Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Media Take: The Panama Papers

Alfie

Thu, 26 Oct 2017 11:45:55 +1300

Another offshore provider of "services" for the super-rich has been hacked. Bermuda-based Appleby has admitted their servers were hacked last year but decided to keep shtum... until journos from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists began asking some rather awkward questions.

Stand by for another round of crooks being exposed.…

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 17 Oct 2017 10:08:39 +1300

A Maltese investigative journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia, who exposed her island nation's links to offshore tax havens through the leaked Panama Papers was killed Monday when a bomb exploded in her car, Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.
...
Politico named Caruana Galizia as one of 28 Europeans who are…

Alfie

Thu, 06 Jul 2017 07:29:43 +1200

RNZ reports that since foreign trusts were required to file annual returns and identify their ownership, assets and beneficiaries, three quarters of the NZ-based trusts have fled the country.

Judith Collins claims it's because they couldn't be bothered filling in the "onerous" paperwork. Anyone with an ounce of commonsense will…

Alfie

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 10:28:44 +1200

Writing in the Listener, Ron Pol takes a look at various truths and lies spoken about the Panama Papers, New Zealand’s role as a tax haven and accessses the effectiveness of implementing the recommendations in the Shewan report.

izogi

Mon, 09 May 2016 07:37:57 +1200

Ongoing (and not entirely inconsistent with previous occasions involving the PM), Morning Report has noted that the PM pulled out of its interview this morning, despite going ahead with interviews on TV3 (with Paul Henry) and Braakfast TV on TVNZ, despite RNZ offering to comply with the same conditions of…

Sacha

Sun, 08 May 2016 16:49:43 +1200

was he perhaps sanctioned over protecting and facilitating a bankrupt

doubt it – all standard practice, remember. :)

think he voluntarily gave up practising cert as part of transferring affairs to Antipodes from previous partnership with same chap.

Alfie

Sun, 08 May 2016 16:20:19 +1200

While John Key maintains that offshore trusts are used for “many legitimate purposes”, I’ve yet to hear of one. Apart from tax avoidance/evasion of course. Labour is calling for foreign trusts to be banned altogether, which seems like a fair call in the circumstances.

The SST is carrying [[http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/79640610/republic-of-macedonia-takes-dunedinbased-trust-to-court-to-recover-16-million|an odd little…

Steve Barnes

Sat, 07 May 2016 15:27:09 +1200

I get the feeling there’s a lot more to come as diligent journalists work their way through these millions of documents.

Or
I get the feeling there would be a lot more to come if we had enough diligent journalists to work their way through these millions of documents.
[fify]…

Alfie

Sat, 07 May 2016 10:26:29 +1200

On the question of Whitney's status as a lawyer / non-lawyer... was he perhaps sanctioned over protecting and facilitating a bankrupt during the Neilson affair? Maybe one of the lawyers here could clarify?

Rosemary McDonald

Sat, 07 May 2016 10:21:38 +1200

Key is the only world leader to be named in the document.

This the same Key who was, just the other day, spouting about the evils of hackers and the need to protect the innocent????

Oh! My, my, my. How we lie.

I wonder if the teflon will hold up…

Alfie

Sat, 07 May 2016 09:56:25 +1200

Toby Manhire blows away John Key’s April 13 statement that he had been assured that his longstanding personal lawyer, Ken Whitney, had not worked or dealt with Mossack Fonseca. He includes a letter from Ken Whitney to Mossack Fonseca’s Compliance Department and points out some subtle but damning changes which…

Alfie

Sat, 07 May 2016 09:33:52 +1200

It's official... there was no Mossack Fonseca hack. Calling him/herself John Doe, the whistleblower has published an 1800-word statement which begins, "Income equality is one of the defining issues of our time."

John Doe accuses banks, financial regulators and tax authorities of having failed.

__"Decisions have been made that have…

Alfie

Fri, 06 May 2016 11:27:43 +1200

The Standard has published this screenshot of two conflicting headlines. The first dated May 3rd quotes Key as having spoken to Whitney who confirms his (fairytale) version of events. The second dated two days later quotes Key as saying he hasn't spoken to his lawyer at all. One of these…

Alfie

Fri, 06 May 2016 09:13:56 +1200

No, no, no….the crooks are the cyber hackers that breached Mossack Fonseca’s security.

