NEWS - Politics & IR
Published 7:31 AM, 26 Nov 2009
Last update 7:07 AM, 26 Nov 2009
Future Fund to maintain tax-haven investments
QUICK SUMMARY | FULL STORY
Australia's Future Fund will be able to continue to invest through tax havens like the Cayman Islands, and will be free from restrictions on pay, freedom of information laws and the use of its Telstra shareholding, under changes unveiled by the federal government, according to The Age newspaper.
Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner told the National Press Club that investing through asset managers domiciled in the Cayman Islands was common and hard to avoid given the structure of the industry and complexity of international tax law, the paper said.
The Future Fund's annual report stated that the fund had opened five subsidiaries in the Caymans around the same time that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had been part of a global effort to crack down on tax shelters.
The paper reported that Mr Tanner said the Cayman Islands was changing.
"It is negotiating a tax information treaty with Australia, and joined the OECD list of jurisdictions that have substantially implemented the international tax standard," Mr Tanner said.
Related Industry Sectors
Related People