Financial Transparency Coalition

I have found a number for the amount of dirty money that is attracted into the United States on account of the secrecy facilities it provides: US$3 trillion. Yes, three trillion dollars. Which goes quite some way to explaining why the United States came top of the Tax Justice Network’s Financial Secrecy Index. The number comes from a letter to Tim Geithner, US Treasury Secretary, sent by every single member of the Florida Delegation to the House of Representatives. They are whinnying about new proposed IRS regulations for the United States to be more transparent about what foreigners earn there. Currently, almost...

Today, Singapore signed its 12th Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA), and thus the jurisdiction is added to the OECD white list. Well that takes care of it! No longer will Singapore be a place to hide money (read sarcasm). Okay, I'm being harsh; to be fair, Singapore knows that it's not fixed yet and will thus turn itself into a fully tax-compliant, transparent jurisdiction by today signing another TIEA with the financial powerhouse of Brunei (read more sarcasm). In reality, Singapore - ranked 8th most secretive in the Financial Secrecy Index - still is and will...

LONDON - A league table of the world’s most secretive tax havens has been compiled by campaigners seeking greater transparency about the operation of ‘offshore’ finance centres. The Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) analyses the level of secrecy each haven offers, and the extent of their reluctance to co-operate with other countries' tax authorities.

WASHINGTON, DC -- According to a new analysis of financial jurisdictions prepared by UK-based civil society group Tax Justice Network, the state of Delaware is the most secretive financial jurisdiction in the world. Based on the laws and practices of 60 financial jurisdictions the Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) ranks jurisdictions according to their level of secrecy and the extent to which they cooperate with tax authorities in other countries.