Did The Clintons Have Money In The Camen Islands
Millions of pounds from the Queen's private estate has been invested in a Cayman Islands fund as part of an offshore portfolio that has never before been disclosed, co-ordinate to documents revealed in an investigation into offshore tax havens.
Files from a substantial leak bear witness for the starting time time how the Queen, through the Duchy of Lancaster, has held and yet holds investments via funds that take put money into an array of businesses, including the off-licence concatenation Threshers, and the retailer BrightHouse, which has been criticised for exploiting thousands of poor families and vulnerable people.
The duchy admitted it had no idea about its 12-yr investment in BrightHouse until approached by the Guardian and other partners in an international project called the Paradise Papers.
Though the duchy characterised its stake in BrightHouse as negligible, it would not disclose the size of its original 2005 investment, which coincided with a boom in the company's value. BrightHouse has since been accused of overcharging customers, and using hard sell tactics on people with mental health problems and learning disabilities. Last calendar month, it was ordered to pay £fourteen.8m in compensation to 249,000 customers.
Critics are probable to enquire why the Queen had money in there in the starting time place, and the duchy may face awkward questions about whether there was enough oversight and management of the Queen'southward "onward investments" to ensure they remained ethical.
The duchy has also disclosed investments in "a few overseas funds", including one in Ireland, and will be under force per unit area to give details of where the money is existence held.
Although the estate said it received no revenue enhancement advantages from investing offshore, the revelations well-nigh the finances of the Queen, one of the world's richest women, volition likely re-energise campaign groups and some MPs who take demanded greater scrutiny of royal spending. The disclosures as well highlight the lack of transparency that has been a concern for critics, who accept railed confronting the moral ambiguities of the offshore sector and demanded major changes.
The details of the Queen's offshore dealings come from a leak of 13.4m files from two offshore service providers and the visitor registries of 19 tax havens.
The material was obtained past the High german newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared past the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists with partners including the Guardian, the BBC and the New York Times.
The Duchy of Lancaster is a individual estate managed to generate a return for the reigning monarch. It was set up up in 1399 and manages country and investments held in trust for the Queen, who also holds the title of the Duke of Lancaster.
The most recent filings by the duchy prove it had assets worth £519m at the end of March. The Paradise Papers offering an unprecedented glimpse of the fashion the duchy has invested some of its money, including details of complex offshore arrangements non prepare out in the imperial household'south annual statements.
According to the leak, the duchy has used offshore private equity funds designed to shield Uk investors from having to pay U.s.a. tax on their holdings.
Investors who do not pay revenue enhancement in the UK tin can face up a taxation bill if they invest in certain types of funds in the U.s., although the duchy said it gained no tax advantage from investing via the Caymans.
The stakes in Threshers and BrightHouse can be traced back to an investment into one of these schemes by the duchy in 2005. The papers show it committed £7.5m to Dover Street Vi Cayman Fund LP.
The duchy became a limited partner in the scheme at the same time. Dover Street VI Cayman Fund LP is a "feeder" for another American fund, which invests in venture capital and private equity funds effectually the earth.
Letters in the Paradise Papers show how the duchy's money sluiced through various funds, and where it ended upward. Managers from Dover Street set out what greenbacks they needed and where they had been putting it on behalf of investors.
In a letter dated September 2007, they explain they take taken an interest in a private equity vehicle called Vision Uppercase Partners Half-dozen B LP. The Dover Street fund was one of 27 limited partners making an investment.
The letter explains that this was "formed by Vision Majuscule Partners to acquire a portfolio of ii retailers in the Great britain". 2 months earlier, Vision Capital Partners VI B LP had bought BrightHouse and Threshers.
The investment in Vision Capital Partners past the Dover Street fund was amid several outlined in the managers' call for funding, to which the duchy was asked to contribute $450,000 (£344,000) – six% of its commitment.
The Dover Street VI fund was set upwardly to run until the end of Dec 2014 and since and so has been selling off its holdings and returning funds to investors. It is unclear from the leak what has been returned to the duchy. The Paradise Papers show only one payout from the fund, a letter from June 2008 explaining the duchy was entitled to $361,367.
Information technology seems to have received the distribution after paying a tiny corporeality of revenue enhancement – 0.four% ($1,505) – which it appears to have outset against the next payment into the fund.
BrightHouse, which has more than 270 stores across the Britain, has previously denied claims as to its acquit and accused critics of misrepresenting the business organisation. Only information technology has been under investigation past the Fiscal Conduct Authority, which last calendar month said it was not a responsible lender.
The company was besides forced to change the fashion it checked customers' finances before granting them loans, in order to keep its consumer credit licence.
BrightHouse has limited its tax neb through a large loan to a Luxembourg property company. Between 2007 and 2014, it reported £1.6bn in revenue and fabricated an operating profit of £191m, but paid less than £6m in corporation revenue enhancement, analysis by Individual Eye found. The duchy'southward main finance officer, Chris Adcock, told the Guardian it had been unaware of the indirect holding in BrightHouse.
"Investors commit to a fund for a given menses and are not party to its ongoing investment decisions," he said.
The Paradise Papers testify that through the same indirect investment, the Queen's money was invested in Threshers before it went into administration in 2009.
When asked what other offshore holdings the duchy has, Adcock said it "invests in a fund domiciled in Ireland", but declined to give details. In a second statement, the duchy admitted it "operates a number of investments and a few of these are with overseas funds. All of our investments are fully audited and legitimised".
The duchy would non give details of the size of the original pale in 2005, or what had been taken out since then.
"The Dover Street investment was bought in 2005 and forms simply 0.3% of the total value of the duchy. The duchy investment in Brighthouse is through a 3rd political party and equates to £3,208," it said.
Adcock confirmed that the duchy invested £5m in the Jubilee Absolute Return Fund, which invests in hedge funds. At the fourth dimension of the investment in June 2004, the fund was based in Bermuda. In 2006, it moved to Guernsey.
At the start, the fund'due south manager, Fauchier Partners, sought assurance that it would not be taxed in Bermuda on its income or any gains until 2016. The fund, which has been invested in past a string of charities and quango pension funds, is now run by a different managing director and has been renamed the Permal Absolute Return Fund.
The papers practise not make clear what coin, if any, the duchy made from this arrangement. Adcock said the duchy had redeemed its stake in the fund in 2010, merely its investment in the Dover Street fund was expected to concluding for another two to three years while the fund was wound up.
Quick Guide Key revelations from the Paradise Papers
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"We are not aware of any tax advantages to the duchy in investing in offshore funds. The duchy's investment policy is based on advice and recommendations from our investment consultants and asset allocation, rather than taxation strategy," he said.
In a argument, BrightHouse said it complies with all relevant revenue enhancement regulations and pays revenue enhancement in full and on time.
"We are appreciated past our customers, considering we help those financially excluded on the basis of low incomes and poor credit histories to go everyday items they otherwise couldn't take," the visitor said.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/05/revealed-queen-private-estate-invested-offshore-paradise-papers
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