Singapore Democrats, 2 Dec 2008, Chee Soon Juan
""Singapore is not a tax haven," Foreign Minister George Yeo insists, "We are a low-tax country but not a tax haven. We're an international financial centre so banking secrecy is very important. It is protected by law. But at the same time we do not condone drug money or terrorism money or money laundering -- these are crimes."
Carl LevinBut the world doesn't seem to believe him. US Senator Carl Levin, one of the three co-authors of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, lumped Singapore with the world's leading tax havens. The American lawmaker said of his proposed bill: "In effect, tax havens sell secrecy to attract clients to their shores. They peddle secrecy the way other countries advertise high quality services. That secrecy is used to cloak tax evasion and other misconduct, and it is that offshore secrecy that is targeted in our bill." He identified a list of 34 jurisdictions as tax havens"
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