Spanish king distances himself from scandal-hit father

Yahoo – AFP, March 15, 2020

Juan Carlos handed over power to his son, Felipe in 2014 (AFP Photo/Juanjo Martín)

Madrid (AFP) - King Felipe VI of Spain moved Sunday to distance himself from his scandal-hit father, stripping him of his palace allowance and renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

A statement from the palace announced that he had stripped the former king Juan Carlos, of his allowance and was himself renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

The announcement came after media reports that Juan Carlos had received 100 million dollars (90 million euros) from Saudi Arabia via an offshore account -- and that King Felipe himself was also a beneficiary.

The money was lodged in a Swiss bank account in the name of a Panamanian foundation.

In the palace statement, the reigning king said that in April he had made it clear to a notary that he would accept no money from the foundation in question.

He also that he had absolutely no knowledge of having been named as a beneficiary to another foundation, which according to press reports paid millions of euros towards his father's flights in private jets.

On Tuesday, the Spanish parliament decided against launching an investigation into suspected money laundering by the former king Juan Carlos.

Reported Saudi payments to ex-king

Spain's hard-left Podemos party had called for it after reports earlier this month that in 2008 Juan Carlos received $100 million from Saudi king Abdallah via the Swiss account of an entity listed in Panama.

The Swiss daily Tribune de Geneve added that in 2012, $65 million of that sum was given by the king to his former mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

Then a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph said that 52-year-old King Felipe was also a beneficiary of the fund, which it said had been set up when Juan Carlos was still on the throne.

Juan Carlos, now 82, came to the throne after the death of the military dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 and is widely respected for having favoured a transition to democracy.

But he lost his immunity from prosecution after handing power to his son, Felipe, in June 2014 following a 39-year reign.

He resigned from public life last year after a series of scandals about his private life.

In 2012, he outraged Spaniards by going elephant hunting in Botswana at the height of the country's recession.

Spanish reports say Juan Carlos has until now received an annual allowance from the state of more than 194,000 euros.

Pope meets with embattled Malta PM despite plea to cancel

Yahoo – AFP, December 7, 2019

Pope Francis and Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat meet at the Vatican,
despite calls from academics for the pontiff to cancel the event (AFP Photo/Handout)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis held a private audience with outgoing Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Saturday, despite a plea to cancel the meeting over a scandal-hit investigation into the murder of a journalist.

The Argentine pontiff met Muscat and his family for an event the Vatican said had been scheduled months ago.

Muscat said Sunday he will step down in January after mass protests over a much-criticised probe into the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, which has also led to the resignations of his chief of staff and tourism minister.

Twenty-two Maltese academics sent the pope a letter, dated before Muscat's decision to step down, asking Francis to cancel a meeting they slammed as a "propaganda exercise" for the prime minister.

They said it would be "totally unwise, and pastorally undesirable" for the audience at the Vatican to take place, "given the serious and grave nature of the accusations and allegations which are plaguing" the government in Valletta.

Caruana Galizia, a mother of three described as a "one-woman WikiLeaks", was blown up in a car bomb attack near her home in October 2017.

The reporter had become known for exposing cronyism and sleaze within the country's political and business elite, including among Muscat's inner circle.

Francis joined the cries of outrage across the globe over her slaying, sending a rare formal note of condolences, which are usually reserved for the deaths of prominent world leaders rather than private citizens.

Related Articles:

Malta PM to step down over slain reporter case: party sources

EU expands tax blacklist to 15 countries, including UAE

Yahoo – AFP, March 12, 2019

The "naming and shaming" of countries into better tax policies comes only days
after a money-laundering blacklist by the EU was torpedoed by the bloc's own
member governments, after a draft included Saudi Arabia (AFP Photo/Emmanuel
DUNAND)

Brussels (AFP) - The European Union expanded its tax haven blacklist to 15 countries on Tuesday, adding the United Arab Emirates and Bermuda over the objections of powerful member states such as Italy.

The list was first drawn up in 2017 in the wake of several scandals, including the Panama Papers and LuxLeaks, that pushed the EU into doing more to fight tax evasion by multinationals and the rich.

Seven countries are to be moved back from a grey list because reform commitments had not been met. These are Aruba, Belize, Bermuda, Fiji, Oman, Vanuatu and Dominica, an EU statement said.

