TWO of Scotland’s biggest banks and a hotel chain are among the latest names to be linked to the Panama Papers.
The Sunday Post has uncovered a number of Scottish businesses linked to the law firm Mossack Fonseca.
It comes as the Panama Papers were made available for the public to search last week.
The leaked documents have shown how some wealthy people use offshore firms to avoid tax and escape sanctions.
The papers belonged to the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca which denies any wrongdoing.
It has said it is the victim of a hack.
The leaks show both the Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland have had dealings with Mossack Fonseca on a number of occasions.
The papers show The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company, whose headquarters is in St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, acted as company office for a firm set up in the British Virgin Isles in 2006 and one in the Cayman Isles in 2007.
There is no information about what either of these secretive firms do online.
RBS was bailed out by the UK Government in 2008 with £45 billion of taxpayer cash.
A RBS spokeswoman denied any wrongdoing and said: “We have policies and procedures in place designed to adhere to the rules and regulations in the jurisdictions in which the bank operates.”
Bank of Scotland – owned by the Lloyd’s banking group – is also named.
It was involved in setting up three firms based in the British Virgin Isles.
The Caribbean Crown Dependency is home to the majority of offshore firms revealed in the Panama Papers.
A spokeswoman for the bank said it was evaluating the information relating to the Mossack Fonseca leak.
Hotel company, The Edinburgh Collection Ltd – which owns a raft of hotels in the Capital, including the Old Waverley on Princes Street – is said to be connected to two firms in the British Virgin Isles.
No-one at the company – whose accounts show it turned over nearly £7 million in 2014 – got back to us about its involvement in the BVIs.
There is no suggestion any individual or firm named in the latest tranche has acted improperly or illegally.
Actress Emma Watson, 26, was linked to the papers last week.
She does not receive any tax or monetary advantages from the arrangement, said her representatives who explained that her link was for privacy purposes.
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