Despite several scandals over the taxation of multinationals, European banks have not reduced their presence in tax havens in recent years, According to a study published on Monday.
The main European banks register 20 billion euros ($ 23.7 billion) each year – or 14% of their total profits – in 17 particularly favorable tax jurisdictions, according to calculations by the European Tax Observatory. , an independent research center based at the Paris School of Economics.
This percentage has remained stable since 2014, despite several scandals that revealed the dubious practices of multinationals to evade taxes.
“Despite the growing importance of these issues in the public debate and in the world of politics, European banks have not significantly reduced their use of tax havens,” says the body, funded by the European Commission and led by the French economist Gabriel Zucman.
The Observatory reviewed data published by 36 financial institutions during the period 2014-2020 i identified 17 states and territories as preferred destinations, including the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Jersey and Guernsey, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Macao, Panama and Luxembourg.
Among the big banks, they identify HSBC as the champion of these practices. More than 62% of its pre-tax profits were recorded in tax havens between 2018 and 2020, compared to 49.8% of the Italian Monte dei Paschi (BMPs), which ranks second.
Standard Chartered (29.8%) completes the podium and the Germans Deutsche Bank and NordLB are in fourth and fifth place.
In 2014, the LuxLeaks scandal, followed by the Panama Papers scandal, brought tax evasion to the forefront. Since then, a minimum tax on the profits of multinationals has been negotiated in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).