They are joined by three other countries whose tax policies have grown more aggressive in the past months. They are Barbados, the United Arab Emirates and the Marshall Islands.

Italy long resisted the addition of the UAE. The Middle East powerhouse has recently made significant investments in the economically troubled European country.

Rome had wanted to keep the Emirates on the so-called grey list of countries that have made pledges to get their tax laws in order with a standard set by Brussels.

"Everything will be solved" when new legislation in passed in the UAE, Italian Finance Minister Giovanni Tria said. "The Emirates will come out immediately afterwards."

Britain, just weeks before its planned divorce from the EU on March 29, resisted the addition of its overseas territory Bermuda but relented last week.

Five countries remain blacklisted because they did nothing to justify moving them off the original list of tax havens: American Samoa, Guam, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, and the US Virgin Islands

This "naming and shaming" of countries into better tax policies comes only days after a money-laundering blacklist by the EU was torpedoed by the bloc's own member governments, after a draft included Saudi Arabia.

Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici, whose country holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency, earlier told reporters that last minute promises by countries to fix their tax policies would delay the list until May.

However French counterpart Bruno Le Maire, France’s finance minister said he wanted no delays.

"France wants the list to be adopted today," he said.

EU to remove Panama, South Korea from tax haven blacklist

Yahoo – AFP, January 16th, 2018

EU to remove Panama, seven others from tax haven blacklist: source

Brussels (AFP) - The EU will remove Panama, South Korea and six other countries from its recently unveiled tax haven blacklist in a quick reversal that drew criticism from activists.

An EU official told AFP that the bloc's finance ministers would pare down the list at talks next week, satisfied that the countries had made commitments to tax reform that Brussels will monitor.

"Barring a major surprise, EU finance ministers should remove eight countries from the blacklist of tax havens," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The change of mind comes just a few weeks after the EU announced an original blacklist of 17 non-EU countries, which drew furious reaction from several of those targeted.

The United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Mongolia, Macau, Grenada and Barbados will also be removed from the list.

The official said the countries removed from the list now move to the EU's so-called "grey list", jurisdictions that have made unspecified commitments to the EU on reforming their tax laws.

"I confirm that a dozen blacklisted third countries have since December sent additional commitments," EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told reporters in Paris.

"It's a good sign, since the purpose of a list is to get out and to get off of it you have to solve the problems that are identified," Moscovici added.

The lists came a year on from the leak of the "Panama Papers" -- a massive amount of data from a prominent Panamanian law firm showing how the world's wealthy stash assets.

The EU originally screened a total of 92 countries to draw up the list, which is expected to be continuously updated.

"This is a worrying trend. Just one month after adopting the list they are taking people off," Aurore Chardonnet, an EU tax policy advisor at Oxfam, told AFP.

"They are weakening the credibility of the list... which is becoming empty," she added.

At the time of its adoption in December, the 28 members of the EU failed to agree on possible sanctions against blacklisted countries.

While France's finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, pleaded for sanctions, his Luxembourg counterpart, Pierre Gramegna, was less in a hurry: "It's bad enough to be on the blacklist".

Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Bahrain, Guam, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, American Samoa and Namibia remain on the blacklist.

EU pushes for tax blacklist after Paradise Papers leak

Yahoo – AFP, Alex PIGMAN with Katy LEE in Paris, 7 November 2017

Protesters in France last week carried signs urging Apple to "pay your taxes"
in a reference to its dispute with EU authorities over back taxes

The EU pushed on Tuesday for Europe to draw up a blacklist of tax havens after the "Paradise Papers" revealed loopholes used by Apple and Nike as well as celebrities including Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton.

While seeking to minimise taxes is not necessarily illegal, revelations from the 13.4 million leaked documents have already proved embarrassing to figures as diverse as U2 singer Bono and Queen Elizabeth II.

Apple is the latest company to become caught up in the leaks, which show how the technology giant moved tens of billions of dollars from low-tax Ireland to Britain's Channel Islands when Dublin began tightening its laws in 2015.

But Apple said shifting the funds to the island of Jersey, which is largely exempt from EU tax regulations, did not save it any money.

The leaks -- which shed further light on how the global elite manages its money after the Panama Papers and LuxLeaks scandal -- were centre-stage at Tuesday's meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels.

