Financial Transparency Coalition

Tax Research UK published a new report this weekend on the administration of the UK’s Register of Companies by Companies House, the agency responsible for it on behalf of the UK government’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. The report extended the review to look at the administration of corporation tax returns by H M Revenue & Customs, the UK’s tax agency. In combination these are the two main agencies with responsibility for registering and regulating companies in the UK. The Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development funded the study. The UK is an important location...

The European Council of Ministers held its 3074th Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry, Research and Space) Council meeting in Brussels on 10 March 2011. As a result it:

Invited the Commission to come forward with initiatives, in consultation with Member States and relevant stakeholders, on the disclosure of financial information by companies working in the extractive industry, including the possible adoption of a country-by-country reporting requirement, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the extractive industry, and the monitoring of third-country legislation;

It’s a shame the move is not as yet towards full country-by-country reporting.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Billionaire Bill Gates on Thursday agitated for state governments to adopt “clear and honest” accounting of their budgets, saying states’ true finances are being obscured from voters and threaten America’s public-education system. Speaking at a meeting here of leading thinkers known as the TED conference, Mr. Gates said that state budgets need more scrutiny and should follow more-transparent accounting principles, such as those used by GoogleInc. and Microsoft Corp, which Mr. Gates co-founded.

The Tax Justice Network has long listed Israel as a tax haven - but most ignored the claim. Now the Sovereign Society is going out of its way to promote Israel as a tax haven. On this occasion we seem to be in agreement. And I don’t say that very often.