Britain, US 'turning inward', Canadian PM says in Ireland

Yahoo – AFP, July 4, 2017

Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, left, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau at Farmleigh, Ireland's state guest house, in Dublin (AFP Photo/Paul FAITH)

Dublin (AFP) - Britain and the United States are "turning inward," Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a press conference with his Irish counterpart on Tuesday in which both leaders took swipes at their heavyweight neighbours.

Trudeau also said during a visit to Dublin that there were "clear disagreements" with the United States ahead of the G20 summit this week, where US President Donald Trump is expected to attend.

"The choices made by the United States on trade and climate change are at odds with the majority of G20 countries, or even all the other G20 countries," he said after talks with Ireland's Leo Varadkar.

Trudeau predicted that there would be "robust and honest exchanges about how to serve not only our citizens but the whole planet" at the summit, while adding that such meetings were also a chance to try to find "common ground".

The United States and Canada are locked in a trade dispute, with the US accusing Canada of exporting its products at unfairly low "dumping" prices.

Canada is also a major supporter of the Paris Agreement to combat global warming, which Trump has said he wants to pull out of.

Both leaders issued thinly veiled criticism of their neighbours' politics.

"There are tremendous opportunities for countries like Canada and Ireland, at a time where perhaps our significant allies and trading partners in the case of both the US and the UK are turning inward or at least turning into a different direction," Trudeau said.

The sentiment was echoed by Varadkar, who reiterated his country's commitment to the European Union as it prepares for Britain's exit from the bloc.

"We each share a relationship with a very big neighbour, a neighbour that has to a certain extent decided to go in a different direction at least for the time being," he said.

Varadkar said that "unfortunately" Britain had chosen to leave the European Union and would not be able to negotiate free-trade agreements like the one between Canada and the EU until it has officially left.

"I can't see a scenario where Britain could remain a member of the EU, even in transitional period, and then negotiate other trade deals on their own".

Varadkar, the son of an Indian migrant and Ireland's first openly gay prime minister, said he and Trudeau had discussed a wide range of issues, including the benefits of immigration and diversity.

"Both countries and both governments are committed to multilateralism as the best means by which we can solve the world's problems," Varadkar said.

#Canada PM @JustinTrudeau takes swipe at 'inward looking' US and UK during visit to Ireland https://t.co/83fPPQ3hU4 pic.twitter.com/Jh4r69fegV

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 4, 2017

Starbucks still pays low taxes in the Netherlands: FD

DutchNews, July 1, 2016

Starbucks is continuing to pay low tax bills in the Netherlands by using a tax ruling which the European Commission has ruled illegal, the Financieele Dagblad said on Friday. 

The paper said the most 2015 accounts of Starbucks Manufacturing Amsterdam show that the coffee roaster calculated its Dutch taxes according to the 2007 tax ruling and paid €434,732 to the treasury. At the same time, over €33m in royalties was sent to its European headquarters in London. 

The European Commisison said last year that the ruling amounted to state aid. The Dutch state is appealing against the decision and Starbucks plans to do the same, the FD said.

Since the commission published its findings, Starbucks has moved its European headquarters to Britain.

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G20 embraces crackdown on tax havens, warns over 'Brexit'

Top European countries call to end secrecy of shell companies

George Osborne in pledge to help world's poor fight tax abuse

George Osborne has pledged to drive forward a 'new agenda of transparency'.

Photograph: Olivia Harris/Reuters

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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EU launches new tax avoidance push

Yahoo – AFP, Alex Pigman, 28 January 2016

The European Union will launch plans Thursday to stamp out tax avoidance by multi-national corporations whose rock-bottom tax bills have provoked public outrage.

The plans are part of a multi-pronged push by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, to combat tax avoidance, alongside investigations into the tax deals of major groups such as Starbucks, McDonald's and Fiat.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) comes as Google agreed on Friday to pay £130 million ($185.4 million, 172 million euros) in back taxes to Britain after a scathing government inquiry into the search giant's tax arrangements.

