The European Parliament began its investigation following the hearing Panamanian documents.
Committee of the European Parliament to investigate money laundering, tax evasion (Panama) held its first full meeting on 27 September. It consists of 70 members, including the chairman and four deputies. It will investigate the allegations of wrongdoing and improper administration in the application of European legislation on money laundering, tax evasion and tax avoidance by the European Commission or Member States.
Its creation was due to a leakage of 11.5 million documents relating to Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. Data relating to the ownership of bank accounts and offshore companies in 21 jurisdictions, and cover a period of almost 40 years, until the end of 2015.
Parliament said that the journalist Frederic Obermayer suggested that Panama’s documents represent only the tip of the iceberg, and argued that EU banks are actively helping their clients evade taxes.
Parliament added that the Swiss journalist Oliver Zilmen described the use of the system, including intermediaries, such as, for example, Swiss lawyers who actually run companies, Russian money and banks in Cyprus and offshore companies with fake directors in Panama, “which simply all signed.”