A money 'black hole': rich hide at least $21 trillion in tax havens, study shows [View all]

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Thanks to lax international tax rules the world’s super rich have siphoned at least $21 trillion -- more than 50 percent larger than the entire U.S. economy -- into secretive tax-free havens, according to a study by UK campaign group Tax Justice Network.

The report by James Henry, a former economist at international consultancy McKinsey & Co., shows how with the help of private banks the money has flowed into countries such as Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.

The figure of $21 trillion in off-shore funds is conservative and the true sum could be as high as $32 trillion, Henry said.

According to the study, the world’s top 50 private banks managed more than $12.3 trillion in 2010 in off-shore financial assets, up from $7.5 trillion five years earlier.