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Liechtenstein reveals the weakness of the current European Savings Tax Directive
July 8th, 2011
Liechtenstein has just announced the latest sums it has collected under the terms of the European Savings Tax Directive. It was a measly €7.8 million.
Working backwards this is 20% tax on €40 million interest. Assuming 2% interest, this is tax on interest income on € 2 billion capital (which may seriously overstate the case: German bonds paying over 3% p.a.). Liechtenstein banks have € 140 billion assets under management.
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Asymmetric Shocks and Other Woes of the Eurozone
June 20th, 2011
One of the main problems underlying the current crisis in the Eurozone is that the conditions set out in the Maastricht Treaty which lay the economic foundation of the zone are not congruent with the criteria needed to form an optimum currency area. The criteria under the Maastricht Treaty namely are (i) a rate of inflation no more than 1.5 percentage points higher than the average of three EU members with the lowest inflation rates (ii) a ratio of the annual government deficit to GDP not to exceed 3% at the end of the preceding fiscal year or...
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G8 Endorses New Transparency Laws For Oil, Gas And Mining Companies
May 27th, 2011
LONDON – The G8 has today announced its commitment to introduce new transparency laws that would require oil, gas and mining companies to disclose the payments they make to governments. Such measures would help eradicate the corruption that blights many mineral rich states and lift millions of people in the developing world out of poverty.
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Natural Resource Transparency: Call for Urgent EU Action on Corporate Reporting Standards
May 27th, 2011
Publish What You Pay and Eurodad have launched a briefing paper (PDF) calling on the EU to propose legally binding measures to require natural resource companies to publish key financial information for each country and project in which they operate. In recent months, civil society groups working on financial transparency and on tax and development have actively engaged the European Commission and other European institutions responsible for drafting key legislative and non-legislative proposals that will potentially reform European financial reporting standards. This paper aims to contribute to the current debate...
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