France calls on OECD to classify Panama as tax haven

PARIS

France will call on Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members to reclassify Panama as a tax haven, French finance minister Michel Sapin said on Wednesday.

Speaking on French radio Europe 1 following the ‘Panama Papers’ revelations, Sapin expressed the wish "that the OECD ... should meet so the same decision is taken by all the countries concerned."

France had removed Panama from its list of Uncooperative States and Territories (ETNC) in 2012 after the two countries reached a bilateral accord on fighting tax evasion.

However, Sapin told parliament on Tuesday that France had restored Panama to its list of uncooperative countries “with all the consequences that will have for those who have transactions" with the central American state.

“Panama wanted to have us believe that it could respect major international principles. That's how it managed to avoid being on the blacklist of tax havens,” Sapin said.

The secret files, widely referred to as the Panama Papers, contain 11.5 million documents, some 2.6 terabytes of data – more than that released by U.S. intelligence informant Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks.

The documents point to 140 politicians worldwide, among them 12 current and former national leaders, claiming they worked with Mossack Fonseca to establish shadow companies for global transactions and money laundering.

PARIS

France will call on Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members to reclassify Panama as a tax haven, French finance minister Michel Sapin said on Wednesday.

Speaking on French radio Europe 1 following the ‘Panama Papers’ revelations, Sapin expressed the wish "that the OECD ... should meet so the same decision is taken by all the countries concerned."

France had removed Panama from its list of Uncooperative States and Territories (ETNC) in 2012 after the two countries reached a bilateral accord on fighting tax evasion.

“Panama wanted to have us believe that it could respect major international principles. That's how it managed to avoid being on the blacklist of tax havens,” Sapin said.