Luxembourg

Luxembourg's state prosecutor has begun an appeal against the verdict at the recent "LuxLeaks" trial, arguing the sentences handed down by the court were too lenient.

Following an internal investigation, Nordea Bank S.A. has announced that its Luxembourg unit did not encourage clients to evade taxes by establishing corporate structures registered offshore.

Two whistleblowers have been found guilty in the so-called Luxleaks tax scandal, which put Jean-Claude Junker under pressure on his first weeks as president of the European Commission.

After a trial two months ago (reported in Eye 1418), two former employees of global accountancy firm PwC, Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet, were convicted for revealing details of tax avoidance orchestrated by their firm on behalf of hundreds of multinationals, including Amazon, Pepsi, Vodafone and HSBC �� all with the complicity of Luxembourg’s tax authorities under Juncker’s finance ministry. By allowing multinationals to dodge millions (and in some cases billions) of tax back home, Luxembourg grubbily trousered handsome fees.

The European Commission wants to step up the fight against tax avoidance, terrorist financing and money laundering and has proposed legislative changes. The core element is a list of high-risk countries. No. 1: North Korea and notorious tax havens didn't even appear. The reason: The list is based on how the legal situation in a country looks - and less on how these laws are implemented.

In Luxembourg, the judgment against LuxLeaks informant is expected today. The former management consultant Deltour example threatens imprisonment.

Luxleaks prosecutor demands jail for whistleblowers

Two Whistleblowers have been found guilty in the so-called "Luxleaks" tax scandal

The European Commission is suspecting Luxembourg to have allowed McDonald's illicit tax advantages. According to a survey of the organisation Attac McDonald's benefited unjustly from tax advantages which are supposed to protect new innovations.

Trial of LuxLeaks whistleblowers is a prime example of how little support and protection whistleblowers get nowadays.