Flags and Structures as Shields

"When shipowners choose flags, the degree of protection against intrusive tax officials is a criterion. Then so-called bearer’s shares, or bearer stocks, are good to have. The person who holds the share certificates in hand owns the company. And when the papers are in a safe deposit box in Switzerland or perhaps Monaco, it is not so easy to find out who actually has the keys to the safe deposit box."

"But no control without loopholes. The Central Bank did indeed not scrutinize the daughter-daughter companies in Liberia. And then they were back to square one. The simplest way to bypass Norwegian tax rules was to make deals abroad, and then "skim" off a few million kroner to a bank account, for example on Jersey, owned by a company from Liberia, for example."

"It is not necessary to own everything to control everything. Fredriksen is not the first to discover this, but rarely has anyone known to use it to such an extent. Since Fredriksen raided Swedish Frontline back in 1996, he has made countless transactions with himself on both sides of the table. It started with the sale of large parts of the private fleet to Frontline in exchange for shares, which gave Fredriksen complete control of the company, and has been a steady stream since."