French publisher named in Panama Papers

Jacques Glénat, who founded the Grenoble-based graphic novel and manga publisher Editions Glénat in 1969, has been named in the Panama Papers in connection with a company in the Seychelles, according to Le Monde, one of the 109 media in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that has exposed the massive tax avoidance.

Le Monde said Glénat bought the company Getway SA in 2009, primarily to acquire works of art, and wound it up in 2014 when a change of investment rules meant it had to convert bearer or anonymous shares into registered shares that carry the name of the owner. During the five years, the company had €4m in its accounts and acquired numerous paintings, including some by Pieter Bruegel the Younger and one by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, as well as some bronzes and antique furniture.

While waiting to close the company, the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, whose leaked records are the source of the revelations, insisted that Glénat’s Luxembourg tax advisers RSM identify the shareholders of the companies it handled for its internal purposes, Le Monde said.

Glénat confirmed to the newspaper that Getway had donated works of art to his children but denied a direct link between him and the company.

Glénat authors are not impressed, the literary website ActuaLitté reported. It quoted one who was not named as saying it showed the graphic novel crisis “is not the same for everyone”. Cartoonist Vincent Rif tweeted: “Authors must make a fuss!”