Scratching the surface

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' report into a huge global tax evasion scheme is just "the tip of the iceberg", according to a Swiss-based campaigning group.

“This is the biggest exposé so far into the offshore system, but it represents merely a glimpse of the overall picture,” Berne Declaration spokesman Andreas Missbach told swissinfo.ch.

“It provides details of two service providers [in Singapore and the British Virgin Islands], but there are hundreds out there.”

Whether this particular iceberg tip will be enough to sink the Titanic remains to be seen.

Nicholas Shaxson, a Zurich-based member of Tax Justice Network, believes the information could be a “game changer” in the battle against tax evasion and money laundering.

Missbach is more cautious. “It would take a concerted international political effort against all tax havens to stop this abuse,” he said.

Matthew Allen, swissinfo.ch