Two leading offshore centres have accused the US of hypocrisy over financial transparency, saying the world’s biggest economy lags behind standards in their own jurisdictions.
At an international summit on corruption hosted in London by UK prime minister David Cameron, the US on Thursday came under pressure over its failure to create a register of the real owners of companies registered in the country.
Allan Bell, chief minister of the Isle of Man, called the US “a major secrecy jurisdiction and tax haven”, saying nearly 10 times more companies were registered in a single building in the low-regulation state of Delaware than in his territory.Alden McClaughlin, Cayman Islands president, also criticised “hypocrisy” in the global debate, saying the US and other nations should not be exempt from any requirement on standards and referring to Delaware and Wyoming.