Financial Transparency Coalition

In many ways, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contains one of the most unique styles of government and political culture in the world. The central institution of the government is the monarchy—headed by King Abdullah. The Holy Qur'an is the constitution of the country and the nation is governed on the basis of Islamic law or Shari’a. The reaches of the king’s power are essentially limited only by Saudi tradition, Shari’a, and consensus among the royal family and religious leaders. Saudi Arabia holds a tight grip on the nation's government, politics, and culture in large part because the country has...

The Task Force on Financial Integrity & Economic Development (Task Force) is hosting an expert discussion on the linkages between illicit financial flows, transparency and the Arab Spring during the Civil Society Forum (CS Forum) at the 2012 World Bank/IMF Spring Meeting. Fiscal accountability is a key component of a well-functioning social contract, both of which have been absent in many countries in the MENA region, including Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Syria.

WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) applauded the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for last night adopting a regulation (TD 9584) requiring banks to report information about interest earned on U.S. deposit accounts held by non-resident aliens, as banks have been required to do for accounts held by American citizens and Canadians. GFI and others have long advocated for implementation of this rule as an important tool in the fight against international tax evasion, money laundering, drug trafficking, corruption, and terrorist financing.