Switzerland, Singapore join clampdown on bank secrecy

The Strait Times,  May 6, 2014

Paris (REUTERS) – Switzerland and Singapore joined on Tuesday the growing ranks of countries agreeing to share tax information in a major breakthrough against bank secrecy, the OECD said.

Under the pledge signed by a total 47 countries, all financial information will be shared between governments, including taxpayers’ bank balance, dividends, interest income and sales proceeds used to calculate capital gains tax.

“It’s clearly the end of bank secrecy abused for tax purposes,” OECD tax director Pascal Saint-Amans told journalists at a meeting held by the international think tank in Paris.

“It means that governments can really assess the tax owed by people who thought they could hide in other jurisdictions.”

While most of the signatories had already committed to sharing tax information on an automatic basis, the fact that Switzerland and Singapore have now also signed up is a big step in a fight against tax evasion that governments have intensified since the global financial crisis.

Facing mounting pressure to dismantle a cherished culture of banking secrecy, some of Switzerland’s 300-plus private banks had already signalled last year their readiness to work with U.S. officials to crack down on wealthy Americans.

Switzerland is still the world’s biggest offshore financial centre. But Singapore is breathing down its neck and a 2013 study showed finance professionals see it soon overtaking the Alpine nation amid a global tax crackdown and tighter regulation.

With Tuesday’s deal, the OECD devised a common standard to simplify the exchange of financial details, which its 34 members and the 13 other countries agreed to adopt.

Financial companies will also be required to identify the ultimate beneficiaries of shell companies, trusts and similar legal arrangements that at present can be used to evade taxes.

Offshore Secrets

The Tax Justice Network's Financial Secrecy Index (AFP Photo/Alain

Bommenel, Jean Michel Cornu)

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------------------------------------------   Africa  --------------------------------------------

The Netherlands to pay tax on development aid

Dutch polish tax image, to 'update' treaties with 23 poor countries

Dutch agree new tax deal with Malawi, aim to stop tax avoidance

Africa losing billions from fraud and tax avoidance

--------------------------------------------- Asia -----------------------------------------------

China Offshore Secrets

India pulls 500, 1,000 rupee notes to fight graft - New

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Modi Gives Last Chance for India Tax Evaders in $2 Trillion Hunt

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-----------------------------------   South America  --------------------------------------

Panama Papers' law firm under the media's lenses

Coveted and criticized, Latin America's rich multiply

------------------------------------------   Europe  --------------------------------------------

EU Offshore Secrets

Swiss court says bank details must be given to Dutch tax office

EU launches new tax avoidance push

Dutch tax office tracks foreign bank card payments in hunt for illicit savings

UK companies aiding tax evaders will be criminally liable
HSBC may shut Jersey accounts of UK residents

Greece seeks to plug its 'Bermuda Triangle' of lost taxes

British property 'safe haven' for corrupt cash: campaigners

UBS Whistle-Blower Says Bank Has ‘Global’ Issue With Tax Evaders

HSBC bank 'helped clients dodge millions in tax'

Belgium’s big business tax breaks drawn into EU tax avoidance probe

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Luxembourg tax files: how tiny state rubber-stamped tax avoidance on an industrial scale

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Leaks reveal secrets of the rich who hide cash offshore

'War on drugs' a failure, Nobel winners warn

Yahoo – AFP, 6 May 2014

British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg

 arrives at 10 Downing Street in central

London on August 27, 2013 (AFP Photo/

Carl Court)

London (AFP) - The global "war on drugs" has been a catastrophic failure and world leaders must rethink their approach, a group including five Nobel Prize-winning economists, Britain's deputy prime minister and a former US secretary of state said Tuesday.

An academic report published by the London School of Economics (LSE) called "Ending the Drug Wars" pointed to violence in Afghanistan, Latin America and other regions as evidence of the need for a new approach.

"It is time to end the 'war on drugs' and massively redirect resources towards effective evidence-based policies underpinned by rigorous economic analysis," they said in a foreword to the report.

"The pursuit of a militarised and enforcement-led global 'war on drugs' strategy has produced enormous negative outcomes and collateral damage."

The report said "rigorously monitored" experiments with legalisation and a focus on public health, minimising the impact of the illegal drug trade, were key ways of tackling the problem instead.