The best information available so far suggests that an insider copied the Mossack Fonseca files, so there was no hacking involved at all. That makes it a rather foolish example for Key to choose. Mind you, it…

Sacha

Thu, 05 May 2016 22:52:56 +1200

It does have to be ingrained in the culture, yes. But you think nurses or doctors are bad, just try cops, teachers or social workers. Investment in training and monitoring needed, not just IT systems.

Rosemary McDonald

Thu, 05 May 2016 22:44:19 +1200

Sorry...my mind, upon reading "proper ethics training like all nurses and doctors get", immediately and for no obvious reason flashed onto the unfortunate incident of unethical sharing of x-rays of the person who fronted up to A&E after a really unusual accident involving a fish...which, bizarrely, somehow ....fits.

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 05 May 2016 22:37:12 +1200

No, no, no….the crooks are the cyber hackers that breached Mossack Fonseca’s security.
There is no evidence to say cyber-hacking was the source of this data (aside from speculation it may have been engineered by anti-Putin Russian sources) and if it is anything like the Luxembourg Leaks or Edward Snowden's…

Rosemary McDonald

Thu, 05 May 2016 22:36:49 +1200

proper ethics

...as opposed to improper?

Sacha

Thu, 05 May 2016 22:33:43 +1200

"You might be a doctor that's dealt with sexually transmitted diseases, and that information is confidential to that person, then all of a sudden, that information is in the public domain."

Nah. Unless Bill English makes it shareable across other agencies without proper ethics training like all nurses and doctors…

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 05 May 2016 22:25:57 +1200

Michael Woodhouse says he’s happy with the scope of the Shewan review.
Obviously it's a 'peri-scope' – ie the man is away with the fairies...

Rosemary McDonald

Thu, 05 May 2016 22:23:24 +1200

Why do I get the feeling that our country is being run by a bunch of crooks?

No, no, no....the crooks are the cyber hackers that breached Mossack Fonseca's security.

He said the massive information leak from the Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, which revealed global tax avoidance practices, is…

Alfie

Thu, 05 May 2016 15:44:32 +1200

It seems that the Government enquiry into NZ's foreign trust rules is destined to be another whitewash. You know the kind of thing... handpick your own "expert", make sure the terms of the enquiry are so restrictive that they're unlikely to reveal any nasty little secrets and Bob's your uncle.…

izogi

Thu, 05 May 2016 13:31:54 +1200

The people who need this govt removed the most have stopped voting.

Just continuing on this thought.

This whole thing questioning the PM's integrity is obviously important, but it's also still a sideshow. There have been any number of other comparable sideshows in recent years, none of which which have…

Rich of Observationz

Thu, 05 May 2016 13:00:22 +1200

That type of thing would be a crime, except that the governments of John Key and others (I'd include in this the Clark government, whose ministers no doubt fell asleep when the topic of business regulation came up – see also finance companies) have made sure that the laws against…

Alfie

Thu, 05 May 2016 12:37:30 +1200

I’ve reworked my poem…
Love your work Linger.

Today’s Herald editorial says Key must accept responsibility for any sloppiness in the Whitney affair. In the same paper, Bryan Gould reminds us about Key’s numerous brain fades and paints him as a man with a slogan – "The buck stops anywhere but here."…

linger

Thu, 05 May 2016 02:29:34 +1200

On reflection, I've reworked my poem a bit as follows:

Key calls his lawyer's ethics "high",
and few can fault his thinking:
ethically, he seems to be
not merely high, but stinking.

Sacha

Wed, 04 May 2016 18:57:51 +1200

set up a sham trust for a declared bankrupt then knowingly concealed that information from investigators

Surely that's a crime of some sort in itself?

linger

Wed, 04 May 2016 18:47:28 +1200

Key’s lawyer’s ethics are said “high”.
We must support his thinking,
in that his standards seem to be
not only high, but stinking.

Alfie

Wed, 04 May 2016 14:19:06 +1200

Today's Garrick Tremain cartoon.

Alfie

Wed, 04 May 2016 13:53:03 +1200

Key's claim that his personal lawyer Ken Whitney is "highly ethical" has been called into question by the High Court. Matt Nippert tells the story.

John Key's lawyer Ken Whitney was criticised by the High Court after creating a sham trust for a bankrupt property developer then failing to disclose it…

Kumara Republic

Wed, 04 May 2016 12:45:40 +1200

Astute. The people who need this govt removed the most have stopped voting.

