Top European countries call to end secrecy of shell companies

Yahoo – AFP, April 14, 2016

A policeman stands guard outside Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm
 whose leaked Panama Papers revealed how the world's wealthy and powerful
used offshore companies to stash assets (AFP Photo/Ed Grimaldo)

Washington (AFP) - Europe's five leading economies called Thursday for a crackdown on tax havens, urging the G20 powers to end the secrecy of shell companies that enables tax evasion and money laundering.

In the strongest reaction yet to the leaked "Panama Papers," the finance ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain also proposed a blacklist of havens like Panama if they do not share corporate registry data with others.

They proposed establishing transnational registries that identify the beneficial owners of companies, trusts, foundations and other entities that had been able to hide from tax administrators and law enforcement.

"We want to have lists which make it possible to place sanctions on countries which don't respect the rules," said French Finance Minister Michel Sapin.

The proposal of the five was to be submitted to the finance ministers of the G20 meeting in Washington on Thursday and Friday.

"The recent extensive leaks from Panama show the critical importance of the fight against tax evasion, aggressive tax planning and money laundering," the five said.

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin speaks next to German Finance Minister

 Wolfgang Schauble (L) and Spanish Minister of Economy Luis De Guindos (R),

during a press conference on April 14, 2016 in Washington, DC (AFP Photo/Molly Riley)

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