Financial Transparency Coalition

Yesterday, the World Bank committed to examine ways to collect and publish information about the real owners of companies (also called “beneficial owners”) participating in Bank-financed contracts. We welcome the Bank’s leadership as the impact of its new procurement policy stands to affect a portfolio of about US $42 billion invested in more than 1,800

G20 Finance Ministers meeting in Istanbul this weekend still have much to do if the claim ‘the era of bank secrecy is over’ is to mean anything in developing counties. In a new report from Christian Aid, endorsed by 18 other civil society organisations, the flaws in the current approach of the G20 towards automatic exchange of tax information are laid bare. Joseph Stead, Christian Aid’s senior economic justice advisers said today: “There remain loopholes in the standards that will limit the impact in all countries, but for developing countries there are some specific challenges that remain, despite the promises of...

The final two months of 2014 saw a surge of positive news for civil society whose collaborative and consolidated efforts over recent years to push for greater corporate transparency measures are now seeing the light. Civil society has called for greater light to be shed on the real living people who ultimately own or control companies – the beneficial owners. Current levels of secrecy mean that global detection rates for illicit funds by law enforcement are as low as 1 percent for criminal proceeds.

In the wake of last month's LuxLeaks investigation, the G20's heavy focus on tax avoidance and evasion, and the ongoing trilogue discussion in Europe over the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, Ministers from Germany, France, and Italy have issued a letter calling on greater harmonization and strategy in fighting against tax evasion and avoidance.

"This strong initiative taken by the EU, which could be proposed by the end of 2014, would give Europe the leading place it deserves at the international level," said the letter, signed by Germany's Wolfgang Schäuble, France's Michel Sapin and Italy's Pier Carlo...