Following the acrimonious collapse of a British cake business, Patisserie Valerie, a quote of the day from a top accountant: We’re not looking for fraud, we’re not looking at the future, we’re not giving a statement that the accounts are correct . . . we are looking in the past and we are not set … [Read more...]
Corruption
Financial crime is a feature of our global financial system, not a bug: pioneering economist Susan Strange
We're sharing, with kind permission, the following article written by journalist Nat Dyer for independent global media platform Open Democracy. The global financial crime wave is no accident Financial crime is a feature of our global financial system not a bug, pioneering economist Susan Strange … [Read more...]
How oversized finance sectors are making us poorer in the Tax Justice Network’s October 2018 podcast
In the October 2018 Tax Justice Network monthly podcast/radio show, the Taxcast: we speak to Nicholas Shaxson about his new book The Finance Curse: How Global Finance Is Making Us All Poorer released alongside new research from the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute on the true … [Read more...]
Moneyland: plutocracy, contagion and crisis in the Tax Justice Network’s September 2018 podcast
In the September 2018 Tax Justice Network monthly podcast/radio show, the Taxcast: we talk to journalist Oliver Bullough about his new book, just out 'Moneyland: why thieves and crooks now rule the world, and how to take it back' We discuss the transnational elite that have broken free of … [Read more...]
The Spider’s Web film – now available for free online
Michael Oswald's seminal documentary film on Britain and its tax haven empire is available now on YouTube. Released in 2017 to considerable critical acclaim, The Spider's Web has been screened across the world, from USA to New Zealand. It is now available for free download by anyone who wishes … [Read more...]
Continuing the work of murdered journalist #DaphneCaruanaGalizia, 6 months on
We'd like to draw attention to the Daphne Project, announced by the OCCRP and Forbidden Stories which honours the life and courageous work of murdered Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The project begins today, marking six months since her brutal assassination. Malta is ranked … [Read more...]
Welcome oligarchs, erode democracy: our March 2018 podcast
In this month's Taxcast: They say history is written by the victors. So how can we rethink the way we use words about tax havens that reflect the reality of what's really happening? We talk to Alain Deneault about his new book in which he writes about ‘laundering with language’ - Legalising Theft: a … [Read more...]
Questions raised over offshore dealings of Serbian PM’s former company.
The Croatian political magazine, Nacional, is running a story which implicates the International Finance Corporation in a deal involving offshore companies and more than a hint of a conflict of interest in Serbia. One of the main protagonists in the deal is the Serbian Prime Minister, Ana … [Read more...]
Our November 2017 Spanish language Podcast: Justicia ImPositiva, nuestro podcast de noviembre 2017
Welcome to this month’s latest podcast and radio programme in Spanish with Marcelo Justo and Marta Nuñez, downloaded and broadcast on radio networks across Latin America and Spain. ¡Bienvenidos y bienvenidas a nuestro podcast y programa radiofónica! (abajo en castellano). In the November 2017 … [Read more...]
Enough evidence on trusts – where are the State’s actions?
Our two last papers on trusts (here and here) described trusts’ involvement in grand corruption and other cases that would anger any rational person. The Paradise Papers, and recent case law, shed outrageous new light on trusts’ role in worsening inequality, shielding assets from legitimate … [Read more...]
Passports and residency for sale in our October 2017 podcast
In this month’s Taxcast we look at the booming business of passports and residency for sale, and why it should worry us all. Also: even the IMF now advocates wealth taxes to combat inequality, yet governments around the world – most recently President Macron of France – are going in the … [Read more...]
“Trusts: Weapons of Mass Injustice?” A response to the critics
On February 13th, 2017 TJN published a paper titled "Trusts: Weapons of Mass Injustice?", which has attracted critical attention from practitioners and tax havens. This is our response. Our paper, “Trusts: Weapons of Mass Injustice?”[1] asks some deep and searching questions about the role trusts … [Read more...]
Hurricanes, disaster capitalism, bitcoin and over-reliance on unhelpful economic measures: our Sept 2017 podcast
In edition 69 of our monthly podcast, the September 2017 Taxcast we look at our over-reliance on unhelpful economic measures like Gross Domestic Product and how it constrains us. Also: we discuss hurricanes, tax havens and disaster capitalism the bitcoin bubble - China may be closing its … [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...]
Evading Tax and Avoiding Tax Evasion: for decades British governments have shied away from tackling cross border crime
Guest blog authored by Dr Michael Woodiwiss (Arts and Cultural Industries, University of the West of England) and Dr Mary Alice Young (Bristol Law School, University of the West of England) In the 1920s, an embryonic tax collecting organisation was steadily growing in the US. The Internal … [Read more...]
