Financial Transparency Coalition

Business leaders look forward to the “Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act” Business Day, July 14, 2011 Tax Haven abuse costs the UK government £16 billion per year Telegraph, July 13, 2011 Seoul to clamp down on wealthy people’s offshore tax evasion Yonhap, July 14, 2011 Armor Holdings charged in U.N. bribery scheme Washington Post, July

WASHINGTON, DC – One year out from passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act and three months after it was supposed to come into effect, a key anti-corruption and transparency measure—the Cardin-Lugar provision (Section 1504)—is still sitting on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) drafting board. The provision to require oil, gas, and mineral companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments is considered an historic move towards shedding light on the operations of a multi-billion dollar industry.

Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK, a coordinating committee member of the Task Force, has released a new report on tax haven abuse on behalf of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), War on Want, and the Tax Justice Network. The report examines the effects of tax havens on tax collection, financial stability, corruption and poverty. In addition, it looks at the consequences of secrecy laws in tax havens on the international financial system. The report expresses concern over the direction tax law is moving in, stating: PCS wishes to draw attention to the massively worrying...