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Panama Papers: Singapore doing 'necessary checks'
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A security guard sit outside the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama City, April 3. (AP/Arnulfo Franco)
G
overnment agencies are reviewing information being reported in connection with the leaked tax documents from a law firm in Panama, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Tuesday night.
They are also doing the "necessary checks" in connection with the "so-called Panama Papers", said spokespersons from MOF and MAS in an email reply to The Straits Times.
"If there is evidence of wrong-doing by any individual or entity in Singapore, we will not hesitate to take firm action."
Authorities across the world, including France, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands, have started investigations into the massive leaks of more than 11.5 million documents. Some other countries including the United States, have said they were looking into the matter.
Some 72 current and former world leaders were named in a report on Sunday by a global journalist body, after a year-long study of documents leaked from law firm Mossack Fonseca, which handled their offshore deals.
In what is described as the world's biggest insider leak, German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung obtained the data from an anonymous source and shared it with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which reviewed it with some 370 reporters from over 70 nations.
Dubbed the "Panama Papers", the documents have showed possible wrongdoings using offshore firms or bank accounts for purposes such as money laundering and tax evasion.
"Singapore takes a serious view on tax evasion and will not tolerate its business and financial center being used to facilitate tax related crimes," said the MOF and MAS spokespersons.
"We have put in place a strong legal, tax, and regulatory framework, coupled with a rigorous supervisory regime, to tackle cross-border tax evasion and avoidance."
They added that Singapore is firmly committed to upholding internationally accepted standards for exchange of information.
The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, an international body that assesses jurisdictions' implementation of the international standards on tax transparency, has said that Singapore's exchange of information regime is "largely compliant" with the international standard.
This is similiar to its assessment of jurisdictions such as the US and Britain, said the spokespersons.
