Financial Transparency Coalition

This study examines the magnitude of illicit financial flows from India, analyzing the drivers and dynamics of these flows in the context of far-ranging reform. In the process, it represents perhaps the most comprehensive study on the subject matter, both in terms of the range of issues involved and the time span covered. At its heart is a dynamic simulation model which seeks to capture the interaction of economic, structural, and governance issues that underlie the generation and crossborder transfer of illicit capital.

The first paper in Christian Aid’s tax briefing paper series, Accounting for Change, “Shifting Sands: Tax Transparency and Multinational Companies” charts the progress of the campaign for country by country reporting over the past two years, outlines the rationale for such a standard within the development finance debate, presents a private sector perspective (based on Christian Aid’s dialogue with companies and FTSE100 survey), and answers some of the counter arguments.

With governments committing huge sums to tackle the world’s most pressing problems, from the instability of financial markets to climate change and poverty, corruption remains an obstacle to achieving much needed progress, according to Transparency International’s 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), a measure of domestic, public sector corruption released October 2010.

Consumer demand for expensive rosewood furniture and musical instruments in China and elsewhere is the primary driver of an ecologically devastating trade in illegal timber, according to an October 2010 report published by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Global Witness. The report, launched at the 10th Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), shows how this ongoing trade has been facilitated by the complicity of some of Madagascar's state authorities and weak law-enforcement by the country's transitional government.