Global Financial Integrity released the following statement last night urging G20 Finance Ministers meeting in St Andrews today and tomorrow to make the connection between illicit financial flows from developing countries, their absorption by secrecy jurisdictions/tax havens, and the devastating effect this has on global poverty. From GFI:
Washington, DC — As the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers meet tomorrow in St Andrews, Global Financial Integrity (GFI) urges leaders to acknowledge the devastating link between illicit financial flows from developing countries, secrecy jurisdictions (tax havens), and global poverty.
Richard Murphy has just posted two videos on his YouTube channel - one explaining the new Financial Secrecy Index, and the other going into detail about Delaware, which came in ranked number one. Check them out below:
The Tax Justice Network Financial Secrecy Index:
US Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and US House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel today introduced legislation aimed at curtailing offshore tax evasion. From Reuters:
Under the proposed bill, foreign banks would be forced to disclose information about American customers, or face a 30 percent tax on their income from U.S. financial assets.
The legislation would crack down on shell companies by requiring a foreign corporation to give the U.S. Treasury the names of Americans who own more than 10 percent of its shares.
