Ethics and governance in the European Financial centers

Investors in Ucits funds will face possible higher fees if European Union plans to tighten up rules surrounding safekeeping of fund assets become law, reported the Financial Times.

Switzerland and Denmark have agreed at a technical level to the extension of administrative assistance in tax matters under Art. 26 of the OECD Model Convention. The tax authorities of both States initialed a revised double taxation agreement (DTA)

Le temps reported that at the same time ,Switzerland and Luxembourg initialed as well revised double taxation agreement with no transparency.

The secrecy was intended to mislead France and the European Union prior to sensitive tax negociations and does not comply with Luc Frieden's recent statement that Luxembourg is a transparent financial center.

“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) .