Big Pharma corporations like Pfizer, Novartis, Glaxosmithkline, - as well as over 60% of Fortune 500 multinationals, all maintain entities in Delaware, taking full advantage of ring-fenced legal and financial opacity tools. In addition to banking secrecy and zero disclosure of beneficial owners, Delaware allows for parent companies to establish holding companies within two days, producing nothing, conducting no economic activity in the state, and generally hosting just one shareholder (the parent company). Such entities, allowing the parent company to pay the newly created entity a 'fee' for use of IP, serves as a passive conduit converting taxable income to passive non-taxable profit. The entity's sole purpose is to own and 'manage' laundered income generated from IP.
Leonardo Gottems on 04 May 12Of all of the world's 100 largest economic entities in 2010, 42 (42%) are corporations. The largest, as in 2009 was Wal-Mart, whose 2010 revenues exceeded the GDPs of 171 countries making it the 25th largest economic entity in the world. The next group in terms of size is energy majors with the combined revenues of the five largest players (Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, Sinopec and China National Petroleum) equivalent to 2.5% of global GDP in 2010. A key trend is the movement from West to East as global challengers from rapidly developing economies (RDEs) continue to grow their economic power - along with their countries. Among the Top 100 economic entities there are now 6 RDE companies versus just 1 in 2000, and looking at the Top 150 the number of RDE companies tripled between 2000 and 2010 to 15.
