Financial Transparency Coalition

William Wallace: Your editorial welcoming action to force tax havens to loosen the bonds of secrecy (21 August) omitted one important point: many of the world's leading tax havens fall under the British crown. Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos are all significant offshore financial centres. All benefit from the British system of law, from the expectation of offshore investors that British oversight guarantees higher standards than competitor centres – and all have benefited from Whitehall's relaxed oversight regime.