Levin’s investigator offers Washington inside track

(CNS): For many years, US Senator Carl Levin has been a thorn in the side of Offshore Financial Centers through highly-publicized critical comments, investigations into alleged tax evasion and money laundering and proposed legislation aimed at curbing legal loopholes. During this year’s conference OffshoreAlert will be examining the status of this anti-offshore initiative- the ‘Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act’ and asking what else congress could have in store for OFCs and US nationals who transact business in them. Senator Levin’s chief investigator, Bob Roach, will provide an insider’s account of what is being discussed in the corridors of power in Washington, DC when he presents ‘US Congressional Offshore Initiatives’.

Roach is one of hundreds of influential figures in the private and public sectors in onshore and offshore jurisdictions who will be gathering at the conference to learn about the latest developments affecting OFCs, organizers stated They include judges, law enforcement, regulators, attorneys, accountants, financial services providers, hedge fund administrators, intelligence-gatherers, private investigators and high net worth individuals.
Meanwhile Barbados-based Professor Avinash Persaud will examine the situation from another point of view as he says countries such as the US are awash with hypocrisy, "cowboy regulation and double-standards in their attempt to clamp down on Offshore Financial Centers.
"One man’s tax haven is another’s tax incentive," Barbados-based Professor Avinash Persaud told OffshoreAlert. "President Obama chides the Cayman Islands in one breath and, in another, proclaims that America will be the biggest tax haven for research and innovation companies."
"And remember how you could avoid tax if you invested in the British film industry and so a lot of money chased after a lot of deliberately-dud films? Why should some countries with extensive tax incentives tell others they cannot have them? It’s not tax evasion that responsible international financial centers want to support, but a level playing field. There isn’t a single automobile plant established in the last 15 years without the kind of massive tax breaks that small states could never afford," he adds.
He and Roach will be expanding on their views a at The 9th Annual OffshoreAlert Conference, which will be held at The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach in Miami Beach, Florida April 4-6.