Financial Transparency Coalition

WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) Advisory Board Member and Nigerian Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is to be nominated by developing world nations to replace outgoing World Bank President Robert Zoellick when his term expires in June. The Wall Street Journal reports today that Min. Okonjo-Iweala will receive the backing of South Africa, Angola and Nigeria to fill the top role at the international financial institution.

LONDON - The OECD’s Global Forum peer review, the main mechanism for assessing the effectiveness of Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs), is seriously flawed and therefore contributes to failure in reducing rampant tax evasion. The findings of a new Tax Justice Network report published today run directly counter to claims made by the OECD that its TIEAs represent the new international standard on tax transparency.

LONDON - Global Witness welcomes today's successful recovery by Libya of a £10 million London house, previously belonging to Colonel Gaddafi’s son, Saadi Gaddafi. The High Court in London ruled that the property, in the up-market London suburb of Hampstead, rightfully belongs to the Libyan state as it had been purchased with diverted Libyan state funds.

WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) today joined several other civil society organizations encouraging U.S. Senators to support the offshore tax evasion amendment (S.A. 1818) to the highway reauthorization bill. The amendment, sponsored by Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Kent Conrad (D-ND), is expected to come up for a vote this evening.