The End of Bank Secrecy? An Evaluation of the G20 Tax Haven Crackdown
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 6,
no. 1, February 2014
(pp. 65-91)
Abstract
During the financial crisis, G20 countries compelled tax havens to sign bilateral treaties providing for exchange of bank information. Policymakers have celebrated this global initiative as the end of bank secrecy. Exploiting a unique panel dataset, our study is the first attempt to assess how the treaties affected bank deposits in tax havens. Rather than repatriating funds, our results suggest that tax evaders shifted deposits to havens not covered by a treaty with their home country. The crackdown thus caused a relocation of deposits at the benefit of the least compliant havens. We discuss the policy implications of these findings.Citation
Johannesen, Niels, and Gabriel Zucman. 2014. "The End of Bank Secrecy? An Evaluation of the G20 Tax Haven Crackdown." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 6 (1): 65-91. DOI: 10.1257/pol.6.1.65Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- G21 Banks; Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
- G28 Financial Institutions and Services: Government Policy and Regulation
- H26 Tax Evasion
- H87 International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods
- K34 Tax Law
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