First off: the fact that a person living in one of the world's major countries has an account in an offshore jurisdiction is not, in and of itself, evidence of illegal activity. An accuser needs corroborating evidence before making that leap.
'The Panama Papers': An Offshore Investigator's Perspective
Is what's taking place at Mossack Fonseca in Panama any different to what's taking place every day in virtually every major law firm in the world?
Por:David Marchant
Aviso de la oficina de Mossack Fonseca en Panamá
Imagen RODRIGO ARANGUA/AFP/Getty Images
It's undoubtedly suspicious, though, and with an offshore jurisdiction as overtly seedy and lawless as Panama, it's highly suspicious. That's just common sense.
If you're hungry and the nearest restaurant is 50 yards away on the other side of the road, you cross that road in a straight line so that you can tuck into your food as quickly as possible. You don't hop on a bus, go 100 miles in the opposite direction, take a taxi to the airport, fly to another country and then circle back to the said restaurant, making sure to approach from the rear to avoid detection. That would be insane.
Yet that's essentially what happens in the world of finance when someone living in Big Country A enters into transactions with someone living in Big Country B via structures in Small Countries C, D and E. They're doing something they don't want tax agencies, law enforcement, regulators and/or the general public to know about and they consider the relatively high cost and inconvenience of doing so a small price to pay for the considerable benefits they receive.
Despite a near universal desire for an end to Venezuela’s manmade disaster, sending in U.S forces to take out the Maduro regime would be counter-productive. It should be categorically rejected by interim president Juan Guaidó, not to mention the Trump administration.
The firing of undocumented workers at Trump's golf clubs just shows how the practice of employing immigrants without legal work papers is much more common than we might imagine. Such is life in the United States.
The Trump administration should be wary of fueling fake news predictions about an imminent American invasion which unrealistically raises expectations about Maduro's removal.
At some point we will have to accept the fact that the border between Mexico and the United States is nothing more than an invention.
The United States has had a major role in the evolving drama of the fight for democracy in Venezuela and Nicaragua. And so far, it’s been surprisingly coordinated, a veritable model of multilateralism.
Has the Maduro regime reached breaking point? It remains hard to say, but tomorrow is another - more hopeful - day for the restoration of democracy in the South American nation.
It’s impossible to get into Trump’s head but what comes out of his mouth are racist remarks. But, saddest of all are the millions who tolerate his views, cheer him on and emulate his behavior.
The time is well past due for the U.S. government to conduct a thorough review of leaders and their senior colleagues before they leave office to determine if they merit visas.
So, at the very least, we can reasonably assume that, unless they're living and/or directly doing business in Panama, virtually every foreign client whose accounts at the law firm of Mossack Fonseca were revealed in 'The Panama Papers' is doing something they're not proud of.
This might be tax avoidance, tax evasion, concealment of assets or receipt of ill-gotten gains, which are the main reasons to go offshore.
Some of these activities are illegal and some are legal but considered to be immoral by the world's major governments. But morality is subjective. Politicians in major countries are routinely corrupt and are unfit to moralize to anyone.
Is what's taking place at Mossack Fonseca in Panama any different to what's taking place every day in virtually every major law firm in the world — onshore or offshore? Probably not.
In my experience, major law firms helping seedy clients do seedy things is a routine occurrence, whether in Panama, the Cayman Islands, London, New York, Delaware, Nevada or Wyoming. It's standard practice. The same applies to financial institutions, accounting firms and other professional service providers.
Their collective reaction to the leaking of Mossack Fonseca's client records and the fallout is likely to have been 'There but for the grace of God (go I)'.
So let's put 'The Panama Papers' into perspective. The leak and everything it reveals is not indicative of an offshore problem or even a Panama problem. It's a people problem. Most human beings are motivated by self-interest. That's reality.
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