Panama Papers

[Legbiter]

Also, getting hung up on what exactly is or is not terrorism is not really the point and simply distracts from the actual problem. A problem that is likely far more urgent for most Western women than Islamic or whatever kind of terrorism.

Really???? 

What do you think women in the west suffer more from every year, Islamic terrorism or rapes and sexual harassment?

Not that you have any experience with women, of course.

[Martinus]

Also, getting hung up on what exactly is or is not terrorism is not really the point and simply distracts from the actual problem. A problem that is likely far more urgent for most Western women than Islamic or whatever kind of terrorism.

Really???? 

What do you think women in the west suffer more from every year, Islamic terrorism or rapes and sexual harassment?

Not that you have any experience with women, of course.

You clearly have much more - but I thought you were talking about sexual harassment in tabletop games.

[Solmyr]

I'm talking about sexual harassment and misogyny in general, of which this is a part. However, I'll stop derailing this thread.

[Martinus]

Surely noone is saying that there is no such thing as sexual harassment and rape in the West. In fact, I would say there is possibly the overlap between the perpetrators of such behaviours and perpetrators of Islamic terrorism.

[Norgy]

I hate to take Marty's defense here (believe me, I do!), but having an offshore account is not the same as not reporting your taxable income.  These documents tell us who has an offshore account in Panama, not the reasons they have one.  And there is also the (admitedly, very small) possibility some of them did declare such account to the proper fiscal authorities of their country.

It's tax avoidance vs. tax evasion. Good explanation here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27372841

I think Viper's point is that you may want to have an offshore account even if you have paid all the requisite taxes. For example, when you live in a country that does not respect private property.

Well, for the part of DNB's Norwegian customers, it was all for tax avoidance purposes. And illegal.

Well, I guess Norwegian justice system can fire all the police and the judges, because Norgy is able to decide whether something is illegal or not just on the basis of a sketchy press article. Yay.

That's both unfair and a not very subtle dig.
Not reporting assets is, by Norwegian tax law, illegal. And none of the assets DNB handled were ever reported. Ever.
But feel free to gloat. Your profession is what helps these people. So while you may rant and rave about inequality in other matters, you're actually part of the very problem.

[Solmyr]

Surely noone is saying that there is no such thing as sexual harassment and rape in the West. In fact, I would say there is possibly the overlap between the perpetrators of such behaviours and perpetrators of Islamic terrorism.

Islamic terrorism is perpetrated by straight Western men? Wow, I guess you are a feminist after all.

[Martinus]

Surely noone is saying that there is no such thing as sexual harassment and rape in the West. In fact, I would say there is possibly the overlap between the perpetrators of such behaviours and perpetrators of Islamic terrorism.

Islamic terrorism is perpetrated by straight Western men?

Well, a sub-set of them, yes. Or are you saying that a citizen of, say, Brussels or Sweden can never be considered a Western man unless he is of the "right" religion or race? That's pretty racist.

[Zanza]

So yeah, having read the article, it seems the biggest scandal is that Sueddeutsche Zeitung journalists bought or otherwise acquired stolen data in violation of law and they are now trying to present themselves as heroes rather than thieves.

Not sure if it is a scandal, but to me at least it sounds like an interesting view into a world that might be familiar to you as a high-powered M&A lawyer, but is fairly obscure to me and I guess most people. Whether or not the presented facts constitute illegal activity or not is something I would leave to the respective law enforcement agencies. At least in Germany there were already some indictments based on the data.
But even if it isn't illegal, it's interesting to see to what length the rich and famous go to keep their money or other interests off-shore.

[Valmy]

What do you think women in the west suffer more from every year, Islamic terrorism or rapes and sexual harassment?

And last I checked sexual harassment and rape are crimes and, rightly, men are profiled and suspected of being more likely to commit them. There are men in prison right now for having committed these crimes. What is your point here

Though since Legbiter and Marty are lined up against you, it is probably a point worth listening to

[Norgy]

Marty is having a real off-day.

[Martinus]

Marty is having a real off-day.

You mean as in "being awesome"?

[Norgy]

If you starred in "How I Met Your Mother" and was Barney. 

[viper37]

I hate to take Marty's defense here (believe me, I do!), but having an offshore account is not the same as not reporting your taxable income.  These documents tell us who has an offshore account in Panama, not the reasons they have one.  And there is also the (admitedly, very small) possibility some of them did declare such account to the proper fiscal authorities of their country.

It's tax avoidance vs. tax evasion. Good explanation here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27372841

I think Viper's point is that you may want to have an offshore account even if you have paid all the requisite taxes. For example, when you live in a country that does not respect private property.

Yes.  Or simply if you were a rich (at least multi-millionaire) person often travelling all over the world, having a banking account that will be easily accessible everywhere and no subject to the whims of a local governement that you haven't paid enough bribes to.  Quebec engineers had their paycheck deposited in a Swiss bank in the early 90s when they were working in African/Middle-eastern countries because it was considered safer.  Of course, we now know it wasn't always for that

But still, there was a really legitimate and legal reason to such an account for some people.  I'm not naive enough to think the vast majority of people having such an account are honest people who paid all their taxes, but we should not automatically assume they are crooks because of this simple fact.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

it's not going to matter one bit. the rich will still be able to what they do and the small fry will still be forced to turn over far too much of their earnings to incompetent states.

[Valmy]

it's not going to matter one bit. the rich will still be able to what they do and the small fry will still be forced to turn over far too much of their earnings to incompetent states.

If you go after the rich they can just leave. The rest of us are generally stuck where they live so from a rational policy standpoint we are the most reliable tax revenue source