Jan 18, 2012

Report: Romney has millions in Cayman Islands

By Catalina Camia, USA TODAY Updated 21m ago

Mitt Romney reportedly has millions of dollars tied up in investments that are set up in the Cayman Islands, one of the world's biggest tax havens.

The GOP front-runner is under fire from his rivals, as well as some allies, to immediately release his tax returns. Romney drew attention to the issue yesterday when he said his tax rate is close to 15% because of his investments.

ABC News reports Romney "has as much as $8 million invested in at least 12 funds listed on a Cayman Islands registry." The story says another investment that Romney lists in his personal financial disclosure report as being worth between $5 million and $25 million "shows up on securities records as having been domiciled in the Caymans."

ABC News also says "official documents" show Bain Capital, the private equity company Romney founded in 1984, "has set up some 138 secretive offshore funds in the Caymans."

A Romney campaign official, who was not named, told ABC News that "the tax consequences to the Romneys are the very same whether the fund is domiciled here or another country."

This campaign official also said Romney and his wife, Ann, "have money invested in funds that the trustee has determined to be attractive investment opportunities, and those funds are domiciled wherever the fund sponsors happen to organize the funds."

Romney himself has said "we follow the tax laws. And if there's an opportunity to save taxes we, like anybody else in this country, will follow that opportunity."

About $250 billion in tax revenue is lost annually by governments around the world because of tax havens, according to the Tax Justice Network. The group ranks the Cayman Islands second on its list of the world's best tax havens in terms of its secrecy and the bank accounts that are managed in the country. Switzerland ranks first.

Report: Romney has millions in Cayman Islands