In this episode of the Tax Justice Network’s monthly podcast, the Taxcast: We look at the terrible Beirut explosion and how the story of tracing those responsible tells us everything that's wrong with our world.Plus, we discuss what President-elect Biden's win could mean for tax and economic … [Read more...]
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New publication on beneficial ownership transparency for companies listed on the stock exchange
This new paper describes why beneficial ownership regulations shouldn’t exempt companies listed on a stock exchange. In essence, securities’ disclosure regulations aren’t enough to identify beneficial owners. In addition, definitions are subject to loopholes that affect identifying all relevant … [Read more...]
VIDEO: Winning the Fight for Tax Justice – how do we make multinationals pay?
Yes, we can build an open and transparent tax system that works fairly for everyone. Do you know how multinationals shift their profits to dodge their taxes and how we can stop them? Our beautifully illustrated new videos tell you how, narrated in five different languages by our tax justice podcast … [Read more...]
How Denmark is verifying beneficial ownership information
Guest blog by Jesper Bertelsen, Danish Business Authority The concept of a well-functioning beneficial owner register sounds achievable and easy, at a first glance. Simply put, legal entities check who their beneficial owners are, and enter this information into a system, in turn making it … [Read more...]
Tax justice at UN75
The UN75 Global Governance Forum brought together "thousands of leaders worldwide from governments, global civil society, and the technology, business, and philanthropic communities to foster new kinds of innovative partnerships with the United Nations system to better address global peace and … [Read more...]
Regulating complex ownership chains – a call for experts for closed brainstorming round-table session
Regulating complex ownership chains – A common goal for tackling beneficial ownership transparency and tax avoidance? The Tax Justice Network, together with City University London, the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT), Transparency International … [Read more...]
We ran a beneficial ownership webinar for over 260 officials from Latin America
On 26 August, together with the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT), we hosted a webinar in Spanish for Latin American authorities involved in beneficial ownership transparency. The Spanish webinar was based on the first and second set of presentations on beneficial ownership … [Read more...]
Dubious arguments to defend secrecy, even as automatic information exchange booms
Updated: an earlier version of this blog incorrectly referred to the legal opinion of the Advocate General as belonging to Luxembourg rather than to the European Court of Justice. For years, we have advocated the automatic exchange of bank account information across borders. The previous “on … [Read more...]
Developing countries, take note: how much money do your residents hold in Australia, the most transparent country on bank account information
Australia has become the first country to publish statistics on automatic exchange of information for all jurisdictions, especially those that cannot join the automatic exchange system. Here’s what they reveal and why it has more potential than statistics published by the Bank for International … [Read more...]
The role of banks and digitalised beneficial ownership registries: way more than just reporting discrepancies
On 14 July the Tax Justice Network co-hosted the fourth call of the multi-stakeholder group to promote beneficial ownership verification. We took the opportunity to present updates on progress of the pilot in one African country and to hear more presentations on how to verify information (our last … [Read more...]
Beneficial ownership definitions: determining “control” unrelated to ownership
Most beneficial ownership definitions are based on ownership thresholds or voting rights. But there are ways to control a company without holding any shares. This brief explores some of these gaps and proposes ways for authorities to address them. This brief is also available to download as a … [Read more...]
Exploring UK companies’ legal ownership chains to detect red flags and verify beneficial ownership information: Part 1
By Andres Knobel and Oliver Seabarron The Tax Justice Network in cooperation with the CORPNET group at the University of Amsterdam (@UvACORPNET) and the Data Analytics and Society Centre for Doctoral Training at the University of Sheffield (@DataCDT) has mined and applied advanced analytics to … [Read more...]
Beneficial ownership transparency in Africa: The state of play in 2020
Leak after leak has confirmed what African citizens have long suspected: the elite hide their actions and identities to loot state resources and reduce taxes owed. A new study published today by the Tax Justice Network Africa and Tax Justice Network examines one of the steps African countries are … [Read more...]
Tax, reparations and ‘Plan B’ for the UK’s tax haven web
The killing of George Floyd by US police in Minnesota, on 25 May 2020, has sparked a public response both more powerful and more international than almost any of the previous cases in a very long line - including Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, 13 March 2020. The demands for justice extend far beyond … [Read more...]
Another Great Depression or tax justice and transparency? The Tax Justice Network January 2020 podcast
The Taxcast kicks off the new decade with: the French strikes - tax justice and pensions vs financialisationthe EU countries who've missed the deadline on publishing registers of real corporate ownersthe effect of Brexit on poorer (aka plundered) countriesAnd the IMF's stark warnings about the … [Read more...]
