In the wake of the scandal that has hit Panamanian law firm Mossack & Fonseca, the French government yesterday took action to include, once again, the Republic of Panama in its own list of non-compliant tax havens.
Michel Sapin, French Finance Minister, and Christian Eckert, Secretary of State for Budgetary Affairs, “have issued a government decree adding Panama to the 2016 list of non-cooperative States and Territories”, according to an official government communiqué.
Varela On Notice
In a telephone conversation with Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, French President François Hollande explained the motives behind the move to include, once again, the Republic of Panama in the list of tax havens, following the revelations this week by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on the offshore companies affair. Mr. Hollande allegedly exhorted Mr.
Varela to “collaborate with French tax authorities requesting fiscal information”, according to communiqué by the Gallic Presidential office.
Diplomacy
The Panamanian President had previously condemned the action on the part of the French government as “misguided and unnecessary”, and stuck to his mantra in this latest exchange of views with Mr. Hollande. In spite of his tough talking, however, Mr. Varela is unlikely to go ahead with any retaliatory measures against France, believing as he does that relationship amongst sovereign states should not be driven by a “fiscal spat”.
As part of the diplomatic efforts carried out by the government of Panama, Dulcidio De La Guardia, Economics and Finance Minister, will on Tuesday travel to Paris, France, to take part in a meeting with the OECD’s tax experts focusing on the current scandal.
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