Financial Transparency Coalition

Brad Plumer had a great article in The Washington Post today on the consequences of economic inequality in the United States. As inequality increases, all sorts of crazy things might happen: politicians may ease credit regulations, allowing middle class citizens (who are less wealthy due to inequality) to borrow from the future in order to keep up short term consumption, leading to bad long term consequences like increased bankruptcy, divorce, housing bubbles, etc.

For the first time, the Task Force Regional Representatives delivered specific recommendations to the BRICS governments, which met in South Africa this week. The BRICS countries hold a unique position among developing countries and emerging markets: they suffer from the same persistent problems relating to international taxation, transfer pricing, exchange of information, and tax evasion and avoidance that affect the rest of the developing world, but unlike many developing countries, hold significant power and influence at the international institutions and fora. All five BRICS are members of the G20, and Russia holds the Presidency this year.

If you only watch one video today, this one is for you. Task Force member Global Witness published their stunning investigation today. The documentary uncovers how corruption is facilitated in Malaysia. Hidden cameras show Malaysian money launderers explaining exactly how they are going to set up an anonymous shell company (complete with finding rural villagers to sign their names on as nominee shareholders), buy massive amounts of land from corrupt Malaysian officials, and move the money to a secret Singapore bank account. Malaysia lost $285 billion in 2001-2010 to illicit financial outflows, and Global Witness has vividly demonstrated how such...

If there is a one sentence argument that we forward here at the Task Force, it is this: financial opacity, of all kinds, is a root cause of global poverty. Media reports sometimes fail to make this connection and sometimes tinker around the edges of it, but rarely make the link as directly as Hakima Abbas' excellent op-ed for Al-Jazeera.