What this all means is that, once again, if you’re rich enough, the rules are negotiable. If you could afford the $8,000 fee to open an account at a bank in the Cayman Islands, then you didn’t need to worry about paying US taxes. If you are the family of a wealthy foreign official, then private banks in London and New York alike have a history of bending the rules to make sure it is they who get your money, rather than one of their competitors. If everyone is applying the law, then there is money to be made in being the banker who doesn’t, which is a strong incentive for no one to be too
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