The EU has struggled for more than a year to finalise a list of non-EU tax havens, with smaller, low-tax nations such as Ireland, Malta and Luxembourg reluctant to scare companies away.

But EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, who is leading the blacklist effort, said he wanted it in place by the end of the year.

"It must be credible and up to the challenge," he said.

Sources said EU officials have warned about 60 countries that their tax policies may be at risk of blacklisting, demanding further information before November 18.

It is the latest international effort to clamp down on tax avoidance -- increasingly seen as a moral issue -- following a similar move by the OECD group of wealthy nations to compile a list of "uncooperative tax havens".

A guide to the individuals and companies embroiled in the Paradise Papers

Private jets, Russia ties

In Britain, the BBC and The Guardian reported that Hamilton avoided paying taxes on his private jet using an elaborate scheme now under investigation by tax authorities.

Documents showed that the driver received a £3.3 million ($4.3 million, 3.7 million euros) tax refund in 2013 after his luxury plane was imported into the Isle of Man, a low-tax British dependency.

Hamilton's representatives could not be reached by AFP for comment.

Another report in French newspaper Le Monde said sportswear giant Nike used a Dutch loophole to reduce its tax rate in Europe to just two percent, compared with a 25 percent average for European companies.

Nike, which says it acted legally, managed to save taxes by using an offshore subsidiary, the report said.

Separately, the documents showed that US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had a 31 percent stake in shipping firm Navigator Holdings, a partnership with Russian energy giant Sibur.

That company is partially owned by Vladimir Putin's son-in-law Kirill Shamalov and by Gennady Timchenko, the Russian president's friend and business partner who is subject to US sanctions.

The cabinet member's ties to Russian entities raise questions over potential conflicts of interest, and whether they undermine sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

Ross has denied any wrongdoing, telling Bloomberg News he had already been planning to sell his stake, while Russian politicians stressed that the deals were legal.

Lewis Hamilton reportedly avoided paying taxes on his private jet

'Ticking time bomb'

Irish singer Bono, meanwhile -- an ardent anti-poverty campaigner -- said he was "distressed" by documents showing he invested in a Lithuanian shopping centre which may have broken tax rules.

Earlier reports highlighted that about £10 million of the private funds of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II were placed in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

Her estate emphasised that her investments were "fully audited and legitimate".

Europe's anti-trust chief Margrethe Vestager said the leaks served as additional evidence that the business world needed to be more open.

"We cannot... rely on leaks or investigative work, we need more transparence," she told a meeting in Lisbon that brought together technology investors and entrepreneurs.

"That's why we ask that every company reveal the totality of the information concerning its presence in every country," she added.

The Paradise Papers documents, which are mainly from the offshore law firm Appleby, have been shared with international media via the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Appleby has denounced the release as a "serious criminal act" and stressed that its "overriding objective" is to comply with regulations around the world.

#ParadisePaper leaks prompts EU to draw up blacklist of tax havens https://t.co/H24zKC0cGc pic.twitter.com/jw4s8MLUYv

— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 7, 2017

EU denounces 'shocking' Paradise Papers revelations

Yahoo – AFP, November 6, 2017

The European Union's criticism of the Paradise Papers revelations come as it has
tried to crack down on EU countries making illegal tax breaks to Apple and Amazon
(AFP Photo/EMMANUEL DUNAND)

Brussels (AFP) - The European Union on Monday denounced as "shocking" revelations on the way top companies and dignitaries, including Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, avoid taxes using offshore wealth hubs.

EU finance ministers meeting for regular talks in Brussels are due to discuss the practice on Tuesday after a trove of leaked documents exposed the great lengths the global elite will go to avert paying a fair tax.

The findings have emerged as part of the Paradise Papers released late Sunday by the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which was behind the similar Panama Papers made public last year.

"This new scandal shows once again that some companies and rich individuals are ready to do anything to not pay tax," said European Economics Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici ahead of the two days of talks.

"In light of these shocking revelations, I call on member states to rapidly adopt a European tax haven blacklist, as well as other dissuasive measures," he said.

Much as with the Panama Papers report and LuxLeaks, the latest leak also exposes the secret ways the rich and multinationals, with the help of accountancy firms, shift profits across the globe to drastically cut tax.

Perfectly legal, these methods helped divert billions in profit from the tax man, using well established wealth hubs such as Luxembourg, the British Virgin Islands and Switzerland.

EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager, who has cracked down on EU countries making illegal tax breaks to Apple and Amazon, lauded the journalists who made the latest revelations.

"Congratulations and thanks to ICIJ for all the work done on Paradise Papers. It enables the work against tax avoidance, for transparency," said Vestager in a tweet.

Despite the tough talk from Brussels, Europeans have struggled to agree on the basis of an EU-wide tax haven blacklist.

Britain, Malta and other smaller EU nations are reluctant to include zero or near-zero corporate tax rates as one of the criteria to land on the EU's blacklist.

The EU ministers are due to bridge their differences and draw up an official list of unwanted tax havens in December, whittling down an initial list of 92 countries finalised last year.

In the run-up to that final list, EU officials are sending letters to the 92 countries asking them to detail their tax policies for evaluation.

Londoners react to news of a massive leak of off-shore tax information, dubbed
the Paradise Papers https://t.co/T5tePEiOzf pic.twitter.com/pktnObX1yb

— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 6, 2017

Oxfam exposes tax haven habits of EU big banks

Yahoo – AFP, March 27, 2017

Oxfam uncovered that European banks posted 628 million euros in profit in
tax havens where they employed zero staff (AFP Photo/OZAN KOSE)

Brussels (AFP) - The twenty biggest banks in the eurozone booked over a quarter of their 2015 profits in tax havens, with Luxembourg and Ireland the favourite destinations, a report by Oxfam said on Monday.

The findings come as the tax affairs of major multinationals are under the microscope after revelations in the LuxLeaks and Panama Papers scandals showed the methods used by big companies to avoid paying tax.

"New EU transparency rules give us a glimpse into the tax affairs of Europe’s biggest banks and it’s not a pretty sight," said Manon Aubry, a tax specialist at Oxfam.

"Governments must change the rules to prevent banks and other big businesses using tax havens to dodge taxes or help their clients dodge taxes," she said.

The report said that tax havens account for 26 percent of the profits made by the 20 biggest banks in Europe, adding up to an estimated 25 billion euros ($27 billion).

By example, Barclays, Europe's fifth biggest bank in 2015, booked profits of 557 million euros in Luxembourg and paid only one million euros in taxes, an effective tax rate of 0.2 percent.

The report also uncovered that European banks posted 628 million euros in profit in tax havens where they employed zero staff.

In the Cayman Islands for example, France's BNP Paribas booked 134 million euros in profit tax free without a single employee present.

Other banks reported profits in tax havens while reporting losses elsewhere.

In 2015, Deutsche Bank registered no or low profits in several major markets, while booking almost 2 billion euros of profits in tax havens.

Oxfam uncovered the data using new EU legislation that requires banks to report their profit on a country by country basis.

The law is intended to stop big banks from artificially shifting their profits to low tax wealth centres with very low, or zero, corporate tax rates.

"These rules must now be extended to ensure all large corporations provide financial reports for every country where they operate," Aubry said.

"This will make it easier for all countries – including the poorest – to establish if companies are paying their fair share of tax or not," she said.

Luxembourg and Ireland were the most favoured tax havens.

Europe's 20 biggest banks posted more profits in the small EU duchy of Luxembourg than they did in the UK, Sweden and Germany combined.

Denmark pays for Panama Papers data on own citizens

Yahoo – AFP, September 29, 2016

In April, media outlets published details of murky offshore financial dealings
gleaned from 11.5 million leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm --
the so-called "Panama Papers" (AFP Photo/Andreas Solaro)

Copenhagen (AFP) - The Danish tax authority said on Thursday it had paid an anonymous source almost six million kroner (0.81 million euros, $0.9 million) for leaked data from the Panama Papers on hundreds of Danes.

The government justified the payment earlier this month saying it needed to take all necessary measures to catch tax evaders.

"The material contains the number of files on Danes that we expected and the quality is on a par with the sample cases we were given before," Jim Sorensen, a division head at the agency, said in a statement.

The agency would now analyse the material in more detail, he said.

The Danish government said on September 7 that it would pay an amount in the "lower millions" of kroner to the anonymous source for information on between 500 and 600 Danish taxpayers from the Panama Papers.

In April, media outlets published details of murky offshore financial dealings gleaned from 11.5 million leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm -- the so-called "Panama Papers".

