Financial Transparency Coalition

LONDON - Global Witness calls for a thorough investigation into HSBC, Citibank and Abbey National (now owned by Santander) for their roles in the laundering of millions of pounds by James Ibori, former governor of Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta State. Ibori pleaded guilty to ten counts of money laundering and fraud in relation to an estimated $250 million of stolen state assets on 27 February; today was the first day of his sentencing hearing.

Global Financial Integrity Applauds Shareholder Initiative

WASHINGTON, DC--Global Financial Integrity (GFI) applauds Harrington Investments, Inc.’s decision to file shareholder resolutions with Citigroup, Bank of American and JPMorgan Chase, calling for the adoption of a policy position addressing the systemic use of the U.S. financial system to both shelter illicit funds and transfer them internationally. The shareholder resolution follows a difficult year in which we saw Wachovia Bank sanctioned for laundering millions of dollars for South American drug cartels, HSBC agreeing to sanctions from the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency for failure to maintain adequate anti-money laundering programs, and the...

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog recapping some of the ways companies use trade mispricing to dodge their bill from Uncle Sam. In response, one reader asked “why don’t these companies just set up subsidiaries outside of the U.S. and keep their finances in a lower tax jurisdiction?” The answer is: they do. It’s called transfer pricing and it’s all the rage. Multinational corporations use transfer pricing to shift profits from a comparatively high-tax country (like the U.S. or UK) to a low-tax jurisdiction (like the Cayman Islands or Aruba)...