The report was signed by George Shultz, the US secretary of state under Ronald Reagan, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and former NATO and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

It was also signed by Nobel economics prize winners Kenneth Arrow (1972), Christopher Pissarides (2010), Thomas Schelling (2005) Vernon Smith (2002) and Oliver Williamson (2009).

The report cited the large drug-related prison population in the United States, political repression in Asia, corruption and unrest Afghanistan and west Africa, violence in Latin America, HIV infections in Russia and even a global shortage of pain medication as spin-offs from the war on drugs.

"The drug war's failure has been recognised by public health professionals, security experts, human rights authorities and now some of the world's most respected economists," said John Collins, coordinator of international drug policy at the LSE.

"Leaders need to recognise that toeing the line on current drug control strategies comes with extraordinary human and financial costs to their citizens and economies."

Map showing marijuana use by country and main producing states (AFP)

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Quiet revolution of the emerging countries

Deutsche Welle, 6 May 2014

As the Ukraine crisis heightens, the so-called BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - are becoming less willing to accept US world supremacy.

The goal of the emerging countries is clear - to change the global order with the United States as the hegemonic power. "The BRICS countries are a group of nations unsatisfied with the international order," said Peter Birle, head of research at the Ibero-American Institute (IAI) in Berlin. "The importance of BRICS could rise if Russia remains permanently excluded from the G8," he added.

According to Birle, the five emerging countries seek to permanently upend the power constellations established in 1945 and relativize the US position. "All these countries view themselves as emerging powers with a great future ahead of them," he said at the 15th Stuttgarter Schlossgespräch, an annual conference involving a panel of international social science, culture and politicis expert. This year's talks focused on the relationship between Brazil and Europe.

Flexing muscle

In particular, Brazil is looking to growing cooperation among the five emerging countries. Directly after the World Cup soccer tournament and three months ahead of the presidential elections in October, the country will host the next meeting of BRICS countries in Fortaleza on July 15 and 16. The key issue on the agenda is the establishment of a joint development bank with capital stock of US$100 billion (72 billion euros).

Vladimir Putin and Dilma Rousseff
are heads of two BRICS countries

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry welcomes the idea. "The development bank is a sign of the economic power of the BRICS countries and their willingness to advance financial cooperation with each other," said a senior diplomat, who collaborated on the founding text for the development bank at the previous BRICS summit in Durban in March 2013.

The most recent conflict between the BRICS countries and the United States was at the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund in Washington in April when an agreed reform of the IMF failed because of a veto by the US Congress.

In 2010, IMF members had agreed to shift voting rights by 6 percent in favor of the developing and emerging countries. The reason: over the past 10 years, BRICS countries increased their share of global gross domestic product from 18 percent to 28 percent.

Counterweight to US dominace

In Brazil, the veto by the US Congress caused an outcry, further deteriorating the already strained relations between the two countries. Following the surveillance scandal revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, Brazilian Prime Minister Dilma Rousseff distanced herself from Washington, promptly cancelling her planned meeting with US President Barack Obama in September 2013.

Brazil is reaching out to China

Rousseff's predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in office from 2003 to 2011, had established a counterweight to the political dominance of the US in Latin America by expanding the so-called south-south cooperation. Growing trade among emerging markets resulted in China replacing the US as the primary buyer of Brazilian products in 2009. Since 2012, the Chinese have also been Brazil's most important import partner.

For Prime Minster Rousseff, the political and strategic cooperation with China is even more important than the growing trade between the two countries. Brazil views the participation of Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit in Fortaleza as an absolute priority. His official visit is the first of a Chinese head of state in Brazil and in the region. After the BRICS summit, a meeting is planned with the heads of state of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).

The Ukraine crisis is accelerating the strategic orientation of Brazil toward Asia and Africa. It appears the greater Moscow's isolation, the better the coordination among the BRICS members. Neither Brazil nor China, India or South Africa have commented on the events in Kyiv or Crimea. The principle of nonintervention has clearly welded the otherwise heterogeneous countries together.

"For Brazil, the BRICS countries are a platform to benefit as a mediator and reformer on the international stage," said Cristina Pecequilo, a political scientist at the University of Sao Paulo, adding that she doesn't view Russia's G8 exclusion as so tragic. "The emerging countries are better represented by BRICS than by the G8."

