Ethics and governance in the European Financial centers

It is clear enough that from the Luxembourg point of view, membership in international organizations was intended to avoid sanctions and controls in the business. Hence the current feeling of impunity mixed today with the anger without an attempt even to review one’s positions.

Best of the recent speeches and interviews:

Jean-Jacques Rommes :
La marque OCDE se retrouve corrompue et la crédibilité de cette organisation internationale est remise en cause pour longtemps
The OECD brand is now corrupted and the credibility of this international organization is called into question for a long time.

Fernand Grulms
La publication d’une liste “grise” est un très sérieux revers pour l’UE Cela laissera des traces dans les années à venir
The publication of a “grey” list is a very serious setback for the EU. That will leave traces in the coming years.

Jean-Claude Juncker
Le Luxembourg n’est pas un problème
Luxembourg is not a problem
Je crois que l’Union européenne a cessé de fonctionner correctement. Nous avons eu, je le répète, un débat au Conseil dont le résultat fut que, dans le communiqué même faisant suite à cette réunion, il y a eu une phrase disant qu’aucun Etat membre ne figurerait sur une liste de paradis fiscaux au G20 de Londres. Avec l’accord, sinon la complicité, de certains Etats membres, la Belgique et le Luxembourg y figurent malgré tout. Ceux qui croient que cela ne portera pas à conséquence se trompent.
I believe that the European Union ceased functioning correctly. We had, I repeat it, a debate with the Council whose result was that, in the official statement made following thisvery meeting, there was a sentence saying that no member State would be included on a list of tax havens at the G20 meeting in London. With the agreement, if not the complicityof certain member States, Belgium and Luxembourg appear in itnevertheless. Those who believe that this will not have any consequence are wrong.

Jean Claude Juncker just after the G 20
J’ai beaucoup de raisons de critiquer la gouvernance de l’OCDE, puisque l’OCDE publie une liste sans en référer à ses États membres. Voilà quatre États membres de l’OCDE qui se retrouvent sur une liste de l’OCDE mais le secrétaire général de l’OCDE n’a pas pris soin de contacter les gouvernements de ces quatre pays. Ce sera son problème.
I have many reasons to criticize the OECD governance, since OECD publishes a list without referring about it to its Member States. Here we have four Member States of OECD which are found on an OECD list, but the secretary general of OECD did not bother to contact the governments of these four countries. It will be his problem.

Jean Asselborn
Je suis content qu’on ait redéfini le secret bancaire. Mais détruire… Nous sommes membres de l’Union européenne. Juste un mot, si vous permettez. Il y a une désolidarisation dans l’Union européenne
I am glad that we redefined the bank secrecy. But to destroy… We are members of the European Union. Just a word, if you allow. There is de-solidarity in the European Union.



Every current speech or interview is worrying because they demonstrate that leaders in Luxembourg, either politicians or professionals, did not understand what is going on. I have never ever read any criticism of the current functioning of the jurisdiction.

They are exactly like one of the characters, called Ham, in Who Moved My Cheese as they do not admit that THEIR CHEESE with its feature characteristics is not accepted anymore:
- Banking secrecy is not accepted anymore all the more that in Luxembourg professional secrecy may be used by some PSF (Professionals of the Financial Sector) to sue former employees and commit what is called in the USA obstruction to justice,
- Little control and little sanctions, proven thanks to comparison with other jurisdictions, is not accepted anymore
- Tolerance for banks that help to commit fraud is not accepted anymore,
- Tolerance for scams linked to exotic jurisdictions is not accepted anymore
- Will to hush up issues or dysfunctions because of the conflicts of interests that turn into corruption is not accepted anymore
- Memberships to FATF, OECD, European Union… is no longer a way to lock the decision making process towards control and regulations.
- And so on.


If they were displayed on the OECD list it is entirely their fault as they did not make the required aggiornamento despite warnings the last years and especially the last months.


To be positive, in the next articles, I will develop how Luxembourg can find new cheese to make money.

This is the e-mail I sent to the attention of Commissioner Kovács:



Dear Mr Kovács:

I have read in Le Temps an article stating that Luxembourg is opposing your project of directive and yourself.

The jurisdiction is leading as well a cabal against the OECD and Angel Gurria.

While Switzerland is making amends like Micheline Calmy-Rey who stated recently that "In the current economic context - where our neighbors suffer from a major economic crisis - we did not have quite simply the good product anymore. We could not justify any more that billions illegitimately leave our partners' coffers", Luxembourg goes on denying its issues.

At the same time, Prime Minister Juncker gave an interview (http://www.lalibre.be/index.php?view=article&art_id=497331 ) stating that Luxembourg is not the problem and Jean-Jacques Rommes, who chairs the Luxembourg Banker's association, did not make amends as well (http://www.paperjam.lu/archives/2009/05/2404_PF_Rommes/index.html ).
They deny that in Luxembourg:
-    Banks knowingly help to commit fraud (see http://ethiquedesplaces.blogspirit.com/archive/2009/02/24/it-is-not-the-banker-who-started.html ),
-    There are offshore abuses (see http://ethiquedesplaces.blogspirit.com/archive/2009/03/29/offshore-in-luxembourg-the-tax-haven-is-there.html ) through Luxembourg with many dubious companies (http://ethiquedesplaces.blogspirit.com/archive/2008/09/07/exotism-in-the-corporate-registration.html )  with no economic reality,
-    Luxembourg does not care about the OECD Recs despite an injunction last year to introduce the criminal liability for legal persons (see http://ethiquedesplaces.blogspirit.com/archive/2008/03/29/oecd-urges-luxembourg-to-introduce-liability-of-legal-person.html ), which is neither enacted nor enforced one year later,
-    Etc.

When reading what they are saying, it appears that the membership (EU and OECD) was intended to prevent any sanction. Hence the strong feeling of impunity mixed with anger.

Yours sincerely

Jérôme Turquey
Consultant is business ethics and reputational risk
http://ethiquedesplaces.blogspirit.com

It is very interesting to read again all the annual speeches of Juncker before the parliament.


In particular the one he gave last year whereas the text of Levin, Coleman and Obama was known and that the Liechtenstein scandal took place. In 2008, Angel Gurria stated that "Excessive bank secrecy rules and a failure to exchange information on foreign tax evaders are relics of a different time and have no role to play in the relations between democratic societies"

In 2008, Jean-Claude Juncker

- did not speak about the problems of banking secrecy ("secret" : word missing)

- did not speak about the problems of tax evasion ("évasion" : word missing)

- did not speak about the problems of tax haven ("paradis" : word missing)

- did not speak about the abuses the offshore ("offshore" : word missing, "domiciliation" : word missing)

- did not speak about fraud ("fraud" : word missing)

-…


The former years he had spoken about these issues but definitely ignored their acuity in 2008.



In a nutshell, he did not see or did not want to see that he was up against the wind that now is blowing in his face.