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Concern over halliburton move to dubai { March 12 2007 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17582442/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17582442/
Concern over Halliburton move to Dubai
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
Financial Times
Updated: 5:12 p.m. ET March 12, 2007
Halliburton's decision to relocate its chief executive from Houston to Dubai and open a corporate headquarters in the emirate drew fire from critics in Washington on Monday, raising the spectre that the oil services group will be forced to defend the move before Congress.
The Texas-based company has long been the target of criticism on Capitol Hill because of its ties to Vice-President Dick Cheney, a former chief executive, and allegations that the company's government contracting unit, KBR, has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars in Iraq, where it holds the largest logistics contract.
Congressman Henry Waxman, who heads the chief investigative committee in the House of Representatives, is considering holding a hearing on the Dubai issue, a congressional staffer said.
Senator Patrick Leahy, the top Democratic member on the Senate judiciary committee, said of Halliburton's move: "This is an insult to the US soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years."
Charlie Cray, the director at the Center for Corporate Policy, a progressive watchdog group that runs the "Halliburton watch" website, said his primary concern was that the move would further reduce Halliburton's overall accountability.
"They have proven very adept at circumventing American policy and restrictions by using offshore subsidiaries," he said, pointing to work the company has done in Iran and bribes it allegedly paid in Nigeria.
The bribery allegations are being investigated by the Department of Justice.
Some lobbyists said the move could revive debate on the tax implications of companies moving offshore. Halliburton did not respond to questions on Monday about how the move to Dubai, which has a zero tax rate, would affect its tax burden.
Martin Sullivan, contributing editor at Tax Notes magazine, a non-partisan weekly tax journal, said Halliburton's opening of a Dubai headquarters – even though the company will still be registered in the US – would change its tax situation "significantly".
The move could also inadvertently paint a negative picture of Dubai in Washington and hamper efforts by the emirate to repair relations with lawmakers following the failed attempt last year by Dubai Ports to acquire five US port terminals. That transaction highlighted the fact that many legislators have a negative perception of Dubai as a haven for terrorist finance, in spite of support for the emirate from the Bush administration and Bill Clinton, the former president.
© The Financial Times Ltd 2007. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times.Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.
© 2007 MSNBC.com
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