At 10:54 AM 1/10/01 -0600, Jim Burnes wrote:

     On Wednesday 10 January 2001 05:29, Ken Brown wrote:
     ...
     > The sun still doesn't set on the British Empire (not while we have
     > Pitcairn!), London is still the heart of darkness, it is is still
     the
     > place where the money is (most of the money in the world, by
     orders of
     > magnitude, is in meaninglessly large dollar accounts in databases
     owned
     > by London banks, representing currency trades), and if you think
     you can
     > trust these guys to do anything other than act in the interests of
     their
     > own profits you are making a big mistake.
     Their interests are in making capital grow and prosper.  These
     are diametrically opposed to the interests of high taxation and
     socialism.
     I don't think the Bermuda dot-coms are worried about these guys
     acting in
     their own interests.  I think they are banking on it....

   Published Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2001, in the San Jose Mercury News
   WORLD NEWS
   offshore banking
   Developed nations pushing to get rid of tax havens

   Wealthy countries aiming to recover billions of dollars lost to
   offshore tax havens are trying to convince small countries to give up
   the banking secrecy that has helped their fragile economies survive.
   Officials from about 40 countries and territories were to reconvene
   Tuesday in Barbados for a second and final day of discussion about what
   the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
   terms ``harmful tax practices.''
   The organization's 30 member nations, which include the world's
   wealthiest nations, have set up international standards that they want
   all nations to abide by. Countries that have no taxes or low taxes are
   being pushed to change their laws
   steve