The greater transparency which governments now demand of financial institutions globally means that tax matters now fall squarely within the remit of compliance officers. Edmund Leow, a tax lawyer in Singapore, made the observation at the Compliance in Asian Wealth Management Forum, which was held in the city-state last week. In his presentation, entitled "Dealing with Reality of Increased Transparency", Leow, who is principal and head of tax and wealth management at Baker & McKenzie.Wong&Leow, said that global governments' relentless efforts to crack down on tax evasion, the U.S. being the prime example, reflected an unfortunate reality: that governments in many jurisdictions had no money. With tax-raising a challenging proposition in most jurisdictions, he said the most obvious way for governments to source income was to target tax cheats. "In many countries, tax evasion is a crime. These 'animals' [tax evaders] are the most obvious subject. It is [therefore] potentially attractive
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