The leaks saw a host of high-profile politicians, celebrities and sports stars embarrassed over their assets in tax havens.

EU nations urge crackdown as Panama Papers claim Spanish minister

Yahoo – AFP, Paul Handley, 15 April 2016

Spain's industry minister Jose Manuel Soria (pictured) resigned over allegations 

he had links to offshore companies (AFP Photo/Eduardo Dieguez)

Washington (AFP) - Europe's top economies called for a crackdown on tax havens and urged G20 countries to rip away the secrecy protecting shell companies, as the Panama Papers scandal claimed Spain's industry minister as the latest political victim.

In the strongest reaction yet to the leaked Panama Papers, the finance ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain proposed a blacklist of havens like Panama if they failed to share corporate registry data.

"Today we deal another hammer blow ‎against those who hide their illegal tax evasion in the dark corners of the financial system," British Finance Minister George Osborne said in a statement.

Spain's industry minister, Jose Manuel Soria, stepped down Friday after being named in the leaked papers, citing "mistakes" in explaining his alleged offshore interests and "the obvious harm that this situation is doing to the Spanish government".

Soria's troubles began on Monday when Spanish online daily El Confidencial, which has had access to the Panama Papers, said he was an administrator of an offshore firm in 1992.

Soria called a news conference to deny any link to the company, but as the week went by, more allegations emerged from other media outlets, revealing further alleged connections to offshore havens.

It is unclear as yet whether any of his alleged actions were illegal.

'Aggressive tax planning'

In their joint statement during a meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, the five EU ministers said: "The recent extensive leaks from Panama show the critical importance of the fight against tax evasion, aggressive tax planning and money laundering."

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the illicit financial activities enabled by tax havens undermined the fight against poverty.

"When taxes are evaded, when state assets are taken and put into these havens, all of these things can have a tremendous negative effect on our mission to end poverty and boost prosperity," he said.

Graphic showing public figures forced to resign or under pressure following the

Panama papers revelations (AFP Photo/Alain BOMMENEL, Kun TIAN)

The joint European move was a reaction to the leak of thousands of documents on anonymously-owned shell companies from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that specialized in setting up such firms.

The trove showed the use of shell companies by prominent politicians including close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, family members of Chinese leaders, British Premier David Cameron, and the leaders of Iceland and Argentina.

The leak placed Panama in the spotlight as one of the leading havens that have not joined an agreement on sharing information on bank accounts and other assets.

The five threatened to create a blacklist of countries which do not cooperate on sharing data. "We want to have lists which make it possible to place sanctions on countries which don't respect the rules," French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said.

Under pressure, Panama said Thursday it was ready to begin working together with the "Common Reporting Standard" (CRS) system on sharing information about assets and accounts.

"Panama's path to financial transparency is irreversible," Vice President Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado said in a statement.

But the Oxfam anti-poverty group, which released Thursday a paper showing how top US coproations have socked away $1.4 trillion in profits in tax havens, said the European proposals are still too weak.

"If the proposed registry of beneficial owners of companies and trusts is hidden from the public, how can we know who is hiding their profits and fortunes and trying to avoid paying their fair share?" they said.

A policeman stands guard outside Mossack Fonseca headquarters in Panama City

 (AFP Photo/Ed Grimaldo)

Warnings over slow growth

In the meetings that got underway Thursday, both the IMF and World bank urged countries to do more to support economic growth and prevent the world from backsliding toward recession.

They said the demand for financial support from struggling governments has risen to levels normally seen during crises.

"In the global economy, there are not many bright spots," World Bank President Kim said. "The weakening global economy threatens our progress toward ending extreme poverty by 2030."

"We are on alert, not alarm," IMF chief Christine Lagarde said.

"The current policy responses that we are seeing need to go faster and need to go deeper."

Lagarde also warned that Britain's threatened pullout for the European Union was a "serious concern" for the global economy.

"It's been a long marriage between members of the European Union," she said.

"It's really my personal hope that it doesn't break," she added. "Like all marriages, good talks can actually help and I hope that the dialogue can continue."

