution. "I cannot disprove the figures at
all, but they do seem staggering. If the suggestion is that such
amounts are actively hidden and never accessed, that seems odd - not
least in terms of what the tax authorities are doing. In fact, the US,
UK and German authorities are doing a lot."

He also pointed out that if tax havens were stuffed with such sizeable
amounts, "you would expect the havens to be more conspicuously wealthy
than they are".
Other findings in Mr Henry's report include:

At the end of 2010, the 50 leading private banks alone collectively
managed more than $12.1tn in cross-border invested assets for private
clients

The three private banks handling the most assets offshore are UBS,
Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs

Less than 100,000 people worldwide own about $9.8tn of the wealth held
offshore.
Mr Henry told the BBC that it was difficult to detail hidden assets in
some individual countries, including the UK, because of restrictions
on getting access to data.

A spokesman for the Treasury said great strides were being made in
cracking down on people hiding assets.

He said that in 2011-12 HM Revenue & Customs' High Net Worth Unit
secured £200m in additional tax through its compliance work with the
very wealthy.

He said that agreements reached with Liechtenstein and Switzerland
will bring in £3bn and between £4bn and £7bn respectively.

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