Financial Transparency Coalition

As if the Swiss weren't damaging their own reputation enough with regard to the issue of banking secrecy, they've now decided to antagonize the Islamic world as well. On Sunday, Swiss voters strongly approved a measure to ban the construction of minarets in the country - a measure that has been met with strong international condemnation and which has likely caused the stiff sentencing of 2 Swiss nationals to prison in Libya. Now analysts are suggesting the vote could discourage Muslim investors from investing in Swiss banks. From Reuters:

Richard Murphy has a fascinating essay exploring the anachronistic concept of "domicile" in the UK. News broke over the weekend that Zac Goldsmith, a Tory candidate for Parliament, maintains a non-domiciled status thereby allowing him to not pay taxes on any earnings made abroad. From the Guardian:

Goldsmith, who is standing in the key marginal seat of Richmond Park, west London, confirmed that he retained the non-domiciled tax status inherited from his billionaire father, Sir James Goldsmith. He said he had derived "very few" benefits from being a non-dom and had already...