INDEX	Sunday, 10 April 2016
Obama revealed US involvement in Panama Papers
The publication of the Panama Papers, as is usually the case in these massive leaks, seems mainly to advance American interests. Whilst American intelligence may not actually have got its hands dirty by obtaining them (they were probably stolen by a criminal organisation on behalf of the Americans), it is fairly clear that the American government was involved at the highest level. This judgment is based on the oddity that David Cameron has been well and truly dropped in it. Why Cameron? President Obama telegraphed this in an interview in which he attacked Britain for failing to pull its weight in NATO and making a mess of Libya. See this report (sorry about the advertising). At the time these seemed extraordinary things to say and I wondered if the president was (as Private Eye used to put it) 'tired and emotional', perhaps through jet lag. In retrospect it appears well timed and cogent. But why would America be bothered about tax cheats? Well, the reason probably has something to do with an issue that has been high up the political agenda in the US: the reverse takeover or financial inversion whereby an American company buys up a foreign equivalent and then shifts its tax domicile overseas. Quite clearly the message of the Panama Papers is that if you cheat (or appear to cheat) you can get in a great deal of trouble further down the line when you least expect it.
Posted by Jonathan Brind.
INDEX	Sunday, 10 April 2016