'Big Five' Deal A 'Hammer Blow' To Tax Evaders

The Chancellor has praised a "groundbreaking" deal which will see the UK exchange financial information with other European countries to clamp down on international tax dodging.

At a meeting of the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, George Osborne said the agreement struck with Germany, France, Italy and Spain will "lift the veil of secrecy" that criminals hide under to evade tax and commit other white-collar crimes.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) is hoped the new arrangement will allow investigations into financial wrongdoing to be performed more effectively - and he has called for other G20 members to follow their example and build upon the system of European co-operation.

He said: "Today we deal another hammer blow against those who hide their illegal tax evasion in the dark corners of the financial system.

"Britain will work with our major European partners to find out who really owns the secretive shell companies and trusts that have been used as conduits for evading tax, laundering money and benefiting from corruption."

Tax and law enforcement agencies are going to be involved in the new effort involving Europe's five largest economies.

Mr Osborne added: "No single country can tackle international tax evasion alone - and Britain should never fool itself into thinking that it can do this by itself."

The announcement follows the Panama Papers scandal, which saw millions of documents leaked from the database of offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Some of the files appeared to show how the rich and famous can exploit secretive offshore tax regimes.

The fallout has prompted senior British politicians, including Mr Osborne, the Prime Minister and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, to reveal details about their private finances.

Meanwhile, UK banks and financial institutions face a deadline on Friday to report back to the Financial Conduct Authority on whether they had done business with Mossack Fonseca.