Ugland House is a building located in George Town, Cayman Islands Located on South Church Street, the building is the registered office address for 18,857 entities and has for years[1][2][3][4] been linked to tax evasion. During his campaign, US President Barack Obama referred to Ugland House as the "biggest building in the world or the biggest tax scam in the world".[5][6]
The building is occupied by the law firm, Maples and Calder.[7]
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In 2008, the United States Government Accountability Office, an independent body of the U.S. Congress, investigated the nature of entities registered in the Cayman Islands and at Ugland House.[8] The investigation involved reviews of documentation as well as interviews with officials from the Internal Revenue Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Justice, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
The GAO found that only 5% of the entities with a registered office address at Ugland House are wholly owned by U.S. persons. Also, the GAO validated the reasons why the Cayman Islands has become a popular jurisdiction for international finance and business, including the country’s reputation “as having a stable and internationally compliant legal and regulatory system.” In an interview with the GAO, representatives from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cited “the Cayman Islands’ reputation for regulatory sophistication as a potential factor in attracting legal financial activity from the United States.” The IRS also cited the Cayman Islands “legal protections for creditors and investors.”
In addition, the GAO report explained how U.S. government trade promotion agencies use the Cayman Islands and entities registered at Ugland House. The Export-Import Bank told the GAO that it has used the Cayman Islands to support the sale of aircraft manufactured in the United States. Between 2003 and the time of the GAO investigation, the Export-Import Bank had been involved in supporting 42 aircraft financing deals in the Cayman Islands. Also, officials from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), another U.S. government agency, told the GAO that "one-third to half of private-equity funds in which it has invested have been organized in the Cayman Islands." OPIC officials also said that "foreign investors in private-equity funds that they are involved with value the Cayman Islands’ reputation for legal neutrality towards investors from different jurisdictions."