Pope Francis hits out at 'people who follow Jesus for money'

Pontiff criticises 'profiteers and climbers' within Catholic church as he begins overhaul of scandal-hit Vatican bureaucracy

theguardian.com, AFP, Vatican City, Monday 5 May 2014

Pope Francis greets the crowd as he leaves of a mass for the Polish
community in Rome on Sunday. Photograph: Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters

Pope Francis has condemned "profiteers" and "climbers" who use the Catholic church for financial gain as he embarks on Vatican reforms aimed at promoting greater transparency and doing more to help the needy.

"There are climbers in the church. There are a lot of them!" the pope said during a morning mass in the Vatican residence where he has lived since being elected last year.

"People who follow Jesus for money, try to profit from the parish, the diocese, the Christian community, the hospital, the college," he said.

"We have known a lot of good Catholics, good Christians … And then we discover that they have been carrying out somewhat shady dealings. They were real profiteers and they made a lot of money." he said.

"They presented themselves as benefactors but they took a lot of money and not always clean money," he said.

Francis has said he wants a "poor church for the poor" and has begun an overhaul of the scandal-hit Vatican bureaucracy and bank, the Institute for Religious Works.

Two former directors of the Vatican bank are facing trial in Italy for money-laundering, while a former leading Vatican accountant is a defendant in a separate trial for trying to smuggle money illegally through the bank.

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Archangel Michael on the World’s Movement into the Golden Age, March 24, 2013 – Part 1/2

“… GW: Well, let’s move over to Italy, then. And Pope Francis met with leaders of the various world faiths in this last week. In his humble style that he is becoming noted for, he chose not to sit on the usual papal throne, but rather in a simple armchair, a beige armchair.

Some of the other leaders had expressed optimism in the change of style of Francis. Are the other religious leaders now aware of the information that Francis is aware of? The higher information. And will they collectively be starting to change the tune of religious faiths around the world? Will this become a song sung by Francis and the faiths?

AAM: It has begun. They are humming. They are finding that it is a catchy tune, that is attractive, that it has a beautiful melody and refrain that sings in their hearts. Francis has basically thrown away the throne. He is not over-lighted to proceed in such a manner.

And what he is first and foremost doing is that he is reminding those others of all faiths that their role is to serve and that leadership is service, that they are shepherds of all ilks, all stripes, all colors. But their role is to collect and to show the way, in humility and patience, in forgiveness and compassion.

So, what Francis has begun to do is to say we do not need to be in control. We cannot find the middle way, the pathway of peace and true brotherhood and sisterhood through trying to control people. And this has been a gift. Oh, and dear heart, he has only just begun.

You have been asking for signs. Well, you are seeing them, are you not, on many fronts. But pay attention to this one. And might I give you a hint? Follow the money.

GW: Hmm. Intriguing. Okay. Well, at this point, then, now you have said previously, or it has been said previously, that Francis is over-lighted with the soul of St. Francis, and that he will be stepping forward in his role and that he is aware of and in contact with our galactic family.

That wasn’t clear previously; maybe you can clarify that. Has that knowledge and awareness been imparted to the leaders of the other faiths at this time? Are they aware of that and openly embracing that?

AAM: It has not been fully disclosed. It has been fully implied. And so… [laugh] I’m sorry. I laugh because it is a beautiful time that we have waited for. Now, let me suggest to you — no, let me simply tell you flat out, my friend, because you are a newsman. There were several galactics present at this gathering. The presence of the galactics was fully implied. And in side conversations it was a full point of discussion.

But the first focus of Francis is not to push the agenda of the galactics, but simply rather to let everybody know that they have been part of this enclave and part of the knowledge of the papacy for a long time. But his first agenda is bringing communion, community and peace amongst the different faiths and sects, amongst the human beings.

So that is his primary agenda. But he is weaving many things into it. Is he aware of the galactics? He has been aware of them for a very long time. He has been aware of them most of his life, actually. And so it is not that it is not on his agenda; it is. It is just not the first thing on his agenda.  …”

Japan vows to provide aid to Africa as Li Keqiang begins tour

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-05-05

Li Keqiang holds a press conference with Ethiopian prime minister
Hailemariam Desalegn, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, May. 4. (Photo/Xinhua)

As China's premier, Li Keqiang, began his week-long trip to Africa on May. 4, Fumio Kishida, the Japanese foreign minister pledged on the same day that Tokyo is ready to provide US$31 billion in aid to Africa over the next five years, reports the Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao.

Kishida made the comments during an official visit to Republic of Cameroon for a two-day meeting to promote development in Africa, with the foreign minister telling senior officials from 50 African countries that Japan will increase aid to the continent. The timing of the Cameroon visit is no coincidence, the paper said, as Kishida's comments come as China has pledged $20 billion in aid to Africa.

