Mizzi’s and Schembri’s secret trusts discussed in New Zealand parliament today
The asset-concealing measures, taken by “members of the Maltese government”, in the form of secretive New Zealand trusts sheltering Panama companies, were discussed in parliament in New Zealand today. (The day is over there already.)
Prime Minister John Key faced questions on the matter from MPs, and Maltese cabinet ministers were specifically mentioned in the exchange which followed. I quote below, but you can read the whole thing in the link above.
————
Grant Robertson: How can he justify a regime which he helped to create and continues to defend, that has led to the undermining of the tax base in a country such as Malta, where senior politicians use New Zealand’s trusts and managed funds to make tax-free profits, and that has led to the Maltese people protesting in the streets?
Hon BILL ENGLISH: Of course, it is up to the Maltese Government to decide whether any of those allegations are actually correct, and it may well ask for information from New Zealand, which, of course, it would supply. These matters will be dealt with by the expert review.
Grant Robertson: How can he deny that New Zealand is eroding the tax base of a country like Malta when its tax evasion came via “a combo pack” from New Zealand designed to exploit New Zealand’s “weak … due diligence;”—as described by Mossack Fonseca—and has been made up of “New Zealand foreign trusts (which pay no tax on foreign income) and what is described as Look Through Companies … which could be owned by the trusts.”?
Hon BILL ENGLISH: Not being an expert on those matters, I would not want to comment on the tax affairs of the Maltese Prime Minister, or whomever the member is actually referring to. The expert review will deal with the issue related to disclosure—about what happens with these foreign trusts. Bear in mind that anyone who transacts in New Zealand is now subject to anti – money laundering provisions, another regime called the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, and a further regime called the Automatic Exchange of Information, all of which are part of New Zealand’s effort to play its part in the global work to reduce tax evasion and avoidance.
Grant Robertson: Was Chapman Tripp wrong in its advice about the changes his Government made to allow for a zero tax-rating of non-residents’ managed funds: that this put New Zealand “in the same league as Luxembourg”, the very country he was talking about in the quote during the substantive question?
Hon BILL ENGLISH: I have not seen its advice and cannot comment.
Grant Robertson: Why should the international community take seriously New Zealand’s calls for a crackdown on multi-national companies in New Zealand that are not paying their fair share and are eroding our tax base when we are implicated in eroding the tax bases of countries like Malta and Mexico, or has he lost his moral compass too?
