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LONDON — The prime minister of Iceland resigned on Tuesday, succumbing to political pressure two days after an enormous leak of documents from a secretive Panamanian law firm about offshore shell companies and tax shelters.
The resignation of the prime minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, was the first prominent political fallout from the document leaks known as the Panama Papers, which have shed a harsh light on the private financial activities of many rich and powerful people.
Officials around the world, from Europe to Asia to the Americas, were scrambling on Tuesday to contain the fallout — particularly in Britain, where Prime Minister David Cameron, who has portrayed himself as a champion of financial transparency, was battling revelations in the leaks that British-governed territories are vast havens of hidden wealth, including for members of his own family.
The leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, called for an independent investigation into the tax affairs of all Britons linked to the Panama revelations — including Mr. Cameron’s family — and for Britain to impose direct rule on its overseas territories and dependencies, if necessary, to get them to comply with British tax law.
“The government needs to stop pussyfooting around on tax dodging,” Mr. Corbyn said.
Mr. Gunnlaugsson’s resignation was announced on television by Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, a government minister and the deputy chairman of his Progressive Party, and it was confirmed by the state broadcaster, RUV.
It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Gunnlaugsson’s resignation will have broader repercussions for the government of Iceland, a tiny island nation of 323,000 that is still recovering from the global financial crisis eight years ago. But the revelations about Mr. Gunnlaugsson’s finances in the document leaks incited angry protests and raised pressure on him to quit the prime minister post, although he will remain the head of his party.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/06/world/europe/panama-papers-iceland.html
The resignation of the prime minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, was the first prominent political fallout from the document leaks known as the Panama Papers, which have shed a harsh light on the private financial activities of many rich and powerful people.
Officials around the world, from Europe to Asia to the Americas, were scrambling on Tuesday to contain the fallout — particularly in Britain, where Prime Minister David Cameron, who has portrayed himself as a champion of financial transparency, was battling revelations in the leaks that British-governed territories are vast havens of hidden wealth, including for members of his own family.
The leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, called for an independent investigation into the tax affairs of all Britons linked to the Panama revelations — including Mr. Cameron’s family — and for Britain to impose direct rule on its overseas territories and dependencies, if necessary, to get them to comply with British tax law.
“The government needs to stop pussyfooting around on tax dodging,” Mr. Corbyn said.
Mr. Gunnlaugsson’s resignation was announced on television by Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, a government minister and the deputy chairman of his Progressive Party, and it was confirmed by the state broadcaster, RUV.
It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Gunnlaugsson’s resignation will have broader repercussions for the government of Iceland, a tiny island nation of 323,000 that is still recovering from the global financial crisis eight years ago. But the revelations about Mr. Gunnlaugsson’s finances in the document leaks incited angry protests and raised pressure on him to quit the prime minister post, although he will remain the head of his party.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/06/world/europe/panama-papers-iceland.html
