Nauru finally has a government, ends offshore banks
tax 2003-06-22
The new government of the tiny South Pacific state of Nauru, the only nation or territory in the world facing full-blown financial sanctions for money laundering, announced on Friday it had ended its offshore banking operations.
"Nauru's offshore banking sector has been eliminated," Nauru chief secretary Willie Star said in a statement.
Nauru has no other natural economy apart from phosphate mining, with reserves fast running out, and has relied on offshore banking to bolster revenues.
But its offshore banking operations have been used to launder money, sometimes by Russian mafia, financial investigators say, attracting the ire of international bankers and the U.S. government, which sees money laundering as a key target in its war on terror.