"Recent studies at the European parliament estimate the revenue loss at around 50 to 70 billion euros ($55-75 billion) a year, roughly the equivalent of the GDP of Bulgaria," said Economics Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici during a news briefing.

"It is money that is taken from our hospitals, schools, transport, security and other vital public services," the former French finance minister added.

The European Commission said major corporations whose business spans continents will now be obliged to report profit country by country in an unprecedented break with the previous practice of moving money across borders to save on tax.

Another requirement will compel nations to agree on minimum standards for drawing up tax rules, so that multinationals stop the practice of shopping around for loopholes to avoid paying tax altogether.

"The days are numbered for companies that excessively reduce their tax bills," Moscovici said, adding that he hoped to finalise the proposals this year.

The 28 EU member states have passed a number of measures since the LuxLeaks scandal in 2014 revealed that top companies, including Pepsi and Ikea, had reduced their tax rates to as little as one percent in sweetheart deals with Luxembourg.

The revelations, unearthed by a group of investigative journalists, were a huge embarrassment to European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, who served almost two decades as Luxembourg's prime minister at the time of the deals.

The two main proposals are part of a 15-point OECD package agreed by leaders at a G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey in November.

The OECD calculates that national governments lose $100-240 billion, or 4-10 percent of global tax revenues, every year because of the tax-minimising schemes of multinationals.

Seven EU states are not part of the OECD and the pressure will be huge for them not to block the proposal. They are: Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Croatia and the frequent tax avoidance destination Cyprus.

Separately, the OECD on Wednesday said around 30 countries had signed an agreement to share information on tax issues in a bid to stem fiscal evasion by multinational companies.

Merkel, Putin talk as G20 debates Ukraine

Chancellor Angela Merkel has spent several hours at the G20 summit in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, joined later by EU Commission boss Jean-Claude Juncker. The talks are thought to have focused on Ukraine.

Deutsche Welle, 15 Nov 2014

G20 heads of state and government entered Sunday, the final day of the summit in Brisbane with Russia's Vladimir Putin ostracized and facing Western warnings that Moscow risked more economic sanctions over its alleged support of separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Media speculation that Putin might prematurely leave what was supposed to be an economic summit was denied by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"This is wrong. The president is taking part in all the [G20] events," Peskov said.

Since April's outbreak of a separatist insurgency against the Kyiv government, Moscow has denied arming pro-Russian rebels and sending military equipment.

Saturday's formal G20 photograph session saw Putin on the outer edge of the line-up.

Hotel conference room

The DPA news agency said German Chancellor Merkel visited Putin's Brisbane hotel and spent nearly six hours in a small conference room (pictured) on Saturday at unscheduled, closed-door talks reported to have focused on Ukraine.

DPA reported that her one-to-one talks with Putin lasted for two hours before they were joined by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The three-way talks then ran for around four hours.

Juncker said EU leaders at Sunday's G20 session intended to consult with US President Barack Obama, who was also in Brisbane. Juncker called on Putin to halt alleged weapons deliveries.

Putin, in turn, told Germany's ARD public television that Western sanctions already crippling the Russian economy would backfire, hurting Western trading partners and hampering deliveries of Russian gas and oil.

'Not satisfying'

Earlier, at a brief press conference, Merkel had said the EU was considering further financial sanctions against Russian individuals in relation to the Ukraine crisis.

"The present situation is not satisfying," she told reporters. "At present the listing of further persons is on the agenda."

Merkel added that it was obvious that the geopolitical strains were not beneficial in relation to the summit's intended goal - reinvigorating the global economy.

'Brisbane Action Plan'

At Sunday's closing session, G20 leaders were to focus on a plan to spur global economic growth and create jobs.

