New Zealand became a tax haven in the 1980s under the Lange and Douglas Government when the international bankers (Wall Street mainly) plundered New Zealand’s citizens by creating exorbitant interest rates between 12-18%.
When John Key was Prime Minister of New Zealand, after the Panama Papers revealed that NZ was a tax haven, he said it was in 1988 that legislation was passed that allowed foreign secretive owned trusts to pay no or little tax when investing their money the foreign owned trading banks of New Zealand.
The upshot was in 1987-88 period the BNZ was on the verge of collapse because of the high interest rates that killed the price of property. So, the Lange Government bailed them out.
Few kiwis realise that this bailout was history repeating itself, band the NZ tax payers also bailed out the BNZ in the 1890s, in controversial circumstances.
Just like the bailout in the 1980s. Micheal Fay and David Ritchwhite were instrumental not only by lobbying for change but by profiteering from the situation as well. After which they both scarpered NZ to live in Ireland and Switzerland as nouveau riche international bankers.
