Financial Transparency Coalition

On Sunday, The New York Times ran a massive, 3700-word, story on their investigation into aggressive, but legal, tax avoidance at Apple. Apple uses a wide network of subsidiaries in tax havens to shift profits away from high-tax jurisdictions like the United States. Apple has previously been a noted innovator in the tax strategy department, pioneering techniques to drastically reduce their tax bill. Despite explosive growth in Apple's profits, their tax bill has barely budged in recent years.

In my short time here with the Task Force, I've learned that shell corporations show up around every corner when trying to fix problems in the developed and developing world alike. This was proven true again last night, when I attended an event sponsored by Task Force member Global Witness. The event was to present their new report, Dealing With Disclosure: Improving Transparency in Decision-Making Over Large-Sale Land Acquisitions, Allocations, and Investments.

Felix Salmon, always someone with an interesting take on issues, takes a look at Wal-Mart's ethics policy. Given what came out in the New York Times this weekend about Wal-Mart's alleged $24 million bribery and cover-up scandal, you might expect Wal-Mart to have a toothless and empty ethics policy for high-level employees. The reality appears to be different. As Felix Salmon explains, an employee named Julie Roehm, senior enough to handle the search for a company to handle a billion dollar account, was fired for allowing that company to buy her dinner.

The Task Force on Financial Integrity & Economic Development (Task Force) is hosting an expert discussion on the linkages between illicit financial flows, transparency and the Arab Spring during the Civil Society Forum (CS Forum) at the 2012 World Bank/IMF Spring Meeting. Fiscal accountability is a key component of a well-functioning social contract, both of which have been absent in many countries in the MENA region, including Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Syria.