On an ABC News Radio report a couple of days ago, it was stated that the two biggest tax havens in the world were Delaware, US and London, UK. However, both these places did not get a guernsey on the list of tax havens that the G-20 is purporting to crack down on. Switzerland, apparently, fired a bitter blast in the US and UK’s direction over the G-20’s apparent oversight.

The truth is that if you let a tax haven go unregulated and to remain secret, funds will flow to it no matter where it resides in the world. Is this a case of the US and UK using the G-20 to regulate out of existence all competing tax havens, so they get the lion’s share of the illegal business?

Why aren’t the businesses in Delaware and London being similarly targeted?

The definition of "tax haven" is nicely broad, which encourages the kind of sound-bite that you probably heard, RobP.

London's claim to tax-haven status rests entirely on it treatment of non-domiciled residents.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2007/jul/08/tax.business1

And the crack-down has already started.

http://in.rediff.com/money/2008/feb/14forbes2.htm

Delaware has a highly business-friendly legal system as its major attraction, but some are choosing to target it as a tax haven too.

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/brazil-blacklists-delaware-tax-haven

So to answer your question:

>>Why aren’t the businesses in Delaware and London being similarly targeted?<<

They are.

Pericles,

It was probably a sound-bite I heard. In the fullness of things, the blast against Delaware and London was probably a sharp, albeit back-end loaded yelp from those in the international business community who have been disadvantaged by playing fair while others like power centres D and L do not. To that extent, I say it's a fair criticism.

It's good to hear that these financial centres are starting to come under the spotlight as well. Hopefully it'll flatten out the playing field so that companies and financial centres can compete on more equal terms.

The article was of interest to me because I have had some experience of a Fortune 500 company that was registered in Delaware and whose business dealings were pretty dubious.