The "Brisbane Action Plan," based on a prognosis drawn up by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), would aim to inject two percent growth into the world economy and create 20 million new jobs worldwide.

Security talks without Xi

President Obama was due to hold talks with the Japanese and Australian prime ministers, Shinzo Abe and Tony Abbott on Asia-Pacific security.

Obama said those talks were not meant to antagonize rising power China.

"By virtual of its size and its remarkable growth, China will play a critical role in the future of this region," Obama said during a speech at a Brisbane university.

Visiting China earlier in the week, Obama emerged with a surprising level of concensus with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the need to reduce climate-damaging carbon emissions.

Climate change, Ebola

Tackling climate change has featured little so far on the summit agenda.

G20 leaders promised on Saturday to "extinguish" the Ebola epidemic gripping West Africa, but made no new cash pledges, aside from welcoming a IMF initiative to deliver 240 million euros ($300 million) to fight the hemorrhaging disease.

ipj/pfd (dpa, AP, Reuters, AFP)

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Commentary: OECD tax agreement - a little more justice

For tax evaders, the risk of being uncovered has escalated. An agreement governing the international exchange of data will bring a little more justice, says DW's business editor Henrik Böhme.

Deutsche Welle, 30 Oct 2014

It was one of the first books I was given 25 years ago after the fall of the wall. Its title: "1000 ganz legale Steuertricks" or in English, 1,000 completely legal tax tricks. It was important to know where you stood in the battle against the merciless tax office. At the time, creating a tax return was something of a pleasure, knowing that in the end, thanks to all possible personal reliefs, you'd be refunded a decent sum of money.

The book still exists, but times have changed. The taxation of well-earned money has already reached a painful level and ways of reducing the tax burden have become much smaller. The state - that expensive old being - needs every euro it can get. That goes without mentioning the fact that since the financial crisis rocked the world, countries that had to support their banks with billions have accumulated gigantic mountains of debt.

This has led to tax hunters around the world taking the opportunity to look more intensely than ever before where their compatriots, who have more money in their account than the average Joe, are stashing away their money - or better said, where its hidden from the tax authorities. Of course, for rich Germans, there were possibilities just around the corner in Luxembourg or Switzerland, where tax-saving investment was part of the government-tolerated business model. But it became a risky business: After CDs holding entire lists of names of tax evaders emerged, there were some spectacular arrests, including that of Deutsche Post boss, Klaus Zumwinkel. The number of voluntary self-denunciations soared because for many tax evaders it was becoming just too hot to handle.

DW's Henrik Böhme

Because the business with the CDs had a somewhat nasty aftertaste - after all, the data was obtained by criminal means and then offered for sale to the tax authorities, which is nothing more than receiving stolen goods - it seemed like the better idea to implement what the international community had already decided upon at the 2009 G20 summit in London: drain tax havens and declare war on tax evasion.

Now a huge step has been made in the shape of a newly signed agreement. "Banking secrecy has become obsolete," says the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble with pride. Tax evaders are now skating on even thinner ice.

But the question remains: are the tax offices in the position to cope with the flood of data due to arrive from 2017 on? Will all countries really pull together? Will all those participating be working on a level playing field? And what will be done to tackle new loopholes, which are bound to appear? One thing that remains important is to implement the agreement quickly and without undue delay.

This momentum must now be used to also curb creative tax policies of internationally operating companies. It may all be legal, but it simply cannot be that profits are pushed back until the tax burden is zero. What applies to private assets must also apply to corporate assets: taxes must be paid where the net product comes from. It's a chance now, at least, for a little more justice.

Related Article:

Switzerland, Singapore join clampdown on bank secrecy

Ireland to close ‘double Irish’ tax loophole

Finance minister to sound death knell for controversial scheme that allows multinationals to slash their overseas tax rates

The Guardian, Henry McDonald in Dublin, Monday 13 October 2014

The double Irish loophole allows US companies to reduce their tax bill by moving
 most of their taxable income from an operating firm in Ireland to an Irish-registered
firm in an offshore tax haven, such as Bermuda, above. Photograph: Getty

Apple and other multinationals based in Ireland are to be given a four-year window before the phasing out of a scheme that cuts their tax bills.

