Freeports: Innovative trading hubs or centres for money laundering and tax evasion?

What is it about?

Freeports are innovative trading hubs located within free-trade zones that lie within a country’s geographical border but are designated by that country’s government to be outside its normal customs regime. Therefore, they provide attractive economic concessions to enable enterprise and investment. However, this article reveals that the secretive offshore space in which freeports operate also helps to obscure beneficial ownership and illicit trade-based practices that frustrate authorities’ efforts to trace laundered monies and recover government taxes. Stronger regulation is needed to prevent them being abused for money-laundering and tax-evasion purposes.

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