I appreciate watching a film that aims to eliminate/reduce corruption. However, the reasoning of this film is flawed, incomplete and unfortunately makes a mess of the concepts through a populist approach.
The concept of a limited liability entity is the fundamental cornerstone of our economic system and most corporate (as in commercial) entities are rooted upon this concept. The problem is not onshore or offshore entities but governmental supervision. If bankers, accountants, lawyers, auditors and back-office staff are required to detect and report fraud then they would, it is simple. If Panama or X Island(s) engage in fraud then this requires international sanctions. If they keep their taxes low or do not report to CRS, it is their right to do so.
As offshore structuring is under attack, the laundromat is no longer a favored device. Things are now going for the worse and we are now witnessing the rise of the more dangerous "oligark model" where a small group of business people are safekeeping the wealth of political leaders and unlike offshore accounts that just try to be hidden, the oligark model is aggressive in terms of actively safekeeping itself publicly through manipulation of the media & elections. Does Streep and Sodenberg understand how dark things are becoming? No, for them this is a childish fairytale not because they are incompetant but that's just their limited vision and experience.
It is rather funny when they put Meryl Streep in the church but fail to explain that the church itself often pays no taxes and I remember reading an article about how Vatican, despite being a religious entity incorporated as a sovereign state, used extremely complex structures to hide off its enormous wealth.
One thing this film says accurately is that the US is the number one tax haven in the world. But this has little to do with DL but with the deeply rooted cultural traditions that a person's property is their property and is not to be messed (taxed) with.
I understand people have high expectations and wish this film to do some good. I am sorry to say but that's just wishful thinking.
The concept of a limited liability entity is the fundamental cornerstone of our economic system and most corporate (as in commercial) entities are rooted upon this concept. The problem is not onshore or offshore entities but governmental supervision. If bankers, accountants, lawyers, auditors and back-office staff are required to detect and report fraud then they would, it is simple. If Panama or X Island(s) engage in fraud then this requires international sanctions. If they keep their taxes low or do not report to CRS, it is their right to do so.
As offshore structuring is under attack, the laundromat is no longer a favored device. Things are now going for the worse and we are now witnessing the rise of the more dangerous "oligark model" where a small group of business people are safekeeping the wealth of political leaders and unlike offshore accounts that just try to be hidden, the oligark model is aggressive in terms of actively safekeeping itself publicly through manipulation of the media & elections. Does Streep and Sodenberg understand how dark things are becoming? No, for them this is a childish fairytale not because they are incompetant but that's just their limited vision and experience.
It is rather funny when they put Meryl Streep in the church but fail to explain that the church itself often pays no taxes and I remember reading an article about how Vatican, despite being a religious entity incorporated as a sovereign state, used extremely complex structures to hide off its enormous wealth.
One thing this film says accurately is that the US is the number one tax haven in the world. But this has little to do with DL but with the deeply rooted cultural traditions that a person's property is their property and is not to be messed (taxed) with.
I understand people have high expectations and wish this film to do some good. I am sorry to say but that's just wishful thinking.