Financial Transparency Coalition

Caroline Lucas MP, leader of the UK Green Party, yesterday tabled a Bill in the House of Commons that would require country-by-country reporting by all UK companies for all their activities. Clause 3 of her Tax and Financial Transparency Bill 2011 says:

Financial transparency: companies and trusts (1)Every company, including a parent company, incorporated in or operating in the United Kingdom must publish in its annual financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 an analysis of the consolidated turnover and profit made by it in each jurisdiction in which it has a permanent establishment for taxation purposes as defined...

As the regime in Libya continues its bloody campaign against rebels and protestors, we have seen and heard more from Saif al-Islam Gaddafi—the son of dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi—than we have from his father. In the past weeks Saif has appeared on ABC for an interview and given several speeches, including an angry rant in Tripoli where, brandishing an automatic weapon, he appears to spur a crowd of supporters to commit violence against the opposition. This Saif, whose angry ramblings seem strikingly similar to the unhinged speeches of his father, is quite different from the man who, until...

Last week, the European ministers made a call to establish a country-by-country reporting standard for multinational companies in the extractive sector – a much needed first step to curb tax evasion and avoidance in poor countries. This decision follows groundbreaking reports by the European Parliament to enhance global tax policies which would allow mobilising further development finance to meet internationally agreed development goals. This is a partial victory for civil society organisations in Europe who have been strongly advocating for specific policy reforms to make global tax policies work for the poor. European ministers take first steps to curb tax...