BOOM! The mighty Liechtenstein is involved!
RE: Liechtenstein [tax haven]
The ultra-discreet Principality of Liechtenstein is Europe’s least-visited country, inhabited by the fewest people (population of 37,000) and with very little land (62 square miles), but it contains the most secrets of the international super-rich and ruling dynasties. Here in this mysterious tax haven – squeezed into half a valley between Austria and Switzerland – there are more registered companies than citizens and it has the highest gross domestic product per person in the world.
And so it is not surprising that wealthy tycoons and companies have chosen this tiny Alpine retreat, which specialises in administering offshore trusts and foundations to protect their assets and secure them for their family and future generations. Even well-known companies such as furniture giant Ikea deposited an estimated $11bn (£8bn) in a foundation registered in Liechtenstein.
For the past 50 years Liechtenstein has been the gold standard for wealthy people and ruling families, notably Russian oligarchs, the late publisher Robert Maxwell and the Saudi royal family, to preserve and protect their assets via impenetrable trusts and foundations. A vast, luxury mock-Tudor mansion called Kenstead Hall on The Bishops Avenue, Hampstead, north London, owned by the late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, was registered via a complex and obscure Liechtenstein entity called the Asturion Foundation. Secrecy and security has been their consistent feature and there have been no leaks of confidential documents from Liechtenstein.