June 15, 2013, 7:06 pm

June 15, 2013 (LBO) - A number of firms apparently connected to Sri Lanka as well as top investors in the island’s capital markets are found in a cache of leaked data on beneficial owners of entities set up through offshore tax havens.




The data base of beneficial owners and investment holdings and trust service companies was released by The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a non-profit organization.


The data base http://offshoreleaks.icij.org contains over 100,000 entities incorporated via the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands and Singapore.


The revelation comes as many developed countries led by British Prime Minister David Cameron is going after tax havens in a bid to get more taxes.


A number of firms connected to Sri Lanka within the database appeared to have been set up via the services firm Portcullis Trust Net.


Several prominent Sri Lankan players in the equity markets as well as expatriates are in the database.


ICIJ cautions users that individuals or companies would not necessarily have been engaging in illegal activity.


"There are legitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts." The ICIJ cautions users of the database.


"We do not intend to suggest or imply that any persons, companies or other entities included in the ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database have broken the law or otherwise acted improperly."


But ICIJ director Gerard Ryle said in a statement that tax havens created an environment which had also been used for tax evasion, money laundering and other forms of corruption.


"The Offshore Leaks Database helps remove this secrecy," Ryle said in a statement.


"Opening up the records serves the public interest by bringing accountability to an industry that has long operated in the shadows."

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