From Joseph Stiglitz, writing in Vanity Fair: "It will not be long before those nations that opt to continue with old-style secrecy will be labeled pariah states and be cut off from the global financial system." New and abusive games will continue to emerge to fill the vacuum left by old-style … [Read more...]
Corruption
UN report recommends: go after tax havens, and protect whistleblowers
From the United Nations General Assembly, the fifth report of the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order. The summary goes like this: "The report focuses on impacts of taxation on human rights and explores the challenges posed to the international … [Read more...]
Quote of the day – tax crimes and traffic offences
From Michael West, an Australian tax journalist: "In Australia, Part 4a of the Tax Act deems that the principal purpose of a transaction should be commercial (rather than tax driven). In light of the proliferation of tax haven activities by Australian companies this law, Part 4a, must be the most … [Read more...]
The Bahamas tax haven – a (re-)emerging global menace?
Update: as it happens, The Economist has just published an excellent story about the Bahamas, subtitled The Bahamas Cocks a Snook at the War on Tax Dodgers. (Our only beef with that subtitle is that this is about so much more than just tax.) We've periodically remarked on the Bahamas as a secrecy … [Read more...]
Why the Swiss case against whistleblower Elmer may hurt the bankers
Rudolf Elmer, the Cayman-based Swiss whistleblower who went to prison after spilling secrets relating to the Swiss bank Julius Baer, has long been victimised not only by the Swiss banking establishment, and Switzerland's courts (which as we've extensively documented, seem to have played fast and … [Read more...]
Top tax expert: Big 4 “accountants of fortune” must be broken up
In March The Economist magazine rang alarm bells (again) about a rise in concentrated market power: a problem where the biggest firms get ever bigger and more like monopolies, making it easy to extract wealth from the rest of us (as opposed to creating wealth.) This, in turn fosters steeper … [Read more...]
Kenya tax haven approaching: secrecy to be enforced with prison terms
We have for a while been sounding alarms about the emergence of (yet) another tax haven/secrecy jurisdiction in Kenya. A few months ago we quoted the newspaper African Arguments: “Anti-corruption campaigner John Githongo has warned that in this setting, the NIFC “would be like a financial crime … [Read more...]
Swiss whistleblower Rudolf Elmer: ‘they want to crucify me, as an example to other bankers’
Rudolf Elmer, the Swiss whistleblower who has been pursued by Swiss courts for a decade and served over half a year in prison while accused of (according to Switzerland's peculiar courts) violating the Swiss banking secrecy law, now faces two more court trials: one, on June 23rd, as part of the … [Read more...]
Switzerland is handing back looted money. How big a deal is this?
In the context of a fun Twitter fight and finger-pointing between the Swiss Bankers' Association and the German Finance Ministry, there's a newish story on Quartz entitled Swiss bankers swear they are trying to help Africa get its dirty money back. It begins like this: "It irritates Valentin … [Read more...]
TJN sparring partner caught up in Panama Papers scandal
Back in 2005 a lobby group in Washington, D.C. issued a press release entitled Tax Justice Network Sides with Europe's Tax Collectors, Ignores Critical Role of Low-Tax Jurisdiction in Protecting Human Rights and Promoting Pro-Growth Policy. The bizarre press release accused us of putting at risk … [Read more...]
Quote of the day – London and money laundering
From London's new mayor, Sadiq Khan: “I have got nothing against luxury properties being built in London. What we can’t have is London being the world’s capital for money laundering.” Ten years ago, who could have predicted this kind of comment? See more here. Just for instance. … [Read more...]
Want to end corruption? Crack down on tax havens.
That headline comes from an opinion piece just in the Washington Post, written by Nicholas Shaxson, a TJN writer. Among other things, it's searching for deeper understandings of corruption that capture its systemic effects on rules, systems and institutions. "Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe … [Read more...]
Liberia’s mysterious company registry system
Our friends and colleagues at Finance Uncovered have written a fascinating story entitled Liberia: America’s outpost of financial secrecy, which has been published today in South Africa’s Daily Maverick in cooperation with AmaBhungane. We'd urge you to read the whole fascinating story of … [Read more...]
Three lessons on the hidden cost of corruption – for the West
A guest blog by Sigrún Davíðsdóttir Corruption and corrupt business practices have often been portrayed as a problem only endured by poor countries, of little consequence to the developed West. The three following stories show that this is a wrong-headed, old-fashioned understanding, reflecting … [Read more...]
Britain’s secrecy web: no corpses on the street, no problem
On the occasion of a global anti-corruption summit in London, Tom Burgis has written a superb long investigation into the City of London for the Financial Times -- read it, if you can get a copy. As a teaser: "For Andrea, the contrast between the American and British responses to BSI’s … [Read more...]
