Financial Transparency Coalition

The EU Savings Tax Directive (EUSTD) has been the EU’s flagship transparency initiative since its introduction in 2003, and we have written about it on many occasions. It complements another EU transparency scheme called the Directive on Administrative Co-operation, which was beefed up this week, as the Wall St. Journal reported:

“European Union finance ministers agreed Tuesday on a far-reaching crackdown on tax evasion that will bring the bloc’s standards on par with global rules by 2017, although Austria is getting an extra year to build up a data-exchange system with its banks.”

The DAC currently covers only EU Member states, while the EUSTD is extended by agreement...

We've arrived at the eve of the our annual conference, co-hosted this year in Lima, Peru by FTC member Latin American Network on Debt, Development, and Rights (LATINDAD). While the main conference begins tomorrow, journalists, civil society leaders and researchers are already hard at work. The week began today with a journalist training that included presentations from renowned investigative journalists like Hernán Capiello, Ángel Páez, and former Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn Simpson. The training brought together more than 15 journalists from 10 different countries in Latin America...

Experts, advocates, government officials and journalists from all regions of the globe will be gathering next week in Lima, Peru to scale-up strategic efforts to curb illicit financial flows in ways which ensure sufficient, equitable and accountable financing of sustainable development. The timing couldn’t be more auspicious. As governments move into the final stages of negotiating a set of new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to replace the Millennium Development Goals after their expiration date next year, this post-2015 momentum represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape the contours of national government priorities, policies and financing decisions in areas from education to...

The indefatigable US-based organisation Good Jobs Firsthas sent a fascinating email, which relates to the United States but could have general relevance for other countries. This one is located at the fascinating, busy intersection between tax and transparency.