And also because Third Wayism and Blue Dogism are so 1997.

izogi

Wed, 04 May 2016 09:34:02 +1200

The people who need this govt removed the most have stopped voting.

Yes. Apparently.

Possibly also people who've never voted.

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 04 May 2016 06:02:50 +1200

but when they are caught on the hop it’s another story.

0ne hopes that it will be the wearing of his 'Panama Hat' that brings Key down...

Sacha

Tue, 03 May 2016 23:46:50 +1200

These types of things are significant when people are looking for excuses to vote out a government, but I don't get the feeling that people are looking for an excuse to do that right now.

Astute. The people who need this govt removed the most have stopped voting.

izogi

Tue, 03 May 2016 17:34:30 +1200

It seems that the PM and his mates are very good and providing solid sounding, fluffy, rehearsed answers to patsy questions. but when they are caught on the hop it's another story.

Thing is, it works. Sadly.

I'm as annoyed about this as I've been about any number of previous…

Greville Whittle

Tue, 03 May 2016 17:02:58 +1200

This whole business reeks of slippery John.

Does this mean our PM is The Stainless Steel Prat?

It seems that the PM and his mates are very good and providing solid sounding, fluffy, rehearsed answers to patsy questions. but when they are caught on the hop it's another story.

Alfie

Tue, 03 May 2016 16:09:56 +1200

Now Todd McClay has made a complete dick of himself.

After a circuitous route around the question of whether McClay did or didn't know Whitney was Key's lawyer, the minister eventually offered up that he probably didn't know but couldn't remember for sure. For more than 16 minutes McClay veered…

Alfie

Tue, 03 May 2016 13:16:29 +1200

Today's version... Key's highly experienced lawyer's email was 'sloppily written'. Oddly, the meaning of the line in question looks pretty unambiguous to me.

"I have spoken to the Prime Minister about this and he advised that the Government has no plans to change the status of the foreign trust regime."

Sloppy?…

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 02 May 2016 13:32:18 +1200

oh you are lawful!
Accusing his personal lawyer of many years of “name-dropping” and “misrepresentation” is merely Key’s latest desperate tactic to try and distance himself from the Panama Papers fallout.
Bearing in mind that this is the same lawyer he is on the public record as saying has the…

Rich of Observationz

Mon, 02 May 2016 13:25:52 +1200

New Zealand *is* a tax haven – Key doesn’t need to use foreign ones.

I think I posted this elsewhere, but if the PM's wealth, as reported, is NZD50mln, then if we assume he keeps 80% in tax-free capital items (beach houses in Omaha, vineyards, etc) that that’s all tax…

Joe Wylie

Mon, 02 May 2016 12:24:11 +1200

Accusing his personal lawyer of many years of "name-dropping" and "misrepresentation" is merely Key's latest desperate tactic to try and distance himself from the Panama Papers fallout.
'"He Who Cannot Be Named" redirects here.'

Alfie

Mon, 02 May 2016 11:10:44 +1200

Poor John Key is sadly misunderstood. He's now claiming that his personal lawyer, offshore tax facilitator Ken Whitney, "misrepresented a conversation they had" when he lobbied Todd McClay in 2014.

Well, sadly people do drop my name in things all the time...people who barely know me and don't often talk…

Alfie

Sun, 01 May 2016 12:48:55 +1200

Bomber Bradbury is pissed off at Key’s personal use of offshore trust/s and his protection of the tax avoidance industry.

Key has built a tax haven, was instrumental in personally intervening in 2010 to create it, had his lawyer lobby the Minister to stop any crackdown and then gets caught…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 29 Apr 2016 10:07:40 +1200

Don't Troy this at home...
Snively seems to have moved on to hand-wringing over having been ignored.
The Cassandra Syndrome?

Joe Wylie

Fri, 29 Apr 2016 09:48:07 +1200

Nothing to see here folks, moving right along. Let's go bash some beneficiaries instead.
Here's Transparency International NZ Chair Suzanne Snively's open letter to John Key after the 2014 election. High-minded and positive stuff, though perhaps somewhat tainted by Snively having been outed only four months earlier for apparently [[https://newzealandjustice.com/content.php?550-Transparency-International-under-fire|exploiting…

Alfie

Fri, 29 Apr 2016 08:17:49 +1200

When the IRD began to look into foreign trusts in 2013, John Key's lawyer lobbied the Revenue Minister at the time, Todd McClay, invoking the PM's support and effectively killing the investigation.

