Exploring the offshore interface

The connections between economic development, corruption, and the increasingly globalised financial system are not yet fully understood. This article examines the offshore interface — tax havens and offshore finance centres — that lies between the developed countries and Less Developed Countries (LDCs), part of the international financial system where legitimacy meets corruption. The central argument is that the existence of the offshore interface facilitates and can even encourage onshore corruption. New technology, in combination with strict bank secrecy in the private banking offshore networks of major banks, allows rapid international flows of funds, illustrating an increasing synergy between the offshore interface, globalisation and onshore corruption.An earlier version of this paper was read at the Development Studies Annual Conference in Dublin, 7–9 September 1995.