"Stanford's financial advisers used the apparent legitimacy offered by U.S. regulation of Stanford's U.S. brokerage subsidiary in order to generate sales" of the certificates of deposit, the S.E.C. said in its filing.
The report calls for the telecoms giant to be split from its Openreach subsidiary in order to end its "natural monopoly" over the nation's broadband infrastructure, following claims that 5.7 million customers, especially in rural locations, have internet speeds so low they break regulations.
In the Starbucks case, a Dutch corporate parent was flogging overpriced coffee beans back to itself via a Swiss subsidiary in order to reduce the earnings caught by the tax net in the Netherlands – not an option open to an ordinary citizen, which is political objection enough.
The legislation comes on the heels of several American companies - including Burger King and Walgreens -- considering moving the address of their headquarters to a foreign subsidiary in order to dramatically shrink their tax bill, using a loophole in the tax code known as "earnings stripping".
At worst, however, it could behave as a bureaucratic parasite, propping up weaker operators at the expense of stronger ones, and restricting capital-raising by stronger subsidiaries in order to maintain its own equity control.
Tax experts are advising family businesses including the local smoked salmon smokery, book shop, café and bakery, on how they can exploit tax havens and create offshore subsidiaries in order to minimise their contribution to HMRC.
In the 1980s Sears diversified into such businesses as real estate and financial services, but by 1992 Sears began selling off some subsidiaries in order to concentrate on its lagging core retail operations.
In February, ten days after revelations in the Guardian and dozens of other newspapers about tax evasion at HSBC's Swiss subsidiary, he ordered a raid on its Geneva offices.
Most of the rest, including some of the largest banks, are owned by Austrian banks, which have been advised by regulators in Vienna to limit lending to their subsidiaries in order to meet EU capital requirements.This has not gone down well in Bucharest.
The government intends to make it illegal to mix profits from overseas operations through offshore subsidiaries in order to minimise British taxes.A $130 billion merger between WorldCom and Sprint, already in trouble with America's regulators, has also fallen foul of the European Commission.
