Financial Transparency Coalition

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. once famously wrote that "taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society"—a notion implicitly acknowledged by each of us when we file our tax returns with the IRS every April. Yet civilized society, at home and abroad, is precariously at risk today unless we do something to stem the rampant tax dodging facilitated by tax havens.

How do you fancy owning two Bugatti Veyrons, the fastest and priciest street car in the world, with a top speed of 250mph and a cost of €1m a pop? Or how about splashing out €18m on art formally owned by French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent? How about affording all of this on your monthly salary of €3,200? These are just some of the luxuries enjoyed by Teodorin Obiang, eldest son of the autocratic president of Equatorial Guinea, in his position as the country’s agriculture and forestry minister, which were seized by French authorities in February on suspicions...

In many ways, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contains one of the most unique styles of government and political culture in the world. The central institution of the government is the monarchy—headed by King Abdullah. The Holy Qur'an is the constitution of the country and the nation is governed on the basis of Islamic law or Shari’a. The reaches of the king’s power are essentially limited only by Saudi tradition, Shari’a, and consensus among the royal family and religious leaders. Saudi Arabia holds a tight grip on the nation's government, politics, and culture in large part because the country has...

The Task Force on Financial Integrity & Economic Development (Task Force) is hosting an expert discussion on the linkages between illicit financial flows, transparency and the Arab Spring during the Civil Society Forum (CS Forum) at the 2012 World Bank/IMF Spring Meeting. Fiscal accountability is a key component of a well-functioning social contract, both of which have been absent in many countries in the MENA region, including Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Syria.