[INTRODUCTION]It is estimated that up to 60 per cent of the world’s money may be
located offshore, where half of all financial transactions are said to take
place. Meanwhile, there is a perception that secrecy about offshore is
encouraged to obfuscate tax evasion and money laundering.
Depending upon the criteria used to identify them, there are between
forty and eighty offshore finance centres spread around the world. The
tax rules that apply in these jurisdictions are determined by the
jurisdictions themselves and often are more benign than comparative
rules that apply in the larger financial centres globally. This gives rise to
potential for the development of tax mitigation strategies. McCann
provides a detailed analysis of the global oVshore environment,
outlining the extent of the information available and how that
information might be used in assessing the quality of individual
jurisdictions, as well as examining whether some of the perceptions
about ‘Offshore’ are valid. He analyses the ongoing work of what have
become known as the ‘standard setters’ – including the Financial
Stability Forum, the Financial Action Task Force, the International
Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development. The book also offers some suggestions
as to what the future might hold for offshore finance.
H I LT O N Mc C A N N was the Acting Chief Executive of the Financial
Services Commission, Mauritius. He has held senior positions in the
respective regulatory authorities in the Isle ofMan,Malta andMauritius.
Having trained as a banker, he began his regulatory career supervising
banks in the Isle of Man. In Malta, his focus was on investment business,
and in Mauritius his focus was on the establishment and strategic
development of the recently created FSC.