Jersey bank accused of aiding offshore tax avoiders
Lloyds Bank's Jersey subsidiary has been helping British clients
circumvent the European Savings Tax Directive by paying interest
through Hong Kong, according to the BBC's Panorama current affairs
team.
Posing as a client with £4 million to invest, a member of the
Panorama team consulted an adviser at Lloyd's Jersey branch. The
adviser allegedly told the "client" that interest he earned on his
Jersey deposits would be paid via Hong Kong, in order to escape
taxation under the European Savings Tax Directive. The fake client
secretly filmed the session with a hidden camera.
The Panorama team points out that Lloyds had to be rescued by
the British government last year and is still part-owned by it.
The "client" also visited Northern Rock in Guernsey, where he
was allegedly told he could avoid the Savings Directive by opening
an account in the name of a non-trading company. Northern Rock is
wholly owned by the UK Treasury.
The team's findings have been passed to HM Revenue &
Customs. Both banks deny any corporate wrongdoing.
The programme will be broadcast on BBC TV tonight at 8:30pm.
Source:
BBC
Panorama
--
Marie Louise Pardanaud