Financial Transparency Coalition

The United States is about to decide on who will be the most powerful person in the world for the next four years. The two candidates had set lines and issues that they wanted to talk about. These are issues that likely will play a role in determining who wins the election. I can understand that they will act this way as candidates running in a competitive race. But what I can't understand is how a veteran reporter and moderater like Bob Schieffer can forget about most of the world.

In October’s Taxcast episode: Helsinki declares itself a tax haven-free zone, Starbucks joins the tax avoidance Roll of Dishonour and we follow the money: asset recovery, dictators and the selling of secrecy.

Urgency and precaution are not easily reconcilable. The Green Climate Fund – which met last week for the second time – will have to negotiate that balance. As climate negotiations chug along laboriously, this global fund will ensure that much-needed investment is not stalled as a result. By 2020 it could be holding the purse strings for up to US$100 billion in climate money every year.

According to Global Financial Integrity, in 2009, importers and exporters sent $569 billion out of developing countries through trade mispricing. Trade mispricing, in case you’re not already aware, is a process by which individuals can transfer money abroad without detection. By over-invoicing imports and under-invoicing exports, individuals can evade taxes and avert capital controls through routine trade. Here’s how it works: Suppose a Mexican furniture manufacturer, who wants to send money abroad illegally, imports $100 worth of timber from the United States. Instead of paying $100, the furniture company reports and pays $200. The company’s U.S. trading partner...