"We are concerned that there appears to be a sudden change of view by the IRD in respect of…

Alfie

Thu, 21 Apr 2016 17:03:51 +1200

The Standard has broken an interesting angle on Key’s involvement with offshore trusts. Key claimed that “his private lawyer” Ken Whitney took his investments with him when he moved to the Antipodes Trust Group, a business which facilitates tax avoidance.

Key said Whitney was “highly ethical” and that was why…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 10:15:59 +1200

the OIO
Press release from CAFCA (today 15/04/16)
CAFCA forces Overseas Investment Office to lift cloak of secrecy on its approvals
The Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) has had a relationship with the Overseas Investment Office (and the Overseas Investment Commission before that) dating back to the 1980s,…

Alfie

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 10:03:55 +1200

In 2014 the OIO approved the purchase of some sensitive New Zealand land which was funded via one of Mossack Fonseca’s operations. The government is able to overturn such arrangements under the “good character” requirements of OIO applications.

While the OIO is checking to see how many other applications were…

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 15:19:53 +1200

Today’s Tremain
Vigilent?
ptui!
He needs a proofreader,
(as does Al Nisbet in The Press occasionally).

Paul Campbell

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 11:59:25 +1200

As I understand ity there are essentially three ways you can tax a trust, essentially you can tax the people who put money in, or you can tax the people who take it out, or you tax the trust's income itself directly

Part of why we are a tax haven…

Paul Campbell

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 11:46:30 +1200

Today's Tremain

Brent Jackson

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 10:58:15 +1200

But the people running these schemes are experts at avoiding tax, so it is quite possible that almost no tax is paid on this $20m income.

Deborah

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 08:31:04 +1200

So this money comes into the country. Sits in a trust. No income is made in NZ therefore no tax is paid.

Actually, the money doesn't even need to come into the country. It can all be held overseas, and the only connection here is the NZ trustee.

Russell Brown

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 07:05:41 +1200

So this money comes into the country. Sits in a trust. No income is made in NZ therefore no tax is paid. So….other than somewhere to put the money away from home….but pardon my ignorance, remind me where the fudge is the benefit to NZ? Oh…wait a minute….are we subsidising…

Rob Stowell

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 22:30:18 +1200

Call it the Smart Social Democrats versus Silly Labour.
Mirroring my thoughts exactly. This hits a nerve and it should be in the news for months. It's a natural for social democrats. But it's not about NZ's reputation or JK (if he's damaged thats jus a bonus).
It's the bleeping…

Ross Mason

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 21:43:50 +1200

So this money comes into the country. Sits in a trust. No income is made in NZ therefore no tax is paid. So....other than somewhere to put the money away from home....but pardon my ignorance, remind me where the fudge is the benefit to NZ? Oh...wait a minute....are we subsidising…

simon g

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 21:33:06 +1200

I think this whole story illustrates the core problem for the opposition – the difference between what they should do, and what they too often do. Call it the Smart Social Democrats versus Silly Labour.

The Panama Papers should be all about the fundamental principles involved, not the Prime Minister.…

Marc C

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 20:52:13 +1200

Multi layered investments are the business of the Panamanian and other experts, this involves shell companies, trusts, holdings and so forth, it is extremely difficult to keep track, so some investments will not be identifiable against individuals, they will be held by whatever legal entity and investment vehicle, and John…

Marc C

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 20:48:32 +1200

I wonder, I wonder, why the focus on Key and not his wife or even son and daughter, as it is so common practice by those in high office, also in business, to ensure their wealth does not stick to their name, and is instead registered and kept under the…

David Hood

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 20:47:13 +1200

"We have John Key’s word on this."

He is a man of many roles. Was he commenting wearing his Panama hat?

Kumara Republic

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 19:41:34 +1200

a man a plan a canal panama

Lyndon Hood and the Economist's Ryan Avent went one better:

https://twitter.com/lyndonhood/status/716927383899496448

https://twitter.com/ryanavent/status/717373189395976192

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 18:38:40 +1200

a man a plan a canal panama
We have John Key’s word on this.
Not that the Herald used his exact words;
Mr Key said that the foreign trust industry was "a legitimate business" and was not "the devil incarnate"
he actually said "the devil incarnated"
Nice of them to…

Alfie

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 18:10:10 +1200

We have John Key's word on this.

Prime Minister John Key said he sought an assurance from his lawyer that he was not linked to Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers scandal.