Amid mounting international criticism of the arrangements, which save foreign companies billions of euros, Ireland’s finance minister, Michael Noonan, is expected to announce the end of the “double Irish” scheme when he delivers his budget on Tuesday.

The European commission is investigating “sweetheart” tax deals between the Irish state and Apple, and last month Brussels provisionally found that the iPhone maker’s tax arrangements in Ireland were so generous as to amount to state aid.

Noonan’s move may pre-empt measures hinted at by the UK chancellor last month, when he announced a crackdown on technology firms’ tax strategies at the Conservative party conference. George Osborne said: “Some of the biggest technology companies in the world … go to extraordinary lengths to pay little or no tax here … We will put a stop to it.” Party officials briefed that he had companies using the double Irish scheme in his sights.

On the international stage, the G20 group of powerful economies has commissioned the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to produce a package of tax reforms to rein in multinationals. This work is expected to be completed by summer 2015.

Accompanying a pledge to remove the tax loophole, Noonan’s budget is expected to contain incentives for multinationals, such as lower tax rates for companies that centre their research and development facilities on Ireland. The so-called “patent box” will reward foreign firms that base their technological developments in the Irish state. This echoes the UK’s regime, which has attracted criticism from other countries as well as the EU’s code of conduct committee.

One of the republic’s largest unions, Unite, which has more than 100,000 members in Ireland, said the phasing out of the double Irish scheme was the result of EU pressure on the government. Michael Taft, an economist at Unite, said: “What corporations like Apple will lose when they get rid of the double Irish they will make up for in terms of other tax schemes for things like research and development.”

Tasc, the Dublin-based, centre-left economic thinktank, has warned that global publicity over the double Irish and other similar tax schemes has caused severe “reputational damage” for Ireland. Nat O’Connor, Tasc’s research director, said: “The negative international view of Ireland’s excessive flexibility around corporation tax has probably worsened the country’s reputation. Instead, Ireland needs to highlight the many other reasons why investment here is attractive, including our English-speaking, well-educated young workforce. Ireland also needs to rebalance the economy in favour of indigenous companies and reduce reliance on foreign direct investment.”

The double Irish loophole allows US companies to reduce their tax bill far below Ireland’s 12.5% corporate tax rate by shifting most of their taxable income from an operating company in Ireland to another Irish-registered firm in an offshore tax haven such as Bermuda.

While the phasing out of the double Irish will be the main item of the budget watched by the republic’s EU and international partners, Noonan’s plans for the state’s finances will also be critical, both in terms of Ireland’s fragile recovery but also the fate of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition.

Tens of thousands of people marched through central Dublin on Saturday in a protest against newly proposed water charges. To counter rising anger, Noonan will put forward a proposal to allow households to claim tax refunds worth up to €100 (about £80) from their water bills.

There is also expected to be a 1% cut in the top rate of income tax, which stands at 41%. There will also be reductions to the universal social charge, which was introduced in 2011 to bring in extra revenue to run public services.

No returning to G8: Russia

The Brics Post, June 4, 2014

Two security guards pass the entrance of the European Council building
in Brussels ahead of a two-day G7 meeting, Wednesday, June 4, 2014 [AP]

Russia said Wednesday that it was open for cooperation with major Western powers, but ruled out a return to the Group of Eight (G8), made up of the seven most industrialized nations, known as G7, and Russia.

“Such a format does not exist for now,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a Russian radio station.

Russia would, however, continue to participate in the Group of 20, which includes the most developed and major developing countries of the world, Peskov said.

Leaders of G7 declared in March that they would boycott the G8 summit in Sochi, where they were scheduled to have met with Russia this week. Instead, they gathered in Brussels for a two-day G7 summit.

