ABBL

The ABBL has taken note of the study made for the “Cercle de cooperation”, which accuses Luxembourg of siphoning off considerable amounts of money from developing countries by illegal or at the least illegitimate means.

The banking association refutes the conclusions of this so-called study, which does not measure up to the standards that a serious discussion of the distribution of global wealth deserves.

Without making any noticeable distinction, the document in question assimilates very diverse issues such as tax fraud, tax competition, Money laundering, the problematic of North-South relations and intra-European discussions on the taxation of savings. The study insinuates that the Luxembourg financial centre features tax practices and mechanisms that would set it apart as a tax haven and implicitly accuses Luxembourg legal vehicles – notably investment funds – of being used to make the poorest countries even poorer. It also claims that finance professionals ignore their essential obligations of identifying their clients.

This presentation is entirely biased.

In order to be able to draw the conclusion that Luxembourg development aid is inferior to the supposed harm caused, the report cites, without ground or proof, erroneous or made-up figures. Thus, it claims that the financial centre supposedly collected around 500 billion dollars in defrauded money originating from developing countries, even though in Private Banking the centre manages a total that amounts to less than 300 billion euros.

Moreover, it should be pointed out that there is nothing that would suggest that professionals of the centre have sustained relations with clients from developing countries. For this, Luxembourg lacks the historical links with such countries that some of its competitors with a colonial past can claim.

It is not possible, nor is it the role of the ABBL, to refute each element of a report that confounds very diverse elements, that falsely interprets facts, notably in technical tax matters, and that cites false figures.

Nevertheless, the ABBL deeply regrets that, after the various attacks from outside, it is now also en vogue in Luxembourg to attack the flagship of our economy via an unhealthy combination of gratuitous assertions, hearsay, half-truths and concocted lies. The association regrets this even more so because it has absolutely no intention of shying away from a debate on the matter, and remains open for any exchange of points of view, be it with the press or NGOs.