Financial Transparency Coalition

WASHINGTON, DC – More than two years after the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is scheduled to vote tomorrow morning, August 22, 2012, on implementing regulations for Section 1504 of the bill, which requires companies operating in the oil, gas, and mining sectors to publicly report on the payments they make to foreign governments on a project-by-project basis. The release of the regulations will enable Section 1504 to take effect, and the effected companies will shortly need to begin reporting as required by law.

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.