We're sharing a fascinating lecture at the University of London's Institute of Historical Research The lecture has the intriguing title 'Funk Money': Decolonisation and the Expansion of Tax Havens, 1950s-1960s and was delivered by Associate Professor Vanessa Ogle of the University of California, … [Read more...]
Offshore History
Is it time to assess the financial secrecy of the Vatican?
The Vatican-based Istituto per le Opere di Religione (the Institute for Religious Works or IOR, a.k.a. the Vatican Bank) probably falls into the category of the world's most controversial bank. Now, according to this long read article in today's Guardian, the bank's unaccountable bureaucracy and … [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...]
Jean-Claude Juncker and tax haven Luxembourg, in a picture
From Gabriel Zucman, an image enhanced by David Walch of Attac-Austria: Juncker, of course, has denied responsibility for his role in Luxembourg's tax haven activities such as the Luxleaks scandal. In his role at the head of the European Commission it's politically important for him to say … [Read more...]
Tax dodging and the birth of the British Empire
As we've documented, the United Kingdom plays a central - if not the central - role in the modern global system of offshore tax havens, or secrecy jurisdictions. Now here's a post from ActionAid, looking at (yet) another aspect of all this. Cross-posted, with permission. Tax dodging and the … [Read more...]
China Leaks: how the BVI became China’s foreign tax haven of choice
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has pulled another humdinger of an investigation, publishing a Who's Who in China's offshore circles. We could highlight any number of things from this excellent report, but we'll choose just two: … [Read more...]
Jersey: A Case Study in Path Dependence
This blog is part of a series highlighting the narrative reports from a number of secrecy jurisdictions around the world, explaining how they became offshore financial centres. Jersey ranked ninth on the 2013 Financial Secrecy Index. … [Read more...]
Infographic: a short history of tax havens
Click twice to enlarge. Or see the infographic here. … [Read more...]