Meanwhile, Li Keqiang arrived in Ethiopia on May 4 on the first leg of his four-nation tour, he will visit Nigeria, Angola and Kenya before leaving for China on May 11. During the trip, the premier will also attend the 24th World Economic Forum on Africa taking place in the Nigerian capital of Abuja on May 8.

According to China's state broadcaster CCTV, Li will sign around 60 agreements with the nation's partners in Africa, which will cover trade, health, culture, agriculture and training.

"I wish to assure our African friends in all seriousness that China will never pursue a colonialist path like some countries did, or allow colonialism, which belongs to the past, to reappear in Africa," Li told the state-run Xinhua News Agency at a press conference prior to his trip. Li stated that he expected to expand exchanges and cooperation on poverty reduction for common development with the African nations that he is visiting.

Li is also seeking to strengthen industrial and commercial cooperation by helping promote Africa's industrial and manufacturing sector, Ta Kung Pao said.

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Li Keqiang's Africa visit set to promote new ties

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-05-04

Chinese premier Li Keqiang chairs a forum in Chongqing, April 28. (File photo/CNS)

China and Africa will sign cooperation agreements in fields of road, railway, aviation and electric power during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Africa, according to a press release on Sunday.

Li will pay official visits to Ethiopia, Nigeria, Angola and Kenya from May 4 to 11. This is the first time for Li to visit Africa since taking office last year.

The relations between the two sides have entered a "golden period", said Li in an interview with African media before the trip. He said China is the largest developing country and Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries. Both China and Africa face the urgent task of developing economy and realizing modernization.

Since entering the new century, China and Africa have seized the historic opportunities presented by the deepening of globalization, worked together and helped each other achieve win-win outcome, he said, adding that both China and Africa have benefited a lot from cooperation.

China is at the critical stage of comprehensively deepening reform and speeding up the transformation of the economic development model. Africa, on its part, has also started its new path of seeking strength through unity and promoting development for renewal, said the premier.

China-Africa cooperation is thus faced with new opportunities of making great strides forward, he said.

"During my visit, I will work with leaders of the African states and the AU, and Chinese and African business representatives in an earnest, practical and enterprising spirit to review the past experience, identify room for improvement and discuss new areas, channels and formalities of China-Africa comprehensive cooperation so as to upgrade our cooperation," he said.

According to Li, China and Africa will expand exchanges and cooperation in poverty reduction for common development. Over 100 million people in China still live below the poverty line.

Africa is also faced with many difficulties and challenges on the road toward the Millennium Development Goals, the premier said, adding that all sides are committed to developing economy and improving people's livelihood, which makes poverty reduction one of the highlights of China-Africa cooperation.

China is ready to share with Africa its experience on poverty reduction and agricultural development, enhance agricultural cooperation with Africa and help Africa train technical and managerial personnel on agriculture, he said. "We hope poverty reduction will help Africa achieve sustainable development and bring the African people a more dignified life."

Li said China and Africa will strengthen industrial and commercial cooperation and promote Africa's industrialization and manufacturing sector.

Africa has entered the fast track of growth and its modernization process is gaining momentum, he said, noting that China is ready to bring into full play its advantages and take an active part in Africa's infrastructure development so as to promote connectivity on the African continent.

"Through infrastructure building, we will promote industrial cooperation and help Africa to focus on developing labor-intensive manufacturing, which will create jobs and boost consumption," he said.

China will also create new ways of investment and financing cooperation to help Africa address the funding shortfalls, and the two countries will enhance cooperation in human resources and eco-environment so as to sustain the momentum of Africa's long-term development, Li said.

Africa has the biggest potential in human resources. China is ready to train more professionals of multiple types for African countries, and provide more vocational education tailored for African young people, so as to help Africa fully and durably unleash the population dividends.

As one saying goes, the key to people-to-people exchanges lies in heart-to-heart communication, Li said, noting that China will roll out a series of projects on people-to-people exchanges and cooperation to enrich exchanges between the two peoples and promote mutual understanding and friendship.

Green has always been the true color of Africa. China will have closer cooperation with Africa in this field and provide funding to promote Africa's efforts to protect its wild animal resources and address the challenges of climate change, so that a beautiful China and a beautiful Africa will go hand in hand as we assist each other in development, said the premier.

