>>the national registry of property ownership has been tee-ed up<<
Will be curious to see how that works in a country with so many Chens. Do Chinese have a national ID number to differentiate? Whatever, should be good biz for these outfits... ;)
Freeports: Über-warehouses for the ultra-rich
Ever more wealth is being parked in fancy storage facilities. For some customers, they are an attractive new breed of tax haven
economist.com
Nov 23rd 2013 | GENEVA, LUXEMBOURG AND NEW YORK | From the print edition
The world’s rich are increasingly investing in expensive stuff, and “freeports” such as Luxembourg’s are becoming their repositories of choice. Their attractions are similar to those offered by offshore financial centres: security and confidentiality, not much scrutiny, the ability for owners to hide behind nominees, and an array of tax advantages. This special treatment is possible because goods in freeports are technically in transit, even if in reality the ports are used more and more as permanent homes for accumulated wealth. If anyone knows how to game the rules, it is the super-rich and their advisers.
Because of the confidentiality, the value of goods stashed in freeports is unknowable. It is thought to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, and rising. Though much of what lies within is perfectly legitimate, the protection offered from prying eyes ensures that they appeal to kleptocrats and tax-dodgers as well as plutocrats. Freeports have been among the beneficiaries as undeclared money has fled offshore bank accounts as a result of tax-evasion crackdowns in America and Europe.
The concept is an old one. Originally freeports (also known as bonded areas) were used to house commodities on the move, and later manufactured goods as well. In the past half-century more and more of them have moved upmarket, a trend that has accelerated recently as investment in art and other valuables has shot up (see chart 1). |
