BAe Systems helping the Irish Homeless?

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Thursday June 18, 2009 18:00

by reject

Britains largest arms and defence company, BAe Systems, has been using an Irish- registered homeless charitable trust as a lawful device to shift assets off balance sheet and to lower its tax bill.

Britains largest arms and defence company, BAe Systems, has been using an Irish- registered homeless charitable trust as a lawful device to shift assets off balance sheet and to lower its tax bill.

Former cluster-bomb manufacturer BAe -- which has developed the F35 fighter bomber, the Challenger tank and the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft carrier -- has a subsidiary in Ireland called Trident Aviation Holdings (Ireland). The firm was used in a complex $2bn refinancing scheme related to the company's regional aircraft business.

"I would like to make it clear that BAe Systems has set up a financing rather than a complex tax scheme in Ireland," according to a spokeswoman. However, the corporate entity is now exposed to Ireland's low tax rate. Ireland's 12.5 per cent tax rate is less than half the UK rate.

However, BAe documents seen by the Sunday Independent indicate that all the shares in this firm are held by the Arbutus Homeless Person's Trust, "a charitable trust established under the laws of the Republic of Ireland, and which does not prepare consolidated accounts".

The Arbutus trust is a charity registered with the Revenue Commissioners. It is administered by an Irish commercial law firm.

Ive never heard of this group before... have a google if you dont believe me... they to my knowledge have done jackshit for the Irish Homeless Community....

Arbutus Homeless Person's Trust is run by Goodbody Trustees Limited, a company set up by A&L Goodbody, a well-known law firm in Dublin. The trust was set up in 1997," according to BAe.

BAe, which had sales of nearly €22bn last year, was unable to provide details about the charitable trust's activities, pointing out that it was administered by an Irish legal firm. However, it confirmed that it had not made any donations to the charity.

BAe has been boycotted by ethical protesters citing its involvement with nuclear weapons and nuclear submarines. Norway bans its national pension fund from investing in BAe over these links. The company has also been embroiled in controversy over a major Saudi Arabian arms deal involving the purchase of Tornado bombers.

what a set of scumbags...

Methinks this might get mighty interesting....