BBC News, 7
April 2013
Related
Stories
Luc Frieden insists Luxembourg's banking sector does not depend on tax avoiding customers |
In an
interview published on Sunday, Luc Frieden said he wanted to "strengthen
co-operation with foreign tax authorities".
Luxembourg
is known for its highly secretive banking sector.
Germany is
among the countries who say it is being used by foreign customers as a tax
haven.
Speaking to
Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper, Mr Frieden
acknowledged that other countries were increasingly demanding more information
on what their citizens were doing with their money in foreign banks.
"The
international trend is going toward an automatic exchange of bank deposit
information. We no longer strictly oppose that," he said.
Reliant on
banks
On Friday
Germany signed a tax evasion treaty with Switzerland - another European banking
centre known for its secrecy.
It is
designed to allow Germany to claw back taxes from German depositors hiding
money in Swiss banks.
Luxembourg
is a country of only 500,000 people, but its banks and other financial
institutions have assets worth more than 20 times the country's economic
output.
Despite its
heavy reliance on financial services, Mr Frieden insisted Luxembourg "does
not rely on clients who want to save on their taxes".
He has
previously said he wants banking customers to be attracted to Luxembourg by the
quality of its banking services, rather than it secrecy.
Calls for
more transparent banking sectors have grown louder in Europe in recent years,
as governments seek to raise more taxes to support their finances amid a global
recession.
The recent
bailout of Cyprus has also raised particular concerns about the risks posed by
small European states with over-sized financial sectors.
Offshore Secrets |
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