Live data from Hacker News

Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens

bbc.com

201–210 of 452 posts

Re: Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens

#201
post #21

Panama just passed compliance with FATF (February 2016) and it's a message that their political leader/law firm owner/world's largest money launderer (his name is in the OP's title) is no longer open for business after decades of being the go-to place for hidden $$$. http://www.fatf-gafi.org/countries/#Panama "The FATF recognised that Algeria, Angola and Panama have made significant progress in improving their regime…

> This is a multi-state G20 planned leak

I don't see any incentive to self-destruct

Re: Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens

#202
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is remarkable that this breaking story focuses on Russia, Iceland and unfriendly/anti-Western dictators (Mubarak, Gaddafi, al-Assad). And apart from Cameron's father: - Pamela Sharples, member of the House of Lords - Michael Ashcroft, former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party and former member of the House of Lords - Michael Mates, former Member of Parliament And in the EU: - Giuseppe Donaldo Nicosia, busin…

Is it remarkable, or is it completely expected for propaganda? I've been visiting the US for 6 months now, and the only time I hear anything about the outside world is when (China/Russia/NorthKorea) are doing something bad, or their citizens lives suck, or rarely when a social program in a developed country (UK, Europe) goes a little wrong (over budget or whatever). Interestingly, the fact that hundreds of millions o…

I really feel like this is an unnecessarily melodramatic comment. I can't tell if you're being serious about American news only reporting things that make America look good but that's certainly not true in my experience. Mainstreams outlets (NYT/WSJ/etc.) have different biases on their editorial boards but they are more than willing to report negative news about the US and mundane current events from around the world.

Also, I think it's a little bit to early to call propaganda/controlled-opposition on this leak. Because the US has such a strict tax evasion regime, it's pretty reasonable to believe that Americans would be treated differently by firms selling tax evasion services. Or, it could be that American names will be released later. Hard to tell at this point.

Re: Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens

#203
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this getting heavily downvoted is telling of how well the propaganda is working in the west.

I'd be a lot more sympathetic to the claims of anti-Russian "propaganda" if it weren't for, you know, the whole thing with illegally invading and annexing part of another country.

Why are you denying all those people in Crimea and Donbass (vast majority of whom are ethic Russians btw) the right of self-determination? Didn't they vote to leave Ukraine? Or do you think they should be a part of a 'nazified' Ukraine? [0]

US and Europe seems is extremely hypocritical. They deny self-determination to Russians, Serbs, Kurds etc yet they happily support it for their enemies.

[0] http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/09/how-many-ne...

Re: Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens

#204
post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last Duma elections were definitely rigged. For example, Moscow voted as two different cities: https://github.com/alamar/elegraph/blob/master/moscow.png Note the two obvious centers of blobs. I'm yet to see any non-handwavy explanation of that phenomenon, and why it then disappeared for the next President elections.

Can you explain to me how this chart proves that "elections were DEFINITELY rigged"? I just don't understand what do you mean by "obvious centers of blobs" and how does it correlates with rigged elections?

Who cares if the elections are rigged in terms of vote counting, if oppositional politics or media is more or less non-existent? Without a healthy opposition and oppositional media elections aren't free, period.

Re: Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens

#205
post #190
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> British Prime Minister David Cameron, a leader in the push for tax-haven reform There was a load of rhetoric in 2011 about offshore/tax reform, but very little in the way of action since then. As with tradition in Cameron's brand of "Compassionate Conservatism", it's a depressingly cynical slight of hand and nothing more.

How much is he able to influence the British Virgin Islands? As they seem to be one of the top havens for years. If he is, and being a leader in the push for reform, what was on his agenda for BVI?

Jersey is also one of the top tax havens IIRC.

As for Cameron being a leader in tax haven reform, I don't buy it for a second. Words are cheap, what action has his government taken to tackle the issue? If anything, they've been at work to increase legal loopholes and tax breaks for the rich. Not only that, but George Osbourne's family company has been proven to dodge tax. When you've got people at the top this morally bankrupt, do you really expect them to fix the regulations to serve the public?

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/oct/18/george-osbor...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/budget-2015-co...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/george-osborne...

Re: Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens

#206
post #21

Panama just passed compliance with FATF (February 2016) and it's a message that their political leader/law firm owner/world's largest money launderer (his name is in the OP's title) is no longer open for business after decades of being the go-to place for hidden $$$. http://www.fatf-gafi.org/countries/#Panama "The FATF recognised that Algeria, Angola and Panama have made significant progress in improving their regime…

Real bugs don't have fancy websites. http://heartbleed.com

Re: Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens

#207
post #190
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> British Prime Minister David Cameron, a leader in the push for tax-haven reform There was a load of rhetoric in 2011 about offshore/tax reform, but very little in the way of action since then. As with tradition in Cameron's brand of "Compassionate Conservatism", it's a depressingly cynical slight of hand and nothing more.

How much is he able to influence the British Virgin Islands? As they seem to be one of the top havens for years. If he is, and being a leader in the push for reform, what was on his agenda for BVI?

Cameron will talk a good game in the press, do the exact opposite thing and by then the press has moved on and no-one seems to question it... It seems quite surreal that we all sleepwalk through these lies, but we do.

Re: Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens

#208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd replace wrongdoing with illegal. If you ask me, if you're a billionaire and you're not willing to pay taxes and spend 0.0001% of your wealth on the expertise to reduce your tax bill by 99%, in legal ways that 99.99% of the rest of the population doesn't engage in, then by all means that's wrongdoing to me and I think most would be with me on that. Of course it's not necessarily illegal.

What about non billionaires? These arrangements aren't overly expensive and are very much suitable for perfectly "ordinary" people.

My friend was/is engaged in tax evasion that HMRC have now declared as tax evasion and they'll be taking all that money for the last 5 years, thank you very much.

He/she said the same thing as you are saying now.

The difference between you and the billionaires is that they can afford to make an offer, a la google to the UK.

You are just going to be completely screwed when they come knocking on the door.

Re: Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens

#209
post #106
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, because at no time in its entire history has Russia actively supported organisations whose sole goal was "the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and for the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the State." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_International

That was more than 70 years ago.

There is a continuity to human social organisation and behaviours that transcends both time and ideology.

Re: Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens

#210
post #183
post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Privatization is not a general solution though. It needs regulation and oversight to keep unfair market practices to a minimum. That's a statement, not an axiom, although it's taught as an axiom. Did you know that the US military is the biggest polluter? Who regulates it? If government can't regulate itself, what kind of regulation of private companies do you expect from it, when said private companies have money t…

Regulation bodies: Of course regulators need oversight and regulation and it's hard to get right. Total transparency is the first step in everything. No penny can cross a table visibly without being accounted for. But it's easy to involve malevolent parties in oversight, looking for their own outcome rather than find a universally beneficial regulation. Hard nut to crack. Election: Probably getting rid of all the fin…

From reading your post I feel like there's this thinking that's ingrained very deep in you, which is that no matter how corrupt or awful the system is, you think the solution is more government and more control... layers of control. Could you for a moment just forget about it all and think, really imagine, what a world would look without governments? But don't imagine chaotic endless tribal wars. Imagine it to be a good place. It's a good exercise: no matter your political views, just imagine a world where there are no governments and just private businesses. Make it work. Think about details. How would you make it work if you knew there is no way you can create a government?
Post reply on HN