French president struggles in tax crisis

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Financial TImes:

All members of France’s socialist government have been given a week to publish full details of their wealth as President François Hollande struggles to overcome a damaging scandal over a secret Swiss bank account held by his former budget minister.

In a sign of the acute sensitivity surrounding the issue, Pierre Moscovici, finance minister, signalled to Jack Lew, US Treasury secretary, that he would have to cancel a meeting they were due to hold in Paris on Tuesday.

French officials later said they were trying to reschedule the appointment with Mr Lew, but that it would have to be fitted around Mr Moscovici’s attendance at a government question session in the National Assembly, where ministers are expected to come under renewed attack over the tax fraud scandal.

The finance minister has been under sustained fire from the centre-right opposition UMP party since Jérôme Cahuzac, budget minister under Mr Moscovici until mid-March, admitted last week that he had lied about the 20-year existence of his Swiss account.

Mr Moscovici has denied charges that he did not take strong enough action to uncover the truth after allegations were first made against Mr Cahuzac in December last year.

The scandal has floored Mr Hollande, already suffering record low approval ratings, and threatens to undermine his efforts to tackle a stalled economy and rising unemployment.

In a bid to regain the initiative, Jean-Marc Ayrault, prime minister, announced that the government would draw up later this month new legislation to stiffen laws on ethical standards for elected officials and the campaign against tax fraud and tax havens.

In the meantime, he said all ministers would be required to supply by April 15 a statement of their wealth and assets, to be published online by the government.

“There are many countries which already do this, including the Nordic countries and the US,” Mr Ayrault said. “It is a way of restoring confidence.”

The government is hoping it can ride out the crisis but the political climate remains febrile. Laurent Fabius, foreign minister, was forced to deny publicly that he also had a Swiss account after a newspaper published a rumour to that effect for which it admitted it had no evidence.

________

 

Monsieur Hollande comes undone.

[Valin]

Financial TImes:

All members of France’s socialist government have been given a week to publish full details of their wealth as President François Hollande struggles to overcome a damaging scandal over a secret Swiss bank account held by his former budget minister.

In a sign of the acute sensitivity surrounding the issue, Pierre Moscovici, finance minister, signalled to Jack Lew, US Treasury secretary, that he would have to cancel a meeting they were due to hold in Paris on Tuesday.

French officials later said they were trying to reschedule the appointment with Mr Lew, but that it would have to be fitted around Mr Moscovici’s attendance at a government question session in the National Assembly, where ministers are expected to come under renewed attack over the tax fraud scandal.

 

 

Monsieur Hollande comes undone.

 

 

Oh My! This could be fun. Going to have to keep an eye on this. Looks like someones got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Wonder you will take the fall?