The expulsion of Russia from the G8 came three days after Crimea accession to Russia.

Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin will not have a bilateral meeting with US President Barack Obama even though both leaders are attending the 70th anniversary of D-Day Landings in France’s Normandy on Friday.

“We are not making such preparations … Participants of war memorial events will stay together, in one group,” Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying.

He, however, did not rule out possible brief talks between Putin and Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko.

The Kremlin earlier confirmed that Putin, on his first visit to a Western country since the start of the Ukraine crisis, would have separate meetings with British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Normandy.

The US and EU have imposed travel bans and asset freezes on dozens of Russians over what they called Russia’s “meddling” in Ukraine’s affairs.

The European Union, however, would be troubled by Russia’s attempts to veer away from gas exports to the bloc by moving towards energy-hungry China.

Russia has had some success in diverting attention away from the troubling sanctions with the successful negotiations that led to the inking of a massive $400 billion gas deal with China last month and also the signing of the treaty to form the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, a combined $2.7 trillion economy and vast energy resources. 

TBP and Agencies

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Germany: A new role in Africa?

In the international media, Africa is more present than ever. This week, the German government laid out its new Africa policy. Yet not much has really changed, writes Claus Stäcker.

Deutsche Welle, 22 May 2014

German Chancellor Merkel called it the "continent of opportunities". The gap between Africa and Europe is growing smaller, noted the foreign ministry. Even the media who usually only report on African ferry disasters, abductions and mass killings, are suddenly interested in African development and military presence.

Africa has rarely been so visible to the German public. Yet, recent events in Nigeria, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Mali, have once again highlighted the risks and old stereotypes, and not the opportunities. Government spokesperson Steffen Seibert commented:

"The hotspots of the continent, the catastrophes and the crises are often the focus of the media reports. The strong economic growth in many African countries is hardly reported. The African policy guidelines of the federal government take all of these topics into account."

Chancellor Merkel and Nigerias President
Jonathan at this year's EU-Africa summit.

German firms pleased with the outcome

The areas of focus are not new: more self-reliance, good governance and accountability, democratization and education. Yet they are taking Germany's policies one step further. Previous governments also placed their hopes in sustainable economic development, which would serve the wider public. New approaches might be taken, by engaging Africans in a stronger dialogue and cooperating with them as equal partners.

In the past, Africans were often sidelined on the global playing-field. High-ranking posts in the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the United Nations were often decided without consulting African countries. Their voices were also left unheard in the creation of the G20 and when negotiating the terms of the European Union's Economic Partnership Agreement.

The German-African Business Association, which represents over 600 firms, viewed the new guidelines as a step in the right direction. The investors were glad to hear that the German government had acknowledged the positive changes in Africa. They especially welcomed the introduction of the so called Hermes Cover, which protects German companies if their trade partners fail to pay their debts.

Criticism from the opposition

The German public is often presented
with a picture of war and conflict.

Germany's opposition was less enthusiastic about the new policies. Uwe Kekeritz, a spokesperson for the Green Party described them as empty words. "The policies don't go into any detail," he argued. "There are no actual guidelines on how implement these goals. So these policies are not actually very useful. We have seen similar policies or Africa programs under the former government."

Jan van Aken, a foreign policy expert from the Left Party, warned of a stronger military engagement in Africa. Van Aken told DW. "Germans rarely care about violence and conflict in Africa, unless German interests are at stake". Van Aken noted that it is perfectly correct to want to prevent a genocide, like the Rwandan, yet he believes the German policies lack this preventive element. "One could do more to prevent the outbreak of the conflict on a civil level, rather than solving the problems militarily," he adds.

Development Minister Gerd Müller visited
 South Sudan in March. He appealed for an
 end to the conflict.

