China's cash haven in the British Virgin islands – the key points

Some of the offshore financial secrets of the Chinese ruling class have been revealed in leaked documents

Chinese princelings hoarding wealth in British Virgin Islands

The Guardian, Matthew Weaver, Wednesday 22 January 2014

Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands. Photograph: Neil Rabinowitz/Corbis

Leaked documents contained in more than 200GB of data shared with Guardian expose the extent to which China's political elite is using secret firms based in the British Virgin Islands. Here are the main revelations:

1. More than a dozen relatives of China's most senior political and military leaders use companies based in the offshore tax haven of the British Virgin Islands. They include the brother-in-law of the China's president Xi Jinping; the son and son-in-law of the former president Wen Jiabao; and the daughter of the former premier Li Ping.

2. Leading western banks and accountancy firms, including PriceWaterhousecoopers (PwC), Credit Suisse and UBS, played a central role in establishing the companies. UBS, for example, helped incorporate more than 325 offshore institutions from China, Hong Kong or Taiwan, while PwC helped established at least 274. Companies involved insisted the activities were legal but refused to discuss the details, citing client confidentiality.

3. The documents, which relate to only two firms in the British Virgin Islands, show that 21,000 clients from mainland China and Hong Kong have made use of offshore havens in the Caribbean. The disclosures illustrates the scale of recent wealth amassed by China's ruling elite.

4. The documents relate to the incorporation and ownership of the legal offshore companies and provide virtually no information on their business activities. They highlight the lack of accountability in financial and tax affairs, as officials and their families have no obligation to issue public financial disclosures.

5. One of the companies helped obscure links between the consultancy firm Fullmark Consultants – which is currently under investigation by the US authorities – and Wen's daughter Lily Chang. The documents show the company was set up by Chang's husband before nominal ownership was switched to a friend of the Wen family.

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