Cheng Hong, who is accompanying her
husband Li Keqiang during his Africa tour,
arrives in Ethiopia on May 4. (Photo/Xinhua)

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"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013. They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader. Remember where you heard it... in a strange, esoteric meeting with a guy in a chair pretending to channel. [Kryon being factious... Kryon humor] Then when you hear it, you'll know better, won't you? "Maybe there was something really there," you'll say. "Maybe it was real," you'll say. Perhaps you can skip all the drama of the years to come and consider that now? [Kryon humor again]

These leaders are going to fall over. You'll have a slow developing leadership coming to you all over the earth where there is a new energy of caring about the public. "That's just too much to ask for in politics, Kryon." Watch for it. That's just the beginning of this last phase. So many things are coming. The next one is related to this, for a country in survival with sickness cannot sustain a leadership of high consciousness. There is just too much opportunity for power and greed. But when a continent is healed, everything changes.

The next one: You're going to heal a continent. Watch for it. It begins. Watch for major shift in Africa. We have said this before, even within the meetings I spoke in what you call the United Nations. Africa has never even been a potential player in the economic field, because it has been sick. What happens when you heal a continent? I'm going to tell you. Suddenly, the people on that continent also want what you have - government that works, peace, their own homes, schools, hospitals, and even banks where they can borrow from. They don't have any of those now, not really. Everything with substance is from somewhere else. That means you're going to have a continent that's going to arise that will become a major player on the stage of Earth's finances and political influence - an entire continent with all the resources on it, with even the potential for unification of common purpose, much like what you have now in your EU. I'm giving you information, and when it happens, again, I say you'll remember where you heard it.

Many years ago, the prevailing thought was that nobody should consider China as a viable player on the economic stage. They were backward, filled with a system that would never be westernized, and had no wish to become joined with the rest of the world's economic systems. Look what has happened in only 30 years. Now, look at Africa differently.. ...”

Pope calls for 'new mentality' on Vatican finances

Yahoo – AFP, 2 May 2014

Pope Francis on Friday told the first meeting of a newly-formed Vatican committee to reform Catholic Church finances that it should aim for transparency and helping the needy.

Francis told the group there should be a "new mentality" in the Vatican and a reform of the bureaucracy to ensure "it better serves the Church".

Francis created the group following accusations of financial mismanagement and fraudulent behaviour in the highest echelons of the Catholic Church, including in the Vatican bank and its real estate assets agency.

The committee represents "the Church's awareness of its responsibility in protecting and managing its assets carefully in view of its mission to evangelise and particularly to help the needy," the pope said.

"Do not abandon this path: transparency and efficiency for this aim," he said, adding: "It will not be easy and it will require courage and determination".

Francis was speaking a day after the first meeting of another Vatican committee he has set up to tackle the issue of child sex abuse by priests in response to a wave of scandals that have engulfed the Church.

The Vatican has vowed zero tolerance against predators.

It has also passed legislation and implemented measures to improve transparency at the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), the Vatican bank, as two of its former directors prepare to stand trial for money laundering.

A top Vatican accountant is also a defendant in a second trial for allegedly trying to smuggle money through Vatican bank accounts on behalf of a wealthy shipping company in order to dodge Italian taxes.

Members of the anti-paedophilia Pontifical commission, US Cardinal Sean

 Patrick O'Malley (R) and Irish Marie Collins attend a press conference on

May 3, 2014 at the Vatican (AFP Photo/Tiziana Fabi)

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Botched execution 'deeply troubling', says Barack Obama

US president orders investigation into problems with death penalty after Oklahoma inmate's untested lethal injection

Theguardian.com - AP, Saturday 3 May 2014

Barack Obama says the death penalty is warranted in some cases but he says
it is problematic, with evidence of racial bias. Photograph: UPI/Landov/Barcroft Media

The US president, Barack Obama, has said the botched execution of an Oklahoma inmate was “deeply troubling” and announced that he will ask the attorney general, Eric Holder, to analyse problems with the implementation of the death penalty.

In his first comments on the case of convicted murderer Clayton Lockett, the president expressed conflicting feelings about the death penalty. He said Americans needed to “ask ourselves some difficult and profound questions around these issues”.

Obama said the death penalty was warranted in some cases, specifically mentioning mass murder and child murder, and said Lockett's crimes were “heinous”.

However, he said the death penalty's application in the US was problematic, with evidence of racial bias and the eventual exoneration of some death-row inmates.

