The Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA) says it is concerned about the information contained in financial documents leaked from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. The FSA said this week that it will examine the issue and soon establish a course of action to take.
“The FSA is concerned vis-à-vis the content of these publications, especially in view of the potential damage that these may cause to the reputation of the Seychelles,” a statement on Wednesday said.
Registered in Seychelles
Three Syrian-owned companies are said to be registered in Seychelles through the services of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.
- Pangates International,
- Maxima Middle East Trading, and
- Morgan Additives Manufacturing
According to an AFP Article, the three firms are under US sanctions for allegedly providing petroleum supplies to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime likely to be used by his military, including aviation fuel.
Quoting German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, another AFP article also states that four companies based in the Seychelles are currently on US sanctions lists and all four were created or administered by Mossack Fonseca, “at least for a certain time.”
Furthermore and According to the ICIJ, Pangates is a subsidiary of the Abdulkarim Group [http://bit.ly/1Nkzgkg] a Syrian company partly based out of Damascus that also has ties to two other sanctioned Mossack Fonseca clients —
- Maxima Middle East Trading Co. and
- Morgan Additives Manufacturing Co.
It was established by Mossack Fonseca in 1999 on the Pacific island of Niue, then subsequently moved to Samoa and finally to the Seychelles in 2012.
Although the U.S. Treasury issued sanctions against the three companies in June 2014, the leaked documents appear to show that Mossack Fonseca continued to represent Pangates and did not report the company to Seychelles authorities until August 2015, the ICIJ says.
The law firm has denied wrongdoing, with a spokesman telling ICIJ that the onus is on intermediaries like banks to check clients’ backgrounds. “Likewise, we have our own procedures in place to identify such individuals, to the extent it is reasonably possible,” he added.
Pangates also told Reuters in 2013 that it was only “selling to non-Syrian firms” that have not faced international sanctions. “We do not know exactly who is finally using the fuel but according to our information the product is used for civil humanitarian purposes,” it said.
Responding to SNA in an email this week on the Seychelles stance, the Minister of Finance, Trade and Blue Economy said that follow-up investigations will determine if there is a case to answer.
He added that Seychelles is committed to doing its part in that regard.
- “It should be noted that the issues being flagged relate to the actions of the law firm in Panama, although they may have used International Business Companies (IBCs) registered in international financial centres, which include Seychelles, or in other financial centres including BVI, Singapore, Hong Kong and many others,” said Jean Paul Adam.
- “FSA which has oversight over financial services will be acting jointly with FIU which has jurisdiction on money laundering issues in taking action against the law office of Mossack Fonseca, or any other locally based lawyer or corporate service provider if there is proven misconduct by any of the companies they have registered, whether that be in terms of money laundering or in terms of tax evasion concerning our exchange of information protocols.”
Loading...