Financial Transparency Coalition

Last July, the Dodd-Frank act provided in its section 1504 that all companies operating in the extractive industries that must report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would have to publish all payments they make to the U.S. government or any foreign government on a project basis. Since then, the French and British governments have supported similar EU legislation. Many international companies worldwide, and not only the U.S. companies, will be covered by the upcoming SEC regulations which implement section 1504. The argument against such a provision—being a threat to competitiveness—was utilized widely even before Dodd-Frank was...

The French Catholic newspaper La Croix has published a remarkable graph showing how far opinions have changed recently in France, with respect to the causes of hunger and poverty in developing countries. In September 2010 they asked 985 people aged 18 and over to ask for their opinions about various issues with respect to poverty. Click the graph to enlarge it (and click on the article to see more results).

Tax-News.com -- Determined to step up efforts to crack down on tax evasion, France’s Budget Minister Eric Woerth has announced his decision to demand assistance from the country's banks.

PARIS (Reuters) - France wants its banks to provide more details on the identity of people transferring money to tax havens and wants a new legal framework to be finalised by the end of September, the budget ministry said on Tuesday.