Glassey: Paradise Papers put spotlight on offshore financial centres

The revelations and hyperbole around the Paradise Paper undermine the value of using offshore financial centres, where levels of transparency are arguably no worse than elsewhere in the world, despite the efforts of governments to demand more openness, argues Will Glassey, partner at Mayer Brown

The Paradise Papers have brought intense media and public attention in the UK and abroad to offshore financial centres.

There may be a moral debate to be had about multinational corporations and individuals who structure their affairs so as to ensure that profits are generated in low-tax or no-tax jurisdictions.

But in reporting on the Paradise Papers, many in the media seem intent on attributing to all offshore financial centres a regulatory character close to the Wild West. Is this characterisation fair? Does it assist companies, investors and their professional advisers in understanding offshore financial centres?

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