According to the Institute for Public Policy Research’s Commission on Economic Justice report called Time for Change: A New Vision for the British Economy, we need a "fundamental reform of the British economy on a scale comparable with the Atlee reforms of the 1940s and the Thatcher revolution of … [Read more...]
Finance Sector
Tax Justice video: How can we avoid another crisis? Expert panel discussion
In this video we hear fascinating presentations and discussion from an expert panel on how another global financial crisis can be avoided, ten years after the first. They focus on the UK, not only on the financial sector itself and the finance curse, but also on the role of the wider financial … [Read more...]
The Spider’s Web film wins ARFF Global Award
We're delighted that Michael Oswald's documentary film The Spider's Web: Britain's Second Empire has won the monthly Global Award from the Berlin Around International Film Festival (ARFF). The Spider's Web, which was co-produced by TJN's John Christensen, draws inspiration from Nicholas Shaxson's … [Read more...]
The City of London: Capital of an Invisible Empire
In July 2017 director Michael Oswald’s latest film, The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire was premiered at the Frontline Club in London. It has since had several screenings in London and public screenings can be organised from November onwards. This fascinating interview just published in … [Read more...]
KPMG and the false objectivity of the ‘Big Four’
This is cross-posted from Huffington Post, South Africa. It's time to recognise the big four firms for what they are - or we'll continue getting stung, says economist and Chief Executive of the Tax Justice Network, Alex Cobham. And so another international firm providing 'professional services' … [Read more...]
#10yearsafter the crash: the failure of HBOS and the lessons for reform
As part of our series of blogs #10yearsafter the crash we reproduce below details of new research in a timely new book, The Politics of Financial Risk, Audit and Regulation: A Case Study of HBOS. It's written by Professor Atul K. Shah, University of Suffolk who you can also follow here on twitter. … [Read more...]
Swiss Politicians seek to block automatic exchange of banking information with developing countries
Could we be seeing a return to the bad old days of Swiss Banking? A right wing party in Switzerland, the Swiss People’s Party, has launched an assault on the automatic exchange of banking information, according to Swiss Daily Newspaper Tages Anzeiger. … [Read more...]
#10yearsafter the crash: anniversary today
We've blogged recently about the series of events marking the tenth anniversary of the financial crash which will focus on what we've learnt (and not learnt) and how we can reform our economies. We share below a press release from Promoting Economic Pluralism which is coordinating a programme of … [Read more...]
10 Years after the Crash: building a reform agenda
In November 2008, the Queen apparently asked economists on a visit to the London School of Economics, ‘Why did no-one see it coming?’ Well, we're approaching the ten year anniversary of the financial crash which wiped out Lehman Brothers, saw the first run on a UK bank (Northern Rock) in 150 years, … [Read more...]
What is the City of London’s Finance Curse?
We recently blogged on how the Finance Curse is expected to tighten its grip on the British economy in the coming five years. In this short video, TJN's John Christensen, who coined the term with author Nicholas Shaxson and worked in offshore finance for many years, explains what the Finance Curse … [Read more...]
European Commission targets tax avoidance ‘enablers’
The European Commission has just published its proposals for rules for tax advisers and related intermediaries which will require advance disclosure to national tax authorities and cross-border automatic information exchange of any tax scheme that might be deemed potentially aggressive. … [Read more...]
How Global Audit Firms Are Using Their Lobbying Clout to Dilute Sarbanes-Oxley Reforms
The dirty world of tax evasion and avoidance involves all sorts of unpleasant and anti-social characters, none more so than the professional enablers who devise avoidance schemes, market these schemes to their clients, lobby governments for special treatments and permissive laws, and generally play … [Read more...]
Newly launched Tax Justice UK assesses party manifestos in UK’s ‘snap’ general election
We'd like to share with you a press release from the newly launched Tax Justice UK for immediate release: … [Read more...]
Research shows UK’s Finance Curse grip tightening in next five years
Britain's Trade Unions Congress has published projections showing the increasingly unbalanced growth of the UK economy. As you can see from this map, economic activity is skewed in the direction of England's south-east region, which includes London. It's forecast to produce 40.1 percent of the UK's … [Read more...]
Protesting PwC: Professionals Without Conscience
This week is the global week of action for tax justice and on Wednesday 5th April activists from the Tax Justice Network and Methodists for Tax Justice held a protest outside the London offices of Price Waterhouse Coopers. The global week of action for tax justice is happening one year after the … [Read more...]
