Word: panama
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...Compendium, which later became Banco Ambrosiano Holding. The advantage of a foreign subsidiary: it is not subject to Italy's banking regulations. Calvi's next moves were to use the Luxembourg holding company to set up banks in Switzerland, the Bahamas, Peru and Nicaragua, and companies in Panama, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein...
Under local laws, the Panamanian firms could be started with as little as $10,000 in capital, but could be used to borrow far greater sums on world financial markets. Calvi launched at least a dozen such "shell" companies in Panama, listing employees of his Bahamas bank, including the switchboard operator, as directors and officers...
...international financial markets by Ambrosiano and its subsidiaries, in an attempt to strengthen his grip on the parent bank. During 1978-79 and in 1981, Ambrosiano and its subsidiaries raised about $1.2 billion. In these years the banks lent at least $800 million to low-capitalized shell companies in Panama, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. The shell companies, in turn, used about $400 million to buy stock in Banco Ambrosiano and other securities. All or part of yet another $400 million appears to have been funneled through these same companies to finance South American deals. By June 1982 the shell companies owed...
Nonetheless, some banking experts maintain that the agreement will not deter insider trading, but merely force the illegal transactions to be conducted in other banking havens, such as Liechtenstein, Panama or the Caribbean. Says Paul Erdman, a bestselling financial novelist (The Crash of 79, The Last Days of America), who spent ten months in jail for violating Swiss financial laws: "Insider trading will just have to be done a little more cleverly...
...latest shuffle understandably inspires little enthusiasm from Panama's seven chief civilian opposition parties. The civilians, however, appear to be cowed by the National Guard, and so far have uttered little outcry. The day following Paredes' announcements, a spokesman for a four-party coalition including Panama's Christian Democrats made a bland statement noting with approval the possiblity of Electoral Tribunal changes (that body has long been stacked with Torrijos appointees) and ministerial resignations. Nonetheless, Royo's resignation, said the parties, revealed the "incapacity" of Panama's National Guard-dominated political system. The guard...