In these lean times, governments are facing pressure to crack down on financial abuse. In the UK, officials are responding with plans to rein in citizens who fail to pay taxes on income from offshore bank accounts.

The UK Treasury will launch an amnesty for offshore customers of Britain's largest banks later this year, Stephen Timms, financial secretary to the Treasury, said in an interview. This would allow UK citizens to declare interest income without the threat of prosecution. A similar plan in 2007 brought in around £450m (€490m) for the Treasury by giving account holders a chance to settle the tax, plus a penalty of 10% of that amount. Normally, the penalty can reach 100%, and account holders also face potential prosecution.