Britain, in partnership with Her Majesty’s overseas territories and crown dependencies, remains “by far the most important part of the global offshore system of tax havens and secrecy jurisdictions”, the Queen will be told tomorrow in a letter from tax experts and campaigners.
The monarch, who acts as head of state for UK-linked jurisdictions as far away as the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Jersey and the Isle of Man, will receive a copy of the Tax Justice Network’s (TJN) two-yearly index of financial secrecy, which paints an unflattering picture of Britain and its close ties to many leading tax havens.
Over $330bn in deposits is held by UK banks via extensive branch networks in the crown dependencies, making these deposits a vital contributor to the capital strength of Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, HSBC and other large financial firms in the City of London – many of whom are major investors in the mining industry.
See http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/07/britain-tax-havens-queen-secrecy-justice-network.