Ethics and governance in the European Financial centers

I have reached a milestone in my studies about business ethics in the Luxembourg Financial Center, at a moment when most of its stakeholders finally seem to adhere, though reluctantly, to some of the ethical principles that I have always advocated. This requires that I thank those who encouraged these inedited studies in Luxembourg.

I would like to thank Bob Kneip, from KNEIP (formerly Kneip Communication). He is the one who is at the origin of my orientation towards the questions of CSR and ethics in Luxembourg. By his actions (see for example a conference that was given in March 2009)  he encouraged me a lot in my pragmatic approach, i.e. relating to matters of fact or practical affairs. 

I would like to thank the CRP Henri Tudor (which is not founder of the LIGFI, which is a good thing) and his Managing Director, who is retiring, which by refusing my project on ethics and CSR late 2004, made me start the studies with a freedom that I would not have had if deliverables had been subjected to validation at the CRP.

Should my project have been borne by the CRP, I would probably have produced politically-correct deliverables despite issues resulting from matters of fact or practical affairs not to worry nor to oppose the financial community.

“My goal has always been clear — to get those taxpayers hiding assets offshore back into the system.” -

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman

 European tax administrations of jurisdictions that are victims of tax evasion should have the same approach as the IRS in the USA by implementing new disclosure guidelines and a penalty structure intended to encourage taxpayers to voluntarily disclose assets held in offshore accounts.

They should offer those who comply the chance to avoid criminal prosecution and a barrage of significant penalties.

Anticipating that a large number of French taxpayers will repatriate their assets back to France, given the recent clampdown by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development on tax havens, and on banking secrecy in particular, France’s Budget Minister Eric Woerth has proposed various “solutions” designed to facilitate this process, although he has firmly ruled out any offer of according a tax amnesty.

Jurisdictions of tax evasion like Switzerland or Luxembourg or Liechtenstein should negociate a tax amnisty for their clients with a use of the money of evasion to fight the crisis in the common interest.

For example the money from tax evasion could be affected to a fund managed in the framework of the European Economic Area, which gathers European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the European Community (EC), and all member states of the European Union (EU) .