Lawyers stay out of spotlight in China tax controversy

The role of accountancy firms and large banks has been exposed in the establishment for offshore tax shelter for the Chinese elite - but lawyers keep a much lower profile.

Wealthy Chinese individuals are going offshore Phon Promwisate

The Hong Kong office of Credit Suisse, PwC and UBS, for instance, are directly pointed to as playing a 'central role' for setting up tax-efficient schemes for 'wealthy Chinese individuals', according to an extensive report by The Guardian. The newspaper has details of 21,000 addresses in China and Hong Kong which are listed as the bases of directors and shareholders in these offshore trusts and companies. 

'Sprawling industry'

One organisation which is shown as playing an important role is the Commonwealth Trust Limited, a British Virgin Islands business which helps in company formation. Lawyers are often mentioned in broad terms in The Guardian report - as spotting the opportunities in havens such as the British Virgin Islands, for instance, and in being part of a 'sprawling industry of accountants, lawyers, middlemen and fixers who are paid to guard their clients' secrets'. Source: The Guardian

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