The Press we learned on August 151 that the owners of the Davie shipyard in Lévis have changed their corporate structure by creating a new company on the island of Guernsey, a small tax haven under British control.
Posted at 11:00 a.m.
This company, Global Marine Industries Limited, replaced ZM Offshore Management, also located in a tax haven: the British Virgin Islands. This would have happened in 2020 when the Davie shipyard was awarded $10 billion in federal contracts.
Basically, the holding company that owns the Davie shipyard has moved from one tax haven to another tax haven. In the words of James Davies, co-owner of the Davie shipyard, the presence of ZM Offshore Management in the British Virgin Islands was a challenge: “The world has changed. We are no longer in a light regulatory environment. »
always according to The Press“among the reasons given for settling in Guernsey, [James Davies] mentions the “flexible” and “sophisticated” regulatory environment of the island, which offers “all the services one might need to manage an international group of companies”. »
We’re not fooled by the veneer of respectability that covers the words ‘flexible’ and ‘sophisticated’, it’s a way of hiding in broad daylight. Flexibility and sophistication have always been the products sold in tax havens.
Virgin Islands packaging is now obsolete? Make way for Guernsey! What is the “need” of his international group to set up in Guernsey if not an obvious link with the fact that companies pay a tax there of… 0%!?
Mr. Davies defends himself by asserting that all Canadian taxes have been paid. That may be correct. In fact, with a holding company in Guernsey, it is always possible and always easier to melt your tax bill like snow in the sun, by playing on the distribution of income and expenses on both sides of the Atlantic.
All of this will be legal and transparent, backed by double tax treaties between the UK and Canada. Big deal ! As we have been asking for a long time, we must put an end to these conventions which, under the pretext of wanting to prevent double taxation, result in not taxing at all.
Worse than him
Mr. Davies defends himself by saying that his competitors are worse than him. This is in no way an argument to launder it! Let’s unmask them too! Let us track the movements of their capital, the chains of beneficial ownership and shed light on the practices of the world of shipyards.
All of this would already be a problem without the awarding of public contracts. But, the 10 billion in public funds paid to Davie for nearly 20 years, without the state taking note of these practices, dismay us once again. However, the solutions exist. The political will is still lacking.
Whether it’s the British Virgin Islands or Guernsey, the Davie takes us by boat. And both Ottawa and Quebec need to get their act together! Is there a captain on board?