France has been pushing for a German alliance to curb the conflict in areas like the Central Africa Republic, which is on the verge of turning into a genocide. The majority of the German public are against foreign military interventions. The costly operation in Afghanistan was enough to make them wary of any further engagements. A survey, carried out by the Körber Foundation, showed that six ot of ten Germans were against further military operations. Germany's Minister for Development Gert Müller did his best to calms his colleagues in the government:

"Africa is not only a partner in trade but also in politics. That's what we do in the UN. In terms of security, we want to enourage the African Union to solve their conflicts themselves."

Müller however ruled out the possibility of sending fighting troops to any African conflict areas.

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"The End of History"- Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

".. Africa

Let me tell you where else it's happening that you are unaware - that which is the beginning of the unity of the African states. Soon the continent will have what they never had before, and when that continent is healed and there is no AIDS and no major disease, they're going to want what you have. They're going to want houses and schools and an economy that works without corruption. They will be done with small-minded leaders who kill their populations for power in what has been called for generations "The History of Africa." Soon it will be the end of history in Africa, and a new continent will emerge.

Be aware that the strength may not come from the expected areas, for new leadership is brewing. There is so much land there and the population is so ready there, it will be one of the strongest economies on the planet within two generations plus 20 years. And it's going to happen because of a unifying idea put together by a few. These are the potentials of the planet, and the end of history as you know it.

In approximately 70 years, there will be a black man who leads this African continent into affluence and peace. He won't be a president, but rather a planner and a revolutionary economic thinker. He, and a strong woman with him, will implement the plan continent-wide. They will unite. This is the potential and this is the plan. Africa will arise out the ashes of centuries of disease and despair and create a viable economic force with workers who can create good products for the day. You think China is economically strong? China must do what it does, hobbled by the secrecy and bias of the old ways of its own history. As large as it is, it will have to eventually compete with Africa, a land of free thinkers and fast change. China will have a major competitor, one that doesn't have any cultural barriers to the advancement of the free Human spirit. …."

India could declare Switzerland “non-cooperative jurisdiction”

The Brics Post, March 27, 2014

Citing tight bank secrecy laws, Switzerland
 has amassed assets worth trillions of dollars
from foreigners over the past decades [AP]

India has lashed out at Swiss officials for a lack of zeal in going after Swiss banks that helped Indians dodge taxes, threatening to declare Switzerland as a “non-cooperative jurisdiction”.

Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram has threatened to drag the European nation to multilateral foras like G20 for continuing to block its requests of sharing information on Indians stashing money in its banks.

In a letter to Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer Schlumpf, Chidambaram reminded her of the April 2009 declaration adopted by G20 leaders stating the “era of bank secrecy is over.”

In a strongly worded letter, he said India might examine further steps like declaring Switzerland a non-cooperative jurisdiction if non-cooperation continues.

Citing tight bank secrecy laws, Switzerland has amassed assets worth trillions of dollars from foreigners over the past decades. The US Justice Department is probing 14 Swiss banks over taxes.

Chidambaram said Switzerland has not honoured the terms of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between the two nations, under which information about Indians with accounts in Swiss banks has been sought by the tax authorities.

“Switzerland’s refusal to provide information to India and other countries on the grounds that the source of the information requested is based on ‘stolen data’ means that, in practice, Switzerland still believes in bank secrecy and is therefore not in tune with the modern era,” he said in the letter dated March 13.

Recalling the G20 stand that sanctions may be deployed to protect their public finances and financial systems, he said:

“If information continues to be denied to India under DTAC (Double Taxation Avoidance Convention), the Government of India will be constrained to take a position in the global forum.”

He said India would not hesitate to tell global forums that Switzerland still does not comply with the standards of transparency and that the required legal and regulatory framework is still not in place in Switzerland.

“Further, the Government of India may also have to raise this issue in other multilateral fora such as the G20,” he added.

Switzerland is a hub for private banking and a popular destination for the global wealthy elite.

Source: Agencies

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