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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G20 embraces crackdown on tax havens, warns over 'Brexit' - New
EU nations urge crackdown as Panama Papers claim Spanish minister

British PM releases tax summary in offshore row

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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G20 embraces crackdown on tax havens, warns over 'Brexit' - New
EU nations urge crackdown as Panama Papers claim Spanish minister

British PM releases tax summary in offshore row

British PM releases tax summary in offshore row

Yahoo – AFP, Robin Millard, April 10, 2016

British Prime Minister, and leader of the Conservatives, David Cameron addresses
 delegates during the Conservative party Spring Forum in central London on April 9,
2016 (AFP Photo/Kerry Davies)

London (AFP) - British Prime Minister David Cameron released his tax details Sunday in a bid to defuse a row over his father's offshore business, but faced further questions over money he received from his mother.

Cameron took the unprecedented step of publishing a summary of six years of his tax returns, and revealed that he got a £200,000 ($280,000, 240,000 euros) gift from his mother, on top of £300,000 in inheritance from his late father.

The 2011 gift from Mary Cameron raised questions about whether it was an attempt to dodge inheritance tax later down the line.

The release came a day after Cameron admitted he had mishandled the situation, telling party activists: "blame me", while hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside Downing Street demanding his resignation.

The gift was tax-free, and would only become liable to inheritance tax of up to 40 percent if Cameron's mother dies within seven years of handing over the money.

Cameron's Downing Street office said the gift came on top of the inheritance from his father, with his mother attempting to "balance" the sums received by her four children.

Cameron admitted on Thursday that he had held shares in his late father's Bahamas-based investment fund, which cropped up in the leaked documents from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Graphic showing the scale of the Panama papers leak compared to previous 

document dumps. (AFP Photo/Kun Tian, Vincent Lefai)

He and his wife bought the stake in Blairmore Holdings for £12,497 in 1997 and sold it for £31,500, four months before he became prime minister in 2010.

The gift from his mother raised further questions about whether that money came in part from offshore funds.

"The week started with a moral crisis at the heart of the Tory party and has now ended with a scandal at the very top of government," said a spokesman for the opposition Labour party.

"The prime minister has been forced to admit that not only had he benefited from a company that paid no tax in 30 years, but that he may pay no tax on any benefits potentially gained from the same company.

"David Cameron can't hide any more. He needs to come to parliament on Monday and put the record straight."

Spotlight on British territories

Protesters gather outside the gates of Downing

 Street in London to call for the resignation of 

Prime Minister David Cameron in the wake of

 the Mossack Fonseca data leak, Saturday, 

April 9, 2016. (John Stillwell/PA via AP)

The revelations this week appeared to have undermined Cameron's claims to be spearheading a global clampdown on offshore havens.

But he insisted Sunday that Britain was at the "forefront of international action to tackle aggressive tax avoidance and evasion" with the announcement of a £10 million taskforce to scrutinise the Panama Papers.

The force will be led by Britain's tax authority and the National Crime Agency, and will investigate the leaked files from Mossack Fonseca to identify clients suspected of money laundering and tax evasion.

The revelations in the Panama Papers, resulting from what the law firm blamed on a computer hack launched from abroad, revealed how the world's wealthy stashed assets in offshore companies.

Cameron has sought to lead international efforts to improve financial transparency and plans to host an international anti-corruption summit next month.

Senior officials from German Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition called on Cameron to clamp down on tax evasion in British offshore territories more decisively.

"We are continuing to press for more transparency but we can only be convincing on the world stage if we are first fully compliant in the EU," Ralph Brinkhaus, the parliamentary group deputy leader for Merkel's Christian Democrats, told Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

"For me, that also means that that Britain must exercise influence over its overseas territories. We have to make that clear to the Brits in upcoming talks."

Carsten Schneider, Brinkhaus's counterpart with the Social Democrats, junior partner in the right-left grand coalition, said Cameron needed to shore up his damaged credibility on the issue.

"If David Cameron still wants to be taken personally and politically seriously in the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion, Britain has got to close loopholes at home as soon as possible."

