I am delighted to provide a foreword to this excellent analysis and discussion of a topic which, although dear to my professional heart for the last 40 years, has recently become of real significance to many others. These days, when we think of islands in the Caribbean and increasingly the Pacific, a good many of us picture not just the allure of beautiful blue seas, waving palms and drinks on the beach, but also the more sinister shadow of money launderers, their cronies and politicians who have cashed in on their countries’ legal sovereignty. Of course, the picture is a caricature – which even in the heyday of the so-called offshore financial centres would, in the main, have been misleading and unfair. On the other hand, in times when governments are strapped for money – whether as a result of mismanagement of their own financial and banking systems, increased longevity and the desire to appeal to aging voters whose welfare is increasingly supported by a narrowing tax base, or just the odd pandemic – it is not surprising that they look to ways of maximising tax revenues. Obvious and in some cases deserved targets will be those who have made it their business to reduce for others exposure to tax laws, or at least hold themselves out as being willing to do so – whether in fact they succeed or not. It is also the case that society has always liked to identify and then focus blame on scapegoats, particularly those outside the fold. So with the increasing awareness that we have failed in the so-called war on drugs and identifying terrorist finance is akin to draining the oceans to find one kind of fish – to slightly misquote the US congressional inquiry into the 9/11 outrages – it is hardly surprising that more attention has been given to those who claim or appear to be hiding wealth. Indeed, some societies, particularly those in the cold climes of Scandinavia, have become very sanguine in pursuing transparency of other people’s wealth as a social end in itself – and this approach is catching! Then there are those who really do believe that criminals should not be allowed to benefit from their wrongdoing, whether this involves fraud, corruption or complicated things like insider dealing – and the law can actually achieve this. Consequently, those who mind other people’s wealth now find themselves in the front line in the ‘war’ on everything and everyone we don’t like and wish to subject sanction.