WASHINGTON — Biscayne Bank in Miami, a community bank that focuses on serving high-net-worth individuals from the Caribbean and Latin America, has been named as an intermediary in the Panama Papers leak.
The $651 million-asset company was listed in a
The Daily Business Review, a South Florida newspaper for the legal industry,
-
Along with publishing the long-awaited beneficial ownership rule, the Treasury and Justice Departments urged Congress to pass legislation to put the U.S. on par with foreign partners in the fight to curb the flow of illicit funds.
May 5 -
Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter to the Treasury Department on Thursday urging an investigation into whether any U.S. or U.S.-linked entities are associated with the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co. and its schemes to help wealthy individuals and businesses evade taxes and launder money.
April 7 -
If you're ever wondered about the scope of risks facing your financial institution from "insiders" potentially involved in shell company dealings, the Panama Papers provide some insight.
April 6
"We looked into the bank being listed by the ICIJ by name and address as an 'intermediary' of a company called Canopy Consulting Ltd.," Biscayne Bank Chairman Thomas D. Lumpkin II told the Daily Business Review. "The listing is a mistake, and we have asked that the mistake be corrected."
In the database, Biscayne Bank is linked to Luis Alberto Rios, a Colombian solid waste company magnate with ties to the country's vice president, German Vargas Lleras, according to the Daily Business Review.
Rios owns a company called Canopy Consulting Limited, which was formed in the British Virgin Islands but now lists its address in a Biscayne Bank Coral Gables outpost, according to the
Rios told Colombian media that the company was a real estate corporation based in Miami, that he had declared rent and income tied to it and that he had not violated Colombian or international tax laws, according to the Daily Business Review.