As Mossack Fonseca is only the world's fourth biggest offshore tax haven specialist,…

Russell Brown

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 17:56:12 +1200

Nicky Hager has been part of the investigation

Ah. I totally missed that.

nzlemming

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 17:15:53 +1200

It is odd that NZ journalists were left out of the loop since we feature so prominently in the story. More so since Nicky Hager did so much work on a similar story with the ICIJ that looked at NZ trusts but was scuppered by a rogue Guardian journo.

[[http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/how-do-you-make-sense-of-more-than-a-million-leaked-documents|Nicky…

steve black

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 16:01:30 +1200

That could have been entertaining, yes.

And topical. Lest you think the whole Don Brash Iwi vs Kiwi is just history and things have moved on...

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/301222/iwi-vs-kiwi-campaign-slogan-returns

Brash is still ACTing up again in cahoots with New Zealand Centre for Political Research [SIC] run by former ACT MP Muriel Newman.…

Sacha

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 13:44:07 +1200

He should simply have been asked: "So, just to be clear, you're now repudiating Don Brash?"

That could have been entertaining, yes.

Sacha

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 13:43:29 +1200

Taking Fake Offence

No, he was still offended when the cameras stopped rolling.

Jason Kemp

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 13:18:46 +1200

As Thomas Piketty notes in a recent issue of the Guardian
Panama Papers: Act now. Don’t wait for another crisis
Thomas Piketty – Financial secrecy represents a huge threat to the fragile global system, and we won’t solve the problem by politely asking tax havens to stop behaving badly

"There…

simon g

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 12:03:23 +1200

Seymour was allowed to get away with two basic tricks from the politician's playbook: 1) Taking Fake Offence, and 2) History Began With Me.

He should simply have been asked: "So, just to be clear, you're now repudiating Don Brash?".

ACT change the riders (Hide, Brash, Whyte, Seymour), not the…

EE

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 10:29:43 +1200

Thank you for some interesting TV last night.

Go Bus has a lower tax rate because the Tainui recipients are mainly low-income earners, yet they pay lower wages to their drivers than their competion... ? NZ Buses, who lost the South Auckland contract to Go Bus, pays their drivers above…

Alfie

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 09:52:37 +1200

A timely t-shirt available from RedBubble.

Guardian cartoonists Steve Bell and Martin Rowson have also been producing some stunning work since the Panama Papers broke.

Russell Brown

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 19:03:14 +1200

If Deborah Russell is not New Zealand’s Minister of Finance in waiting, I’ll scoff my chapeau on toast with cheese sauce.

She needs to get elected as an MP first, but yeah, she's got the goods.

daleaway

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 17:06:47 +1200

If Deborah Russell is not New Zealand's Minister of Finance in waiting, I'll scoff my chapeau on toast with cheese sauce.

Kumara Republic

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 16:53:26 +1200

I was so grateful that it didn't become the default 'Panamagate'!

...though something along the lines of 'Mossad Fundseeker' would've been fun...

Oscar Kightley put it best: "NZ: where money goes on holiday"

__The Panama Papers: It sounds like one of those thick novels about international espionage written by the…

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 16:33:57 +1200

Pentagon Papers, Panama Papers …
I was so grateful that it didn't become the default 'Panamagate'!

...though something along the lines of 'Mossad Fundseeker' would've been fun...

simon g

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 16:19:30 +1200

It's preceded by Fog of War, which is quite the curtain-raiser. Pentagon Papers, Panama Papers ...

So anyway, thanks. I'll check it out.

william blake

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 16:17:31 +1200

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 15:55:38 +1200

spitting tax...
The work was coordinated not by any one media organisation but by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Who also broke the earlier Luxembourg Leaks in 2014 – highlighting the sterling work of PricewaterhouseCoopers and their 'sweetheart tax deals'
PricewaterhouseCoopers has helped multinational companies obtain at least 548…

WaterDragon

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 15:53:41 +1200

Love that cartoon

Paul Campbell

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 15:46:01 +1200

Today's Tremain

Euan Mason

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 15:31:23 +1200

I'll look forward to it. Completely agree that it is more about ethics than law. Tax avoidance can be unethical when the law is wrong.

Mark Graham

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 15:15:14 +1200

Yeah baby! Love your work Russell. Talking truth to power. I recall, Key refused to come back on my show when he got a harder time than he expected – would love to see if you can get him to front at some stage and answer some fucking questions straight…

Public Address

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 15:15:14 +1200

Discussion from blog post.