Financial Transparency Coalition

Heather Lowe, Director of Government Affairs at Global Financial Integrity and the Task Force, is writing a serious of posts here on the horrible crimes that HSBC has admitted to as part of its deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. government. No one will go to jail from HSBC for these crimes.

The day before I left for my trip to Germany last month, I was warned to bring plenty of money in cash. You see, the country has transitioned to chip-and-PIN cards, which use embedded microprocessor chips for financial transactions instead of traditional magnetic stripes. The problem is that this means it’s becoming increasingly difficult for oblivious American travelers (myself included) to use their credit cards. Hence the cash. Although I could have circumvented this problem with a little foreknowledge and a call to my bank, I found this problem to be particularly irritating. After all, in this century, who...

Recent news from Russia confirms that corruption is a serious issue that, unless curbed, can prevent the country from emerging as a global economic powerhouse. Corruption in Russia has been a hangover from the Soviet Union days. It is just that the forces of globalization have provided old hands and the up-and-coming younger generation of Russians with unprecedented opportunities to make money under the table. Of course, the exponential increase in Russia’s natural resource exports (such as petroleum products and natural gas) has not helped matters as far as overall governance is concerned. There is simply too much...

Task Force member Tax Justice Network and the Centre of Investigative Journalism at City University, London are offering journalists primarily from the developing world training in illicit finance, financial secrecy and asset recovery. Travel and accommodation costs in some cases will be significantly subsidised. Classes will take place from March 19th to March 23rd in London. Instruction will take place in English.