Taxing Questions for Liechtenstein
I was listening to the BBC From Our Own Correspondent Podcast which had a great piece by John Sweeney about murky going ons in Liechtenstein. Part of it made me think that they’ve been going to the same school as Microsoft:
The next morning we heard that there was a banking seminar at the university on openness. This being Liechtenstein, the openness meeting was closed, at least to us.
John also has a wicked sense of humour..
Imagine my disappointment on discovering that Liechtenstein was, in fact, the most boring place on earth. I’m used to boredom – I work for the BBC, for heaven’s sake – but Liechtenstein was as dull as ditchwater, no duller. They bank behind closed doors. They create fuzzy trusts behind close doors. They make false teeth. And then they go to bed. The person who most looked like a ruthless killer was Howard, and he was the BBC producer.
It was most disappointing that the Panorama programme on the same subject occassionally dropped the name of the Isle of Man into the commentary, without significant comment, contrast or context, simply tarring the IOM with the same brush as Liechtenstein.
This at the same time as the IMF thought the IOM ‘complied well with international standards on financial regulation. (http://www.fsc.gov.im/ViewNews.gov?page=lib/news/treasury/imf.xml&menuid=11570)
p.s. funnily enough, I live in the IOM, or I probably wouldn’t care what the IMF thought.
Actually, that link was to the 2003 report… the latest report (from the September 2008 inspection) is still in draft: http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/IMF-offers-boost-to-Isle.4923240.jp