When tax avoidance veers into the immoral

WOULD you believe it? Apparently people and corporations all over the world with lots of money have been hiding it somewhere outside their own countries. If it wasn't for that nice John Doe, we would never have heard about the law firm of Mossack Fonseca. Apparently, Mr Doe has released 2.3 terabytes of information on people who have used this law firm to set up offshore vehicles to deal with their financial affairs. This is news because previous whistleblowers have only released gigabytes.

Cynical? No, just realistic. Offshore funds have been around since the first Swiss banker was born. Offshore banking centres have things in common - they are politically independent, they are stable and they do not always require your birth certificate to lodge funds with them (so representatives will do, like trustees). They are a safe haven. Singapore has neighbours who are grateful for a safe haven.

In the old days, before we all got holier-than-thou after the likes of Enron, offshore centres gained notoriety for things like money laundering, holding the funds of criminal activity and funding terrorism. Is that true today? Singapore is poised to become the world's largest offshore banking centre, taking over from Switzerland. I trust readers do not assume that either nation is corrupt!