From the Financial Times: "Mr Foxley says he discovered gifts to Saudi military officials and illicit payments routed through the Cayman Islands." For background, the article begins: "The UK government is fighting to keep secret details of how it handled allegedly corrupt transactions … [Read more...]
Corruption
How do tax wars affect women?
Cross-posted from Fools' Gold: From the Association for Women's Rights in Development, a post related to a landmark meeting in Lima on tax justice and human rights: "The current “race to the bottom” in which tax competition among developing countries takes place to attract corporate and … [Read more...]
Avaaz in legal challenge to UK over Liechtenstein amnesty and HSBC scandal
From the Financial Times: "The UK tax authority faces a potential judicial review over its handling of the evasion scandal involving HSBC’s Swiss subsidiary, it emerged on Thursday. Lawyers acting for the international campaign group Avaaz have sent HM Revenue & Customs a letter asking for … [Read more...]
Lima: TJN director Christensen speech on tax justice and human rights
From John Christensen, TJN's director, a speech about tax justice and human rights. It begins like this: "Why the tax justice movement should embrace human rights. And vice versa The history of economic and social rights in most countries can be discovered in their tax codes. Tax is at the … [Read more...]
The Offshore Wrapper: a week in tax justice #59
Our quirky weekly news round-up from the topsy-turvy world of tax havens. The piratical Duchy of Luxembourg charges journalist over LuxLeaks What does Jean-Claude Juncker think of this? Luxembourg, the country he led for 18 years and steered in the direction of becoming one of Europe's biggest … [Read more...]
HSBC whistleblower Falciani, on tax havens and whistleblowing
This video comes from The Guardian: "HSBC files whistleblower Hervé Falciani: 'This money comes from mafia, http://premier-pharmacy.com/product-category/anti-inflammatories/ drug traffickers, blood diamonds and tax evasion' " Alternatively, you can watch it here. … [Read more...]
How Swiss banks moved their evasion experts to Latin America
An interview with Swiss banking whistleblower Stéphanie Gibaud in the Buenos Aires Herald (hat tip: Jorge Gaggero). It's fascinating. We'll post just a couple of excerpts here, and advise readers to look at the whole thing. For instance: "I did public relations for the bank, which means you … [Read more...]
The deep joy of trusts and foundations
We aren't sure whether to be horrified, flattered or entertained. Take a look at this peculiar video from a rather iffy-looking offshore promoter, complete with '80s soundtrack and faux newsroom. If you go to the original source of this video, it turns out that they are explicitly using TJN … [Read more...]
Quote of the day – finance for development
From Tove Maria Ryding and María José Romero, an article in The Guardian, looking at the UN's Finance for Development process, and a high-level conference set for Adis Ababa in July: "Finance for Development (FfD) is not a fundraising event. It focuses on systemic issues such as illicit financial … [Read more...]
Tax Justice Research Bulletin 1(3)
By Alex Cobham, TJN's Director of Research March 2015. Welcome to the third Tax Justice Research Bulletin, a monthly series dedicated to tracking the latest developments in policy-relevant research on national and international tax. This issue looks at new papers on the responsibilities … [Read more...]
The Offshore Wrapper: a week in tax justice #56
Dial C for Corruption? Authoritarian countries and mobile phone companies present a great opportunity for money laundering and corruption. In developing countries most mobile phone services are bought though pre-paid cards which means companies handle large amounts of cash payments. As we have … [Read more...]
The Tax Justice Network Podcast, March 2015
The Tax Justice Network Podcast, March 2015 In the March 2015 Taxcast: Democracy for sale - how our politics rely heavily on tax haven-friendly donors. Also, we ask: why is HSBC shutting down offshore accounts in Jersey? Are we in the final few years of the corporate income tax? Is Australia's … [Read more...]
People’s Parliament to discuss How Corrupt is Britain?
On Thursday 26th March 2015, the People's Parliament will meet at Westminster in London to discuss a complex question, How Corrupt is Britain? British people have long prided themselves on having a relatively corruption-free liberal democracy. Corruption, as the old saying goes, is something … [Read more...]
The UK’s money laundering rules support debanking of poorer countries
By Alex Cobham, TJN's Director of Research. Originally posted at his blog Uncounted. Poverty – a bad money-laundering risk factor The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has revealed the basis on which it ranks jurisdictions as low or high risk for money laundering – and it seems inevitable that it … [Read more...]
New Report: Ten Reasons to Defend the Corporate Income Tax.
UPDATES 2018 - Tax incentives in mining: minimising risks to revenue, OECD/Intergovernmental forum on mining, minerals, metals, and sustainable development. "Tax incentives are costly, leading many countries to forgo vital revenues in exchange for often illusive benefits. . . there is little … [Read more...]
