As a Bahamian, I am more interested in those 55 Bahamians with millions of dollars in Swiss bank accounts ................ that is more of a concern to our banking laws than persons banking in The Bahamas as an offshore jurisdiction ............. OECD and their dirty tricks again

It will be another blow to our already reeling offshore banking industry, because in the upcoming days and weeks, every time a new revelation about Mossack Fonseca comes out, the Bahamas is bound to be mentioned as one of the havens used. Already we have heard of the Bahamas involvement with Macri (above), Cameron's father (UK), the Gehlaut family and their realty holdings (India), Vladmir Putin (Russia) etc etc etc. And of course MF has offices here. I am almost looking forward to finding out the dirt on the Bahamian movers and shakers that will surely come to the surface.

One has to consider the political climate, in many South American countries, in the 70's and 80's and even into the 90's to understand why people would wish to get assets away from dictator type governments. Political stability is a new phenomenon.

Many hard working people hid money. Sadly so did many crooks. It was usually fairly easy to distinguish between the two.

However, some financial institutions, and law firms, did not bother to make any distinction. They just wanted the fees.

Our Central Bank had the ability to sus much of this out but were either incompetent or chose not to.

Examples are Guardian Trust Company, Suisse Security Bank and the late Nigel Bowe.

Why did the Exchange Control Department allow someone to continue to operate foreign currency bank accounts? All lawyers and accountants had to file a monthly report showing their activities.

What did the Banks Supervision Department do? What information did they not act on? Why did they not do their job?

We are all suffering because of their failure to do their job.

This also shows the importance of why people in public office must disclose their assets.

With 11 million documents to trudge through and the Bahamas listed as the third most popular tax haven used by this law firm, we will definitely see a pandora's box opening, this is going to be 'interesting'.

I doubt that any of the political bribery proceeds would have been passed through MyF so that leak is not likely to bear much fruit for the Bahamians hoping to have corruption exposed. Although what is the point in having it exposed anyway. No one is going to prosecute the politician taking it. One doesn't really need the evidence anyway. When the Blackbeard's Cay developer doesn't even blink when the development is the subject of a Supreme Court Order to close, it is because he has someone in his back pocket. Already bought and paid for. On the other hand, when Peter Nygard complains that he made the payment but is now being harassed by environmentalists, you know he paid someone. He says five million, but the PLP party says it was much less: so who got the difference ? Who ? You whistle and I will point.

What most Bahamians do not know is that well placed sources have it that the U.S. Treasury and IRS already have several senior operatives planted within our country's financial services sector, including two of the largest law firms in the Bahamas. These operatives are typically dual nationals of the Bahamas and U.S. (or former dual nationals) who were born into prominent Bahamian families and have been educated and worked for a period of time in the U.S. Uncle Sam always goes about getting the more vital and sensitive information that it needs to protect its interests one way or another. Most of us also seem to have forgotten that the Bahamas was one of the first countries the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) targeted for the recording of all voice and email communications transmitted within the Bahamas and to and from the Bahamas and other countries. That's right....100% of all such communications!

Economist.....also Gulf Union, Clico and for years Bank of the Bahamas. No one listens locally and regrettably persons outside the Bahamas have to expose this. We need to start locally with Consumer Protection or customer protection with laws of jail time and stiff personal and institutions fines and an Agency to make it work, This can happen today, once we can respect locals the rest will follow. Train a child up in the ways......spare the rod and spoil.....We urgently need to create an Ombudsman for Financial matters. Nothing happens because because many institutions have politically appointed Directors.

David Davis, who was shadow home secretary at the time of the murder, said the report meant that in a civil UK court Putin would be found guilty of complicity in murder. He said: “We need to go after the financial assets of Putin in the Bahamas and in Cyprus. Eventually you get to a point when with a dictator you have to draw a line as we did in the 30s.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/…