Brussels, Feb 8 (EFE) .- Luxembourg on Monday rejected the accusations about alleged deficiencies in its legislation against money laundering revealed in a joint investigation by the newspaper “Le Monde” and other international media and stressed that it respects both European and international.
“Luxembourg rejects the assertions made in these articles, as well as the totally unwarranted description of the country and its economy,” the Luxembourg government said in a statement.
According to the first part of an investigation published this Monday by this media group, Luxembourg serves as a tax haven for some 55,000 shell companies created by multinationals and millionaires, but also by gangster groups.
The Luxembourg Executive said that it “takes note” of the articles that appeared this Monday in which “the authors also make several unsubstantiated claims about the economy and financial center of Luxembourg.”
“Luxembourg is fully online and complies with all EU and international transparency regulations and standards, and applies, without exception, the full arsenal of EU and international measures to exchange information on tax matters and combat abuse and tax avoidance, “the statement said.
It also notes that neither the European Union (EU) nor the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) “have identified any harmful tax regime or practice in Luxembourg.”
It also stresses that this State “does not offer a favorable tax regime for multinational companies or digital companies, which must be governed by the same rules and legislation as any other company” in the country.
It also recalls that Luxembourg “is a stable country with triple A rating” and that “it is home to one of the main international financial centers of Europe”.
“Multinational companies around the world take advantage of the experience of the country’s financial sector to centralize their cross-border financial activities,” he adds.
In this context, the Luxembourg Government stresses that the State “continually evaluates and updates its supervisory architecture and measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing” and applies all EU and international regulations, as well as the FATF (Financial Action Recommendations of the Working Group on Money Laundering).
It also underlines that the personnel in charge of the fight against money laundering in the country “is constantly increasing, having grown by 46% only in the last three years.”
Luxembourg was one of the first countries in Europe to establish a public registry of final beneficiaries (UBO) and “is one of the only countries in the European Union that has opted for a completely open and transparent registry, accessible,” online “and free. , without any restriction to the public, “the statement added.
Among the names that Le Monde advances this Monday, which will publish the investigation “OpenLux” by chapters throughout the week, there are athletes such as Tiger Woods, artists such as singer Shakira, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, the Hermès family, the prince heir to Saudi Arabia and three-quarters of the companies in the CAC-40, the benchmark index of the Paris Stock Exchange. EFE
–
