Financial Transparency Coalition

LONDON - New research has revealed that 56% of British adults believe that tax avoidance by multinationals companies (MNCs), while a technically legal way of reducing what they owe the taxman, is morally wrong, and half of people think it should be made illegal. Only four per cent of those polled thought tax avoidance by MNCs was ‘morally justifiable’ and only four per cent described such practices as ‘fair’.

WASHINGTON, DC – A letter published yesterday by two influential U.S. Congressmen suggests that Wal-Mart de Mexico (Walmex), the Mexican subsidiary of U.S. retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which recently came under fire for possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, may have been engaged in money laundering and tax evasion in Mexico.

WASHINGTON, DC – In response to news today that British bank Standard Chartered PLC settled money laundering allegations with New York regulators by agreeing to pay $340 million in fines and submitting to monitoring, Heather Lowe, legal counsel and director of Government Affairs at Global Financial Integrity, released the following statement.

WASHINGTON, DC – The allegations levied yesterday by the New York State Department of Financial Services against British banking giant Standard Chartered demonstrate a systemic, widespread pattern of disregard for anti-money laundering policies at one of the world’s biggest banks, according to Global Financial Integrity, a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization.