Financial Transparency Coalition

When the son of the president of a desperately poor country starts buying mansions and sportscars on an official monthly salary of $7,000, Charmian Gooch suggests, corruption is probably somewhere in the picture. In a blistering, eye-opening talk (and through several specific examples), she details how global corruption trackers follow the money -- to some surprisingly familiar faces.

WASHINGTON DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) expressed disappointment today at the decision by Judge John D. Bates of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to vacate key extractive industry transparency rules. The decision prevents the rules from taking effect until the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revises the rules to address the court’s concerns.

Croatia became EU member number 28 today. After Tudjman and Milosevic and a bloody war 20 years ago in the Balkans, this is definitely good news for both the European Union and Croatia. The new story of the Balkans started with disintegration 20-odd years ago, but Croatia’s membership is a clear sign of the era of re-integration. We can only hope that the engine of the EU project will not be switched back into a reverse mode, and Croatia’s membership will give new incentives for the others in the Balkans to join the EU.

In the June 2013 Taxcast: ‘Coulds’ and ‘shoulds’ – but any real action? We analyse what the G8 summit did for tax justice and why some tax havens may get a competitive advantage. And, while the world waits for reform, the Taxcast looks at how some countries are finding creative ways around the current global tax system.