{"id":18299,"date":"2016-11-20T10:10:13","date_gmt":"2016-11-20T15:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/?p=18299"},"modified":"2016-11-20T10:10:13","modified_gmt":"2016-11-20T15:10:13","slug":"experts-who-quit-panama-panel-produce-their-own-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/experts-who-quit-panama-panel-produce-their-own-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Experts who quit Panama panel produce their own report"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"joseph-stiglitz\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"mark-peith\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Hudson at The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists wrote this piece about a new report that these two experts wrote independent of Panama’s committee.<\/p>\n

Ending the kinds of offshore abuses revealed by the Panama Papers scandal requires a global solution led by the United States and Europe, a report released today by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Swiss anti-corruption expert Mark Pieth says.<\/p>\n

The 25-page report, \u201cOvercoming the Shadow Economy<\/a>,\u201d argues that, as \u201ceconomic leaders,\u201d the U.S. and the European Union \u201chave an obligation to force financial centers to comply with global transparency standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. and EU have shown they have the tools to stem the flow of dirty money in the fight against terrorism, but have failed to use these same anti-money-laundering tools as forcefully in the fight against financial corruption and tax dodging, the report says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecrecy has to be attacked globally \u2013 offshore and onshore,\u201d the report says. \u201cThere can be no places to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new report is an outgrowth of the pair\u2019s initial work on a study committee appointed by the Panamanian government in response to a series of news stories by ICIJ and more than 100 media partners. The media partnership\u2019s Panama Papers investigation revealed the inner workings of Mossack Fonseca<\/a>, a law firm headquartered in Panama that has helped create offshore structures used by world leaders, wealthy individuals, drug lords and financial fraudsters.<\/p>\n

Stiglitz and Pieth resigned from the Panamanian government committee in August, saying that government officials had refused to assure the panel it had full independence to investigate and make its findings public. The government blamed their resignations over \u201cinternal differences\u201d on the committee.<\/p>\n

Stiglitz, a professor at New York\u2019s Columbia University, said in an interview Monday that he and Pieth decided to go forward with their own report because they believe it\u2019s important to articulate the global solutions to the challenges posed by the shadow economy.<\/p>\n

Stiglitz said they wanted to address growing concerns about not only Panama but also about other secrecy havens and big nations, such as the U.S., that play a significant role in the offshore system. American banks, for example, have paid out large settlements over allegations by U.S. authorities that they failed to stem the flow of drug money and other illicit funds laundered through shell companies and offshore accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a globalized world, if there is any pocket of secrecy, funds will flow through that pocket,\u201d their report says. \u201cThat is why the system of transparency has to be global. The U.S. and EU are key in tipping the balance toward transparency, but this will only be the starting point: each country must play its role as a global citizen in order to shut down the shadow economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the report\u2019s recommendations:<\/p>\n