All The Biggest Spanish Companies Use Tax Havens, Says A New NGO Report

Practice Costs Spain, Developing Countries Dearly in Much-Needed Tax Revenue

A recent report by the Spanish observatory on Corporate Social Responsibility, which comprises several civil society organisations, reveals that ALL companies listed in the Spanish stock exchange operate directly or indirectly through jurisdictions which are considered opaque by the Financial Secrecy Index of the Tax Justice Network.

The report entitled, “Corporate Social Responsibility in the annual report of companies in the IBEX35,” highlights that more than 80% of companies that are part of the benchmark stock market index (IBEX 35) in the Spanish stock exchange (the Bolsa de Madrid) operate through tax havens. The remaining companies either have shareholders that are based in or have shares in tax havens. This means that all listed companies operate either directly or indirectly through tax havens.

The report finds that 28 Spanish companies have as many as 272 subsidiaries in 27 secrecy jurisdictions, from where they can operate without disclosing relevant financial information about their activities (such as the taxes they pay, profits they make and people they employ in the countries where they operate).

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