Offshores’ list: there has been a “breaching of the law”, says former Finance minister

  • ECO News
  • 23 June 2017

Maria Luís Albuquerque, former Finance minister, assures the Government has to involve the Tax and Customs Authority before removing regions from the offshores' black list.

Former Finance minister Maria Luís Albuquerque, Socialist-Democratic Party deputy, criticized the socialist executive for having removed Uruguay, Isle of Man and Jersey from the list of offshore countries, underlining the law predicts the Tax and Customs Authority must be involved. “Of course there is a breaching of the law concerning those three tax havens”, Maria Luís Albuquerque stated to Portuguese news agency Lusa in Lisbon, after attending the PANA Committee in the European Parliament.

The former social-democratic governor emphasized the decision to withdraw those offshores from the black list “is not just a political action” and that involves the “technical verification” of the Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority. She added: “This Government’s understanding is that the law is not binding; I don’t understand why doesn’t the Government abide the law in force”.

The PANA Committee (Panama Papers Inquiry Committee) aims to investigate the alleged misdemeanors and poor management of the enforcement of European rulings concerning money laundering. This Thursday, its Euro deputies met with Mário Centeno (Portuguese Finance minister) and also with former ministers who held that position, such as Maria Luís Albuquerque and Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, among others.

This Government’s understanding is that the law is not binding; I don’t understand why doesn’t the Government abide the law in force.

Maria Luís Albuquerque

Former Finance minister