August 3rd, 2011
On the Trail of the Fugitive Who Blew the Cover on Global Tax Evasion
Worldcrunch, August 3, 2011
Bank-backed House lawmakers try to kill IRS plan to identify $1 trillion in foreign accounts
iWatch, August 1, 2011
For Italy, Political Farce Could Descend Into Financial Tragedy
New York Times, August 2, 2011
Are we heading for a second global financial crisis?
The Guardian, August 3, 2011
News Corp. Can Relax About Corrupt-Practices Act: The Ticker
Bloomberg, August 2, 2011
Shadowy shell companies targeted by US Senate bill
Reuters, August 2, 2011
August 3rd, 2011
Reuters recently released the second feature in Shell Games, a series "exploring the extent and impact of corporate secrecy in the United States." The first special report in the series, "A little house of secrets on the Great Plains" dealt with shell companies established in Wyoming, generally recognized as a secrecy jurisdiction, and how some have been used to hide illict assets .
The newest report, "China's shortcut to Wall Street" details how the reverse-merger process has allowed many Chinese companies to become publicly traded in the U.S., while bypassing many regulatory controls. The article details the process:
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August 3rd, 2011
An imminent “final withholding tax treaty”, will allow Germany to claw back some revenue from tax evasion, but it will also protect Swiss bank secrecy and undermine the prospect of
automatic information exchange.
Swiss and German negotiators will probably conclude the deal on 10
th August. The deal will then have to be approved through the respective national legislative processes, so there will be
opportunities for civil society to mobilize opposition and generate debate about information exchange.
A withholding tax will be charged on income from savings and investments of German citizens with Swiss accounts, i.e those who had previously evaded...
August 3rd, 2011
From India's Tehelka,
an interview with Philippe Welti, Switzerland's ambassador to India, in a section where he talks about the origins of Swiss bank secrecy:
"The banks were comforted with the fact they could say no, we are under legal protection, we are threatened by punishment if we release data. That is the magic of Swiss banking secrecy and my job as an Ambassador, a representative of Swiss society is to remind the world that it risks turning into a dangerous place where the rule of law is abandoned.
The thinking behind it, and the moral value of such a...
