OpenLux: the secrets of Luxembourg, a tax haven at the heart of Europe
Multinationals, billionaires, artists, sportsmen, criminals: an investigation by French daily Le Monde reveals for the first time exhaustively what the Grand Duchy’s financial centre conceals, thanks to its tax advantages.
The OpenLux investigation, conducted by Le Monde along with ten media partners for more than a year, provides answers: 55,000 offshore companies managing assets worth at least 6 trillion euros ($7.3 trillion).
These phantom companies without offices or employees were created by billionaires, multinationals, sportsmen, artists, high-ranking politicians and even royal families. Luxembourg acts as a magnet for the wealth of the world.
More surprisingly, OpenLux reveals that questionable funds, suspected of originating in criminal activity or linked to criminals targeted by judicial investigations, have been concealed in Luxembourg.
This is the case of companies linked to the Italian Mafia, the’Ndrangheta, and the Russian underworld. The League, Italy’s far-right party, has hidden a secret fund which is sought by the Italian authorities.
People close to the Venezuelan regime have recycled corrupt government procurement funds, as has former Argentine President Mauricio Macri.
At: https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2021/02/08/openlux-the-secrets-of-luxembourg-a-tax-haven-at-the-heart-of-europe_6069140_4355770.html
Partial view of the Kirchberg financial district in Luxembourg City.
The OpenLux investigation was compiled by French daily Le Monde from a database listing beneficiaries of the 124,000 commercial firms registered in Luxembourg - i.e. their true owners, along with 3.3 million administrative acts and financial reports.
Combined with the 2014 LuxLeaks published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), this week's revelations help paint a broader picture of the use of Luxembourg as a money laundry and tax haven.
