Financial Transparency Coalition

LONDON – Christian Aid is urging the Chancellor to consider how poor countries could be harmed by a deal allowing UK citizens with secret Swiss bank accounts to continue hiding their identities from the British taxman.

A complaint over tax payments by a Glencore subsidiary could prompt the Zambian government to undertake an audit of all mining companies to assess how much tax they owe The contrast between the poverty of most people in Zambia and the natural riches of our country was highlighted this week in an incident that is highly embarrassing for one of the companies profiting from our mineral wealth. The company - Swiss commodities giant Glencore - has just announced its intention to launch itself on to the London Stock Exchange. So it will have been less than happy...

WASHINGTON, DC – A new global campaign challenging French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the G20 to make a firm commitment to ending tax haven secrecy launched today at the World Social Forum in Dakar. Organizations involved include ActionAid, Christian Aid, Eurodad, Global Financial Integrity, Oxfam International and the Tax Justice Network.

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.