6 Apr 2016 Modified 07:15 CEST

At least 28 German banks in recent years used the services of law firm Mossack Fonseca.

http://balkans.aljazeera.net/vijesti/dosje-panama-upleteno-28-njemackih-banaka

At least 28 German banks in recent years used the services of law firm Mossack Fonseca which helped the rich tax evasion, reports the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, which has uncovered the "Dossier Panama" affair in cooperation with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

At least 14 of those 28 German banks are involved in this global scandal has established for the purpose of concealment of assets, more than 1,200 fictitious offshore companies, writes the German daily.

In that the forefront was The Deutsche Bank which has founded nearly 400 of these, the paper said on Tuesday, reports Fena.
Martin Jaeger, a spokesman for the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he hopes that this affair will increase pressure on those involved in financial crimes.

"This may be a moment of incentives to take on such criminal activities impose restrictions, but such practices can not be canceled once a magic wand," said Jaeger.

Global problem

Information about the massive use of tax havens are a reminder that "tax evasion major global problem," said on Tuesday US President Barack Obama in his first commentary, "Files Panama".

He pointed out that the fight against tax evasion high on the agenda of international meetings.

"There will always be some illicit flows of money around the world, but we can not facilitate them," Obama told reporters at the White House. "We can not legalize transactions that are only tax evasion," he said.

"One of the big problems is that as these operations are legal and not illegal," said Obama, quoted by AFP.

He called on the US Congress to take measures to prevent US companies to use loopholes in the tax laws to avoid paying taxes.

"The price of these holes in the laws pays the American middle class," he stressed, reports Hina.

Democratic president already has several times appealed to Congress that control the Republicans to do something against the corporations that reduce taxes by relocating their headquarters outside the United States, but MPs have in this area a little bit done.

So already a few American giants, such as Pfizer, bought local businesses in countries with low taxes (Ireland, the Netherlands ...) and there he moved to the business, and the activity and administration preserved in the United States.

Controversial moves

These moves are legal, but controversial, and their aim is to avoid paying federal taxes on companies that in the US 35 percent, among the highest in the most developed industrial countries, reminds AFP.

Obama also defended the effectiveness of US sanctions, saying: "We know that a strict regime of sanctions, such as Iran would not reach agreement on halting its nuclear program if it was not severe sanctions."

Documents leaked from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca discovered the immense proportions of hiding money in tax havens.

According to figures revealed the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the money hid the rich world, statesmen, politicians and FIFA - associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and his wife, and Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister David Cameron have family members associated with offshore companies.

Panama on Tuesday said it opened an investigation into the global scandal, stressing that its aim is to establish whether indeed committed crimes when they were committed, and the possible financial damage.

Several countries have already announced that it has opened an investigation, among them Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.

Source: Agencies

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IZAKOVIC

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IZAKOVIC