#NEWSGRAPHIC Panama papers: Britain's Cameron link pic.twitter.com/u8DUsSSQmF

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 8, 2016

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David Cameron releases tax records amidst 'Panama Papers' scandal

Panama Papers indicate spies used Mossack Fonseca to 'conceal' activities - New

President Obama Just Took a Major Step in Response to the Panama Papers

Why few Americans appear in the Panama Papers

The most popular tax havens (AFP Photo/Laurence Saubadu, Jonathan Jacobsen)

2015 Kryon Kundalini Tour (Cusco #2, Peru) - "The Dysfunction of Darkness" - Nov, 14, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Paris/ISIS/Dark-Old Energy/USA+Warning for Governments around the World !!!) - (Text version)

"... Funding is the Grease of the Engine of Darkness

Everyone on the planet will have to get off the fence in order to eliminate the dark army. Now we have told you before how to do it. And politicians will roll their eyes. Those on the inside of government who know how things work will roll their eyes. You can eliminate the dark army without death. The very thing they're afraid of losing, you can take from them now. Money! How does a dark army work when they can't eat? How will they function when they have no weapons? I guarantee you, even the darkest member of a dark army will go home if they're not fed, or there's no one around to organize them because the leaders are hungry and left. It's impossible, some say. The money is coming from unknown sources, they say. Let me tell you something. No, it isn't. It is coming from very known sources. Much of it comes from the resources of conquered land, but not all. They will start losing their land soon, so they will need funds all the more. If the sources of their income were totally exposed - there are those listening who need to hear this - if the sources of their income were totally exposed, it would make a big difference to the public, who would be shocked.

Let me talk to politicians. You regularly sit across the table from those who are from other countries and who are allies. They smile at you as they fund the dark side. After all, there is money to be made with war! This has been the way of it for years. But this won't last long. Politician, when it's found out that you knew about it, you are the one who will be held responsible. You didn't do anything about it.

I want to talk to Americans, because my partner [Lee] is an American. I'm going to tell you something now, and you're not going to believe it. Many of your hard-earned tax funds are finding their way to the dark army! And there are those within your government who know it. I'll give you an answer as to what to do about it in just a few words: International transparent forensic accounting. International transparent forensic accounting! It is time to clean up the funding of the dark, and kill their ability to make war. (***)

I have a warning for any of those in leadership who know about where the money is coming from, and are not doing anything about it. Your leadership days are numbered. The light is going to expose it and you will lose. Why not get on the right side of the fence now?

Is this too high-minded? Is this too simple? To think that the world could come together and pull the rug from under the darkness where they sit and the cocoon of money that they're in - could this actually happen? Watch for a wild card! [Kryon chuckles again.]

If you did this, would it change the kind of attack you had in Paris? After all, that wasn't an army at all, but just a few. The answer is yes - for the few answer to the many and were trained by the many. They saw the many as an established core to work from. Without the core, there is no purpose. The few are then on their own, without anything backing them up.

It's up to you listening, not the ones in this room. The ones listening and reading later may not even be into Kryon or channeling, but they hear this and know I'm right. This is not a dark message. It's a light message! The beginning is here. Things are changing. You are witnessing the change as we speak.

There'll come a day when you will never see this happen again, these organized groups of evil. This is the joyful message I have for you today. History will remember these times when the world finally got together and realized where they were going. It is tough now. It changes the paradigm of existence. Lives, governments and business will all start to understand the battle is here and is theirs to win. What is your reaction?

I want you to congratulate, love, and understand those who were lost yesterday [in Paris]. I've said this before: They are on my side of the veil now. They're all right. They're now looking back at you and - we have used the phrase before - they're saying, “We did our part. Now you do yours.” They will return to this planet, all of them, and participate in the beauty of the light you are creating at this time of shift on your planet.

Believe me, the end has already happened. This is the beginning.

I am in love with humanity, because of what I have seen you do.

And so it is.

KRYON

(*) "The Recalibration of Dark and Light"

www.kryon.com/k_channel11_San%20Antonio-12.html

(**) "Revelations of Darkness"

www.kryon.com/CHAN2014/k_channel14_Philadelphia-14.html

(***) Within days, a petition was circulating for this exact thing: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/create-international-transparent-forensic-accounting-system-end-all-funding-terrorist-groups-isisisisil

UN unanimously adopts resolution targeting IS finances

US Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew (R) votes yes on a wide-ranging draft

 resolution aimed at ramping up sanctions against the Islamic State group as

 finance ministers gather at the United Nations Security Council on December 17,

2015 (AFP Photo/Timothy A. Clary)

"Revelations of Darkness" - Oct 1, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ .. Do Not Despair

There's too much information to give you in one channelling, in one sitting, so I refer to past messages for you to better understand and reference the information in order to get the bigger picture. So I wish to remind you of something I also told you in a recent channelling called Do Not Despair. You're winning! It's because you're winning that the dark consciousness on this planet is feeling it, and the humanity that represents darkness is pulling out everything it has to survive.

