Financial Transparency Coalition

Russia today took a major step toward upholding international anti-bribery standards by depositing its instrument of accession to the OECD Convention at a ceremony at the OECD in Paris. OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría received Russia’s instrument of accession from First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Denisov and First Deputy Minister of Justice Fedorov. OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría received Russia’s instrument of accession from First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Denisov and First Deputy Minister of Justice Fedorov.

The Financial Action Task Force, the global standard-setter in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, has revised the Recommendations after more than two years of efforts by member countries. The Recommendations are used by more than 180 governments to combat these crimes. The revisions, made with inputs from governments, the private sector, and civil society, provide authorities with a stronger framework toact against criminals and address new threats to the international financial system. The cost of money laundering and underlying serious crime is very large, estimated between 2 and 5% of global GDP. The revision will...

WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) today applauded the introduction of a bill, which would close several major tax loopholes and curtail abusive tax haven secrecy. The Cut Unjustified Tax (CUT) Loopholes Act, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate today by Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Kent Conrad (D-ND), contains several provisions to permanently close offshore tax loopholes, raise revenue, and increase transparency and accountability for multinational enterprises.

In August 2009, France and Switzerland amended their tax treaty. The new treaty stated that the two countries would from now on exchange upon request all information necessary for tax enforcement, including bank information otherwise protected by Swiss bank secrecy laws. In the following months, one of France’s richest persons and her wealth manager were taped discussing what to do with two undeclared Swiss bank accounts, worth $160 millions. After a visit to Switzerland, the wealth manager concluded that keeping the funds in Swiss banks or bringing them back to France would be too risky. He suggested that the...