French Fault Banks Over Tax Evasion

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/25/business/international/french-fault-banks-over-tax-evasion.html

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PARIS — French lawmakers proposed measures on Thursday to combat tax evasion and faulted a chain of financial players, including banks, that enable a flight of tax revenue estimated at 80 billion euros, or $110 billion, a year.

Included in the 34 proposals adopted in the Senate were sanctions against those who advertise services that shield money in offshore accounts. Other proposals would establish an international register of offshore trusts used to hide money and the ownership of property and art works and would increase protections for whistle-blowers.

The Senate committee’s report on the role of banks in tax evasion included testimony from Hervé Falciani, a former computer employee for HSBC in Geneva. His theft of secret data on thousands of account holders in 2008 ultimately led the French government to compile a list that spawned a number of tax investigations in different countries.

The issue has particular resonance in France, where the government is struggling to raise revenue in order to avert additional austerity measures as it attempts to stay within European Union deficit guidelines.

Éric Bocquet, a senator from Marquillies, in the north of France, said countries lacked the tools to go after the individuals who are a part of a network that moves and shields money.

“The idea is to spread responsibility among the entire chain of actors,” said Mr. Bocquet, who noted in the Senate that “offshore refuges exist every place where there are gaps in the law.”

During the last European Union summit meeting in June, leaders pledged to adopt by the end of the year a common strategy to combat tax evasion, but did not reach a specific agreement. The aim was to create an automatic data exchange between countries.