https://www.brookings.edu/research/what-lies-beneath-evidence-from-leaked-account-data-on-how-elites-use-offshore-banking/ Skip to main content Search Brookings [ ] [Search] * About Us * Press Room * Experts * Events * Brookings Press * WashU@Brookings * Careers * Newsletters * Support Brookings * Cart 0 * Search Guidance for the Brookings community and the public on our response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) >> Learn more from Brookings scholars about the global response to coronavirus (COVID-19) >> What lies beneath: Evidence from leaked account data on how elites use offshore banking * Facebook * Twitter * LinkedIn * Print * SMS * Email * More * * Reddit * * AI * Cities & Regions * Global Dev * Intl Affairs * U.S. Economy * U.S. Politics & Govt * More 0 Series: Global Working Papers Safety deposit box Report What lies beneath: Evidence from leaked account data on how elites use offshore banking Matthew Collin Wednesday, May 5, 2021 * Facebook * Twitter * LinkedIn * Print * SMS * Email * More * * Reddit * For media inquiries, contact: Communications Team globalmedia@brookings.edu 202.238.3552 Download * Download the full working paper This paper uses account data leaked from an Isle of Man bank to investigate the characteristics of individuals and firms that store their money in tax havens. Matthew Collin Matthew Collin David M. Rubenstein Fellow - Global Economy and Development aidthoughts Using internal documents that assign the ultimate ownership of companies and trusts that held deposits at the bank, I establish three things: First, most customers are from rich countries and are likely to be from the upper end of the income and wealth distributions of those countries. Second, I show that a non-negligible amount of offshore wealth is connected to a small number of political elites (so called politically-exposed persons). On average, these accounts have substantially higher balances and are more likely to receive payments from other tax havens, which is consistent with politically-exposed persons having access to more resources than the average offshore client while also desiring to obscure that ownership. Finally, I show that a substantial proportion of bank deposits are obscured from publicly-available statistics published by the Bank of International Settlements which are commonly used to measure offshore wealth. When I correctly assign deposits to their ultimate beneficial owner, offshore bank deposits owned by residents of tax havens drops by up to 32 percent and deposits held by residents of non-havens doubles. I conclude with recommendations on how reporting requirements need to change to improve the ability of regulators and the research community to detect and counter illicit finance. 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Up Front What the FinCEN leaks reveal about the ongoing war on dirty money Matthew Collin Friday, September 25, 2020 * Find us on Facebook * Find us on Twitter * Find us on YouTube * Listen to our Podcast * Browse Newsletters * Subscribe to our RSS * Languages * Espanol * Zhong Wen * `rby * About Us * Research Programs * Find an Expert * Careers * Contact * Terms and Conditions * Brookings Privacy Policy * Copyright 2021 The Brookings Institution Get global development updates from Brookings Enter Email [ ] [Subscribe] No thanks, just download the file. * Trending + U.S. Economy + International Affairs * Topics + AI + Cities & Regions + Global Dev + Intl Affairs + U.S. Economy + U.S. Politics & Govt + More * About Us * Press Room * Experts * Events * Brookings Press * WashU@Brookings * Careers * Newsletters * Support Brookings * Cart 0 Get daily updates from Brookings Enter Email [ ] [Subscribe] Send to Email Address [ ] Your Name [ ] Your Email Address [ ] [ ] loading [Send Email] Cancel Post was not sent - check your email addresses! 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