Financial Transparency Coalition

For years economists have talked about the “end of the euro.” These apocalyptic warnings have become only more severe in recent years and months, with the weakening of Europe’s economic and financial position and the debt crises in Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Ireland, which have triggered discussions of these countries unilaterally dropping the euro. In truth, however, economists have talked about the end of the euro since the beginning of the euro, when even after it was formally adopted as the third pillar of the European Union in the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 many economists have remained...

Georgia Has Seen Illicit Outflow Of Around USD 4 Billion In The Past 10 Years, Study Suggests Turkish Weekly, April 21, 2011 Recovering assets after Mubarak's arrest Al-Masry Al-Youm, April 21, 2011 New Swiss Tax Rules Signal Big Changes for Private Banks New York Times, April 20, 2011 Liechtenstein Becomes Newest IOSCO Member MondoVisione, April 20, 2011 Treasury Freezes Assets Of Kongra-Gel Leaders WSJ (Corruption Currents), April 20, 2011 FATF Warns Netherlands Is ‘Susceptible’ To Money Laundering WSJ (Corruption Currents), April 20, 2011

Will Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain see regime change as neighboring Tunisia and Egypt have? Historic unrest and political upheaval are reshaping the landscape and defying the best guesses of external observers as to what will happen in the Arab world next. What is clear is the role corruption and illicit financial practices have played in bringing these countries to the brink of revolution – and in some cases beyond. The magnitude of these illicit practices is staggering—Global Financial Integrity (GFI) estimates that corruption and crime removed a cumulative $49.5 billion from Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen from 2000-2008. Put into context,...

A complaint over tax payments by a Glencore subsidiary could prompt the Zambian government to undertake an audit of all mining companies to assess how much tax they owe The contrast between the poverty of most people in Zambia and the natural riches of our country was highlighted this week in an incident that is highly embarrassing for one of the companies profiting from our mineral wealth. The company - Swiss commodities giant Glencore - has just announced its intention to launch itself on to the London Stock Exchange. So it will have been less than happy...