Nicolas Sarkozy campaign against tax havens hit by reports of Swiss contacts

The Times – Nicolas Sarkozy faced claims yesterday that in his previous job as a lawyer he often helped rich French clients to open tax-friendly bank accounts in Switzerland. The claims are likely to embarrass the French President, who has said that he wants to “put morality back into capitalism” and clamp down on international tax havens. Mr Sarkozy had threatened to walk out of the G20 summit this week unless it agreed to his proposals for radical reform of global financial regulation and what he calls “Anglo-Saxon” business practices. He told an audience in London that tax havens should be made more accountable and that “we want lists of financial centres that do not co-operate . . . and to draw the consequences of that”.  Read Article

Tags: corruption, national debt