Financial Transparency Coalition

LONDON - The issue of tax collection is rising fast up the political and social agenda, as countries across the world make deep cuts in public spending and increase taxes in ways that hurt the poor and the middle classes the most. This new research demonstrates how important it is to tackle tax evasion and the tax havens that help wealthy individuals and organisations escape from contributing to the services that directly benefit them - from the health and education systems that support their workforces, to the roads that ship their goods to markets, to the courts of law that...

BRUSSELS - Pressure has mounted on the EU to crack down on tax avoidance by multinational companies with the release of a report that reveals in detail and with examples how dodgy accounting deprives some of the world's poorest nations of billions of dollars in revenue. Multinational tax dodges are estimated to account for over half of all illicit capital flight from developing countries, thwarting poor nations' efforts to build up their own economies. Despite commitments by OECD and G20 leaders, the problem is getting worse.

WASHINGTON DC - At a time of international financial crisis, where good news is hard to come by, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced legislation that could go a long way in stopping money laundering in the world’s largest economy. This comes as the European Union begins to prepare its fourth anti-money laundering directive and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gets ready to issue a revised set of recommendations early next year.

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) introduced legislation, which would require that the beneficial owners of corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs) be disclosed at the time companies are formed. Anti-corruption watchdogs, law enforcement groups, and human rights organizations consider the legislation, known as the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act, a crucial tool in aiding law enforcement and keeping criminal and tax evading money out of the United States.