“All these, I think, do raise significant questions about how the death penalty is being applied,” said Obama, who was asked about the case at a news conference at the House House with the visiting German chancellor, Angela Merkel, “and this situation in Oklahoma I think just highlights some of the significant problems there.”

Last Tuesday, the state of Oklahoma attempted to carry out Lockett's death sentence by lethal injection, using a drug combination that had not been previously used in the state.

Lockett convulsed violently during the execution and tried to lift his head after a doctor declared him unconscious. He died of an apparent heart attack, 43 minutes after the execution had begun.

“What happened in Oklahoma is deeply troubling,” Obama said when asked about international condemnation of US application of the death penalty following Lockett’s case. He said he would be asking Holder and others “to get me an analysis of what steps have been taken, not just in this particular instance, but more broadly in this area”.

The White House declined to comment further on what the analysis might cover. The Justice Department indicated that its review would focus more on how executions are carried out, rather than the issues of race and wrongful convictions that Obama said also should be discussed.

“The department is currently conducting a review of the federal protocol used by the Bureau of Prisons, and has a moratorium in place on federal executions in the meantime. At the president's direction, the department will expand this review to include a survey of state-level protocols and related policy issues,” the department said in a statement on Friday.

Lockett had already been convicted of four crimes when he was found guilty, by a jury in 2000, of murder, rape, kidnapping, burglary and other charges and given the death sentence. The murder victim was 19-year-old Stephanie Neiman, who came across Lockett and two accomplices as they were beating a man in front of his nine-month-old son during a robbery.

Neiman and a friend came to the house while the robbery was in progress. The intruders bound the two women with duct tape and raped Neiman's friend. The three men then drove all four victims, including the baby, to a remote area, where Lockett shot Neiman with a sawn-off shotgun after she refused to say she would not report them to police. Lockett then watched as his two accomplices buried her alive.

A spokesman for the United Nations’ human rights office in Geneva said Lockett's prolonged execution could amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under international human rights law. Rupert Colville said Lockett’s was the second problematic execution in the US this year after Dennis McGuire's death in Ohio on 16 January from an allegedly untested combination of drugs.

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Anne Frank memorial tree planted at US Capitol

Yahoo – AFP, 1 May 2014

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz speaks at the dedication ceremony

 for the Congressional Anne Frank Memorial Tree on Capitol Hill in Washington,

on April 30, 2014 (AFP Photo/Chris Kleponis)

Washington (AFP) - A sang grown from the tree that Anne Frank wrote about while in hiding was celebrated Wednesday at the US Capitol as a "living testament" to one of the Holocaust's most cherished victims.

The small, leafy chestnut planted on the Capitol's west front lawn is a sapling grown from the original tree that entranced Frank outside the Amsterdam building where the famed diarist and her family hid from the Nazis during World War II.

"It's fitting that we plant a tree in Anne Frank's memory in the shadow of our majestic Capitol dome," the building's chief architect Stephen Ayers said at a ceremony.

"Years from now, visitors to the Capitol will find shade and solace in its mighty branches."

The horse-chestnut was one of the few images from the natural world that could be seen from the Frank's small hideout, where the family lived for two years.

"Our chestnut tree is in full blossom," the girl wrote on May 13, 1944.

"It is covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year."

Republicans and Democrats joined dignitaries including Holocaust survivors and Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans in honoring the Jewish teenage girl whose writings have come to be known worldwide as symbols of hope, optimism, healing and rebirth.

"This sapling, although tiny now, will permanently stand as a reminder for the ideals that Anne stood for," said congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who is Jewish, recited in English the "Shehecheyanu," the ancient Hebrew prayer that celebrates special occasions.

"Today we dedicate this tree as a living testament to the memory of Anne Frank, a young woman of grand pleasantry and gifted insight, but who knew no peace," Cantor said.

The sapling is among 11 created from the original tree, which collapsed in 2010.

Several have been planted in the United States, including at New York's "Ground Zero."

Yvonne Simons, executive director of Anne Frank Center USA, told AFP the Capitol tree was originally destined for the White House, but due to garden restrictions there it went to the Capitol grounds.

Frank was captured August 4, 1944, and died seven months later at age 15 at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Her diary was rescued by a family friend, and through the help of Anne's father Otto Frank was published and eventually translated into more than 60 languages, including in English as "The Diary of a Young Girl."