Webinar on Unequal Exchange of Information
August 29th, 2018
Developing countries lose billions of dollars every year due to illicit financial flows or IFFs. One of the big obstacles countries face in curbing IFFs is the access to information, especially from developed countries that happen to be tax havens. Automatic exchange of information allows countries to gauge the magnitude of illicit finance that has crossed borders.
In this light, Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, Tax Justice Network and the Financial Transparency Coalition organized a webinar titled Unequal Exchange on August 29, 2018 from 11:00-12:00 UTC.
The webinar explained the importance of exchange of information, especially “automatic exchange of information”, to tackle IFFs. The webinar described the different methods to exchange information and the requirements to do so, including obstacles that affect developing countries. Loopholes and differences between automatic exchanges under the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard and the US’ FATCA framework were also mentioned, as well as proposals for developing countries to obtain at least basic information from financial centers.