(This article is from philanthropy, and we put it here only for our internal members to study and research. If it violates the author’s copyright, please send e-mail to general@chinawealthplanning.com, and we will delete it immediately.)

The New York mayor and billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg’s charitable foundation has shifted hundreds of millions of dollars in assets into offshore accounts, many of them in reputed tax havens, according to The New York Observer.

At the end of 2008, the Bloomberg Family Foundation had nearly $300-million in accounts and funds in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Mauritius, and other foreign locations, the Observer reports, citing an extensive review of the mayor’s financial records. Such funds are not subject to the Unrelated Business Income Tax, which can be charged to nonprofit organizations for investment income unrelated to their core missions.

The transfers began in December 2007 after management of the foundation’s assets was turned over to Steve Rattner, a financier now under investigation for his role in securing state pension contracts. Dean Zerbe, a former Senate Finance Committee aide, said such shifts are legal but that foundations “should look very hard when they are engaging in this kind of activity.”

The opinions expressed do not constitute investment advice and specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Published on our website on April 22, 2010