It Has Always Been There

Let's look at it, because it's all over the news. Are you shocked at the sudden existence of the organization that will remain unnamed [for this channelling]? Where did it come from? How could it be so organized? How could it be so well funded? This organization could have its own country soon! They might as well name it, “The Old Energy Dark Country”, for that's what it will represent.

The barbaric past of humanity comes forward to show its face. It has always been there, hiding under the rocks and between the cracks of civilized humanity. It couldn't show itself until now, but now it has to. It's ugly and it's not for the faint at heart, is it, dear ones? Seeing evil personified in Human action is abhorrent. It is so ugly and so dark that you cannot look upon it with a gentle heart. God is not a part of it and this is obvious.

You're winning! Light is winning! The uprising of dark consciousness would not have shown itself with this strength, or this quickly, if this were not so. This is exactly what I told you to look for, and it is proof that those representing this dark consciousness are in trouble. Dear ones, dark consciousness has always had a tried-and-true system. It lurks in the shadows and influences all the power places of the planet - government, commerce, finance. Suddenly, it can't hide there as well anymore and it's out in the open.

Where is the funding coming from? It is coming from a storehouse that has always been there, dear ones. It uses income that has been generated from low consciousness acts, collected for a very long time. Funding didn't just appear. It has been stored, waiting to be used in order to spread fear and darkness to save what they believe is their way.

Who Will Win?

Dear ones, they haven't got a chance! But it looks like they do, doesn't it? Everything that they are doing is calculated to scare you into submission. Are they winning? Now, that's a question I want you to take from here and examine every day.

Fear is black. If you're in fear, there is no light. You can be the grandest Lightworker, or even be the channeller, but if you're in fear, it doesn't matter how many years you've done light work, or how much light you've accumulated personally. It all goes away with fear, and then they've won the battle for your mind. Do you understand this?

The Strength of the Old Soul - YOU

Old souls, Lightworkers reading this, the experiences you have had over lifetimes and lifetimes are incredible! The old soul knows fear. I don't want to be too graphic, but I want you to understand! What was it like when you put your head in the guillotine because you talked about God in a way that was inappropriate? What was it like to be bound hand and foot when they lit the match at your feet? Old soul, that's fear! You carry those experiences in your Akash.

I want to tell you they haven't got a chance to scare you! You absolutely know what fear is, and they haven't got a chance as long as you cling to that part of you that is the strength of God. You've been through it all. That means you've got the weapons of truth, wisdom and light. Don't forget it. Don't forget who you are!

Do you see how fast they assembled? It seemed like only yesterday that there was no organization at all. Where did they come from? Have you noticed a certain hesitancy to fight them? Why is it that the citizens of the lands that they are invading are hesitant to fight them? Instead, these leaders are calling on others to help. Why is it that the others are also hesitant? I want to show you that there are some anomalies of logic that are not making sense, because this is a battle you have never seen before on this planet. We've expected it, but you haven't. It's about consciousness, not land or resources.

How to Win?

We gave you the secret before of how to defeat them without taking even one life: Simply take away their funding. They cannot exist without their funding. The funding has to be organized, stored, and distributed. It has to be generated in such a way that it must also go through institutions. Did you hear that? All you have to do is stop the system. Winning won't be done with bombing. It's going to be done with intelligence, clever thinking and financial forensics. It's time to get smart on some of these things and not to be afraid to look at this puzzle differently than you have before. Do not apply the energy they are using in order to fight them, because you won't win. Figure it out. It's the last bastion of organized darkness and evil thinking on this planet coming together to try to survive the assault of your light. Don't be afraid to look at the funding trail, no matter where it takes you.

Fear is Their Weapon

I want you to know something as you look at your news. It may appear that you are unable to stop them. In many places, they will gain strength as they create fear. The fear is easily created in those who are not old souls and who don't know fear like you do and who don't have the armor of your spiritual experiences. This puts you in the front line, dear one. Did you realize that? But you don't have to go fight them on their terms. All you have to do is broadcast light. High consciousness will beat fear any day.. .”