Financial Transparency Coalition

The United Kingdom is shifting some tax laws to make it easier for multinational corporations to avoid taxes via tax havens, through vehicles known as Controlled Foreign Corporations (CFCs). These vehicles are commonly used in the United States, and elsewhere, to shift profits to low tax jurisdictions. They are a legal way of pretending you made more where you did not. You would think that any smart country would be moving toward stricter laws to prevent the use of tax havens for profit shifting and corporate tax avoidance, but that's not the most important part of the law's impact....

In this Prezi, the second installment of a three-part series, I explain illicit financial flows and pull factors.

Today was a very big day for advocates of financial transparency. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to approve the final rules for Dodd-Frank Section 1504, which was passed over two years ago. The rules will immediately go into effect. 1504 requires oil, gas, and mining companies to publish all payments they make to governments.

Nigeria is an intriguing oxymoron. Though the country is blessed with abundant oil and other natural resources, its own mismanagement and corruption has prevented it from fully reaping the benefits of these resources. The country is one of the world’s largest producers of oil, yet this has not had a significant impact on the welfare and standard of living of its citizens, the majority of whom live below the national poverty line. Nigeria has struggled with managing its vast supply of oil, which has resulted in the loss of billions of dollars from its economy. More recently, massive corrupt...