Pandora Papers leak shows wealth of global trust funds

[neverfstop]

Summary from Axios

A global journalistic collaboration used 3 terabytes of spreadsheets, contracts and other documents from law firms and wealth managers to expose offshore ploys that hide shocking riches of the global elite.



The Pandora Papers project, a successor to the Panama Papers exposé of 2016, used millions of documents to reveal "offshore deals and assets of more than 100 billionaires, 30 world leaders and 300 public officials," writes The Guardian, a member of the consortium.

Two big findings by The Washington Post, another participant:



South Dakota, Nevada and other states (graphic above) "have adopted financial secrecy laws that rival those of offshore jurisdictions." Foreign leaders are "moving their private fortunes into U.S.-based trusts. ... Tens of millions of dollars from outside the United States are now sheltered by trust companies in Sioux Falls." Go deeper.

King Abdullah II of Jordan — among the poorer countries in the Middle East, and a large recipient of U.S. foreign aid — has spent more than $100 million, all hidden behind fronts, on lavish compounds in Malibu, D.C.'s Georgetown and London.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/jordan-abdullah-shell-companies-luxury-homes



www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/global-investigation-tax-havens-offshore/

Attachments:

[raangoli]

The bit about SD jumped out at me/surprised me too when I read the article.

I can't say I was really surprised by much of the rest of it. Rich people gonna rich.

[Velar Fricative]

SD doesn't surprise me. Didn't Citibank (or some other huge bank) move its headquarters there back in the 80s from NY because of corporate-friendly interests? I feel like this goes hand in hand with that. Same with Delaware.

[pixy0stix]

I didn't realize this was new. I kept wondering why the Panama papers were out again.

[mouse]

If we know about it, can we fucking do something about it?

[mskitkat]

Oct 4, 2021 10:19:55 GMT -5 mouse said:

If we know about it, can we fucking do something about it?

This prompted me to look up the outcome of the Panama papers. It looks like some change does happen. It’s just slow af. www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/what-happened-after-the-panama-papers/

[mouse]

Oct 4, 2021 10:23:01 GMT -5 mskitkat said:

Oct 4, 2021 10:19:55 GMT -5 mouse said:

If we know about it, can we fucking do something about it?

This prompted me to look up the outcome of the Panama papers. It looks like some change does happen. It’s just slow af. www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/what-happened-after-the-panama-papers/

Thank you! I know I sounded sarcastic, but I’m serious. It’s better to know than not, but it feels awful when we know but nothing changes.

[sonrisa]

Oct 4, 2021 10:19:55 GMT -5 mouse said:

If we know about it, can we fucking do something about it?

It's not like we didn't know it was happening. This is just specifics. These issues exist because some jurisdictions specifically want to take reap the benefits of being havens for the rich. Just like Vegas has benefited traditionally from other states outlawing gambling, they benefit from more relaxed accountability laws.

It's not like anyone thought the King of Jordan was big on equity and personal accountability.

[mskitkat]

Oct 4, 2021 10:30:19 GMT -5 mouse said:

Oct 4, 2021 10:23:01 GMT -5 mskitkat said:

This prompted me to look up the outcome of the Panama papers. It looks like some change does happen. It’s just slow af. www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/what-happened-after-the-panama-papers/

Thank you! I know I sounded sarcastic, but I’m serious. It’s better to know than not, but it feels awful when we know but nothing changes.

I get it. I am following #EpikFail waiting to see the fall out. It’s hard to remember that it isn’t easy to go from a massive data dump to global change when we see the corruption right in front of us.

[mouse]

Yes, like Sonrisa said, we knew the corruption was there. It’s not like trust funds and wealth shelters are anything new - although I’m not sure if I’ve just become more aware, or there are more trusts than previously (due to changes in tax law, maybe?) because I know a lot more people with trusts than I would have guessed. Not foreign royalty type trusts, but kind of everyday people who don’t worry as much about unexpected bills type trusts.

I guess my hope is that if we know the specifics, we can combat the loopholes better.

[AJL]

How do you change a corrupt system when the change agents are the ones who benefit the most from the corrupt system?

[sonrisa]

Oct 4, 2021 10:43:53 GMT -5 mouse said:

Yes, like Sonrisa said, we knew the corruption was there. It’s not like trust funds and wealth shelters are anything new - although I’m not sure if I’ve just become more aware, or there are more trusts than previously (due to changes in tax law, maybe?) because I know a lot more people with trusts than I would have guessed. Not foreign royalty type trusts, but kind of everyday people who don’t worry as much about unexpected bills type trusts.

I guess my hope is that if we know the specifics, we can combat the loopholes better.

The domestic ones, yes. (Internationally it's pretty tricky. You can do some thing by hanging your hat on NY banking laws, but only so much)

But we won't. Because of what AJL said. 

[neverfstop]

Oct 4, 2021 10:51:23 GMT -5 AJL said:

How do you change a corrupt system when the change agents are the ones who benefit the most from the corrupt system?

I think that transparency is a first step.  The reason this is all secretive and hidden is that the ultra-rich know that people won't tolerate this. Everything we can do to bring attention and awareness to how much the system is rigged towards the rich will provide fuel to the fire of bringing down the system.

I hate how much the narrative now in the US is "the dems are freaking out & falling apart" when in fact, they are THIS close to passing progressive reform and set of changes that could remake our country if we got universal pre-k, paid maternity leave, free community college, Medicare covering eyes/dental.   I don't think we'd have these ideas being so popular if it wasn't for the Democratic party constantly railing on inequity in the system and wanting to tax the rich and corporations in a fair and just way.