Financial Transparency Coalition

PARIS – The 2011 annual conference of the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development will take place at the Cercle National des Armées in Paris, France from October 6-7.

In Germany, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has come out against the deal. Meanwhile, the European Commission has also said it will have to assess the legality of the deals but has not taken a firm position. The final withholding tax concept, known as ‘Rubik,’ was initially formulated by the Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland (AFBS) and by Swiss banks to protect banking secrecy against the international moves towards automatic tax information exchange, which followed the global financial crisis.

SPD Plans to Block Rubik Ratification in Germany

The SPD’s financial concept note published last Monday rejects the agreement with Switzerland. It is...

The nine regional councils will ask for country by country reports from their banks and insurers. This will include the following details: Name and number of subsidiaries; numbers of staff employed; profits and amounts of taxes paid. This information should be provided by the company six months after its annual report is published. This information is invaluable in calculating whether a company is paying its fair share of tax in each country. The precedent this sets is very important as the EU is currently considering introducing country by county reporting. The Comite Catholique Contre La Faim et Pour Le...

Last summer, we reported that the Obama Administration planned to globally promote the Energy Security Through Transparency (ESTT) provisions (Sec. 1504) of the new Dodd-Frank legislation.  Now, it appears as though they've remained true to their word. Last July, after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the White House released a statement about Sec. 1504 saying (underlining added by me):

This provision is an essential new tool in promoting transparency in the oil and mineral sectors. This legislation will immediately shed light on billions in payments between multinational corporations...