Multinationals, billionaires, artists, sportsmen, criminals: an investigation by Le Monde reveals for the first time exhaustively what the Grand Duchyâs financial centre conceals, thanks to its tax advantages.
It is a well-kept secret, a persistent mystery, a question that has been unresolved for years: what is the financial centre in Luxembourg hiding ? What would we find if we opened the safe of this tiny State located in the heart of the European Union, listed by many researchers in the worldâs top 5 tax havens ? The OpenLux investigation, conducted by Le Monde along with ten media partners for more than a year, provides answers: 55,000 offshore companies managing assets worth at least 6 trillion euros.
These phantom companies without offices or employees were created by billionaires, multinationals, sportsmen, artists, high-ranking politicians and even royal families. Luxembourg acts as a magnet for the wealth of the world: in a territory of 2,586 km2, Tiger Woods and Cristiano Ronaldo rub shoulders with Shakira and the King of Bahrain. Hundreds of multinationals (LVMH, Kering, Altice, Pfizer, AmazonâŠ) have opened financial subsidiaries. Wealthy families increase their real estate assets there.
More surprisingly, OpenLux reveals that questionable funds, suspected of originating in criminal activity or linked to criminals targeted by judicial investigations, have been concealed in Luxembourg. This is the case of companies linked to the Italian Mafia, the âNdrangheta, and the Russian underworld. The League, Italyâs far-right party, has hidden a secret fund which is sought by the Italian authorities. People close to the Venezuelan regime have recycled corrupt government procurement funds.
It is also through Luxembourg companies that some investment funds buy whole swathes of cities such as Berlin and London, causing real estate prices to rocket without being identifiable or paying taxes. The list of international assets held in Luxembourg is a gigantic inventory, including luxurious residences, chalets, yachts, helicopters, private jets and big planes, music catalogues, the rights to images, works of art, in short, the list is endless.
