Laundering Black Money by Means of Offshore Zones: The Negative Impact and Ways to Resolve

Abstract

The article is aimed at examining the problem of laundering black money in the offshore jurisdictions. Attention is paid to the key factors that attract economic entities regarding business registration in offshore zones. The impact of the tax burden on the process of moving profits to offshore jurisdictions is considered. The volumes of losses of the State Budget of Ukraine related to tax evasion of the funds placed on the accounts of offshore companies have been studied. The most typical schemes of laundering black money in offshore zones are presented, as well as a number of stages that form the process of laundering are highlighted. Emphasis is placed on round tripping investment as a key mechanism for returning foreign funds to a resident in the form of foreign direct investment, the main factors in the use of round trip transactions by Ukrainian business entities are allocated. Attention is drawn to the percentage of countries, which are the largest investors in Ukraine. It is determined that the use of offshore schemes by Ukrainian businesses contributes to the growth of the shadowing of the national economy and causes a direct negative impact on Ukrainian financial security, which is confirmed by the results of the National Risk Assessment 2019. Emphasis is placed on the OECD / G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative to prevent money laundering offshore, and Ukraine’s key measures to implement relevant international standards are specified. Prospects for further research in this direction are to identify measures directed towards deoffshorization of the national economy, including through the implementation of the BEPS 2.0 Action Plan.

Keywords

• black money laundering
• foreign direct investment
• offshorization
• offshore schemes
• beps plan